Pastor's E-Letter 9/4/20
This week in worship we begin a new message series entitled “Teachable Moments.” This series was inspired by the lectionary readings for the next 4 Sundays from the gospel of Matthew. One of the reasons I love the lectionary (which is a list of scripture recommendations for each Sunday of the church year used by many denominations called the “common lectionary”) is how often these prescribed readings seem to fit in a unique way to whatever we might be experiencing in the church and the world on any given Sunday. When I read these texts a couple of months ago as I was working on our worship plan for the rest of the year. Two things hit me. One, these scriptures are very timely and relevant to some of the challenges we are facing as a church and as a world. And two, these scriptures are also challenging. Which is just like Jesus, right? Jesus’ words so often have a way of pushing me to think about God, life, and relationships with others in ways that I wouldn’t naturally think. He so often upends our sense of how things should work and invites us into a “Kingdom” oriented way of thinking and behavior that can be foreign, at least at first, to our natural impulses.
That is certainly the case for me when it comes to these scriptures that we will dive into. But as we have said so many times, in so many ways throughout our last message series, the point of faith is to be open to grow and change and become more like Jesus. Fortunately, Jesus left us all kinds of teachings to lead us in that process of growth. We simply must be willing to engage those teachings.
This week, we will be digging into Matthew 18:15-20 where Jesus laid out some very clear teaching about how to deal with conflict within the church and, I believe, in the world. What is helpful is that Jesus starts with the assumption that conflict is going to happen. There is no way that humans can live in relationships with one another and never experience conflict. It is an unavoidable fact of life. Accepting this reality is perhaps the first step in dealing with conflict in a healthy way and it is clear from Jesus that there are healthy ways to engage conflict.
I think too often we can fall into the trap of thinking if we all love God and want to follow Jesus, if we all are seeking to love one another, then we can avoid conflict. We think of conflict as something “bad” and so we will try to avoid it or if it occurs, we try to deny it – which in the end, only serves to intensity the conflict.
But Jesus is clear that avoidance is not the answer. Leaning into the conflict, by intentionally going to whomever has hurt or injured us and addressing the problem in the hope of reconciliation is the answer. This isn’t easy. Pastor Allee will say more about that in the message Sunday. But it is the beginning of the path to conflict resolution and healing that Jesus laid before us.
In preparation for worship this week, I encourage you to read Matthew 18:15-20 and reflect on it and on these questions: On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being “I avoid conflict at all costs” and 10 being, “I run into conflict the way a firefighter runs into a burning building”, where do you see yourself? What is my most common response to conflict? What did I learn in my family of origin about dealing with conflict? Does what I learned there help me or hinder me in addressing conflict in healthy, positive ways now? Is Jesus’ teaching in these verses similar to what I learned from my family or different? I could go on, but those questions will at least get you started.
We live in a culture that is currently rife with conflict and division in almost every corner. It is exhausting and overwhelming to ponder. But I believe Jesus’ words invite us to reflect on the ways we, as Christ’s followers can engage the conflict we see and experience all around us. One of the things that Jesus has taught me in a variety of ways, is the importance of compassion and empathy, putting myself in someone else’s shoes, trying to feel what they feel, see the world from their perspective, in dealing with conflict. This begins with sitting down with a brother or sister and engaging in conversation, listening, caring, learning, and as Jesus said again and again, loving them enough to seek reconciliation and healing. I don’t know about you, but I need Jesus to teach me how to do this. And I need his grace to make that teaching come alive in my life.
See you in worship Sunday. And don’t forget that this Sunday is a communion Sunday. If you are worshipping online, you will want to have your communion table set. Have a great weekend!
Grace and Peace,
Annette