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"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two or you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
- Matthew 18:10-20
Yesterday, we read that the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of haven?" Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast in to the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire."
"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." My study bible tells us that St. John Chrysostom taught something interesting about guardian angels. Everybody has them, not just saints or the particularly holy. But the angels of the the humble have greater boldness before God, and greater honor before the face of God, because of the humility of the person they guard. It's not the nature of God, but rather the weakness of human beings, that requires the service of angels.
"For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." Here is an example of a kind of hyperbole, not unusual, in Christ's teaching. Unlike an earthly shepherd, God's omnipresence and great love means that even one has extraordinary value, so that this Shepherd would leave the rest at risk in order to save one. My study bible says that the ninety-nine sheep represent the righteous who remain faithful to God (Luke 15:7). My study bible adds that according to certain Church Fathers, this is also an image of the Incarnation in which the ninety-nine represent the angels in heaven. Christ came to our world from heaven to pursue the one sheep -- humankind -- who had fallen into corruption ("lost") on earth.
"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two or you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." One who sins against another in the midst of a congregation is breaking community. Here Jesus gives a formula for mutual correction in the Church, in three expanding stages. Sin and correction are to remain private, unless the offender refuses to repent. Note that all correction must be done with great care and humility. Continuing on from the search for the one lost sheep, the highest priority here is salvation of the offender (see 1 Corinthians 5:5; Galatians 6:1). Nevertheless, says my study bible, correction is important so that the sin doesn't spread to others as well. "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" tells us all about what community we are, and how community is created.
What is community? This is a most important question, an essential question. What makes community? Clearly, what Jesus says here is that He makes community. Where we are gathered in His name, He's there in the midst of us. Everything we do -- including the central focus of worship, the Eucharist -- is to make His presence known in us and among us. Once we start there, we start to understand what community has to be about. Christ's presence is with us. He wants us to go after the lost sheep. He wants us to care for one another. Discipline should be protective, privacy comes first. Scandal or sin that disrupts the community must be contained! All of these teachings reflect the ways in which the disciples are to use power, the ways in which His Church must be established and upheld. When we think about community, we have to think beyond a superficial understanding of collecting under one flag or label. We are even to take it further than one roof, so to speak. When Christ teaches, in John's Gospel, that God is Spirit, and is seeking those who can worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), we need to think about what that tells us in terms of how our community of Christian believers is formed and shaped. If God is Spirit, then there are really no limits placed upon this community in terms of how it is formed and shaped, or where it is, or who it encompasses. It transcends time -- as we can see most clearly in the notion of the communion of saints. It transcends space as Spirit is in all places ("everywhere present and filling all things" according to an Orthodox Prayer to the Holy Spirit that begins every service). Spirit also encompasses dimensions, to use what most would think of as a modern scientific concept, as we who worship on earth consider ourselves worshiping together with the angels, especially made clear when we sing the the song of the Seraphim ("Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your glory"), as recorded by Isaiah. God the Spirit transcends language differences, as illustrated in the tongues of fire at Pentecost, and each hearing the same thought in their own language (Acts 2:1-13). And even at the Transfiguration, which we've recently read about, Peter, James, and John all recognize Elijah and Moses without a word: each is known to the other. So the limits of temple worship are exceeded and broken in the Spirit. The sense of who we are is superseded by the God who is Spirit in every possible way. To worship in spirit and truth is to find our identity in Christ, our community in Christ, beyond all other forms of identity. It is the "group" that supersedes all other groups no matter what they may be or mean to us. In this Spirit, worship in spirit and in truth transcends boundaries of gender, ethnicity, origin, social orientation, and political party. We are all in this together. It doesn't matter what else might make us affiliated, we are all sons in truth, in spirit, in the worship of Christ present at the center of wherever we are gathered together in His name. It is our highest duty, the first and the last calling. Our Alpha and our Omega of where we always belong. Nothing can keep us from this community, not life nor death. And He will not lose one of us. Nothing can keep us from this identity, unless we allow it to. Even the most humble have angels who so boldly and honorably behold the face of our Father in heaven.
