23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - Hearts Burning Within

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 33:7-9

The book of Isaiah is largely consoling to the people. Jeremiah was just the opposite. Ezekiel is a mix. The book begins with oracles of judgment against Israel in chapters 1-24 and then the latter half of the book offers support and hope.

Chapters 33-39 are oracles of restoration (see the post for more information about oracles).

In chapter 3, the prophet receives his original commissioning which was very general: warning people of their sin. In 33:1-33, he receives a second commission which was a turning point in Ezekiel’s ministry. This was much more specific: the enemy is coming and Israel must be warned more vigorously.

Verses 1-6 are not in the lectionary but provide good context. A sentinel would stand at a high point and watch for an approaching enemy and then warn the city. What the city does with this warning is up to them. This was a common image used by the prophets to describe themselves.

The lectionary portion of the reading in verses 7-9 take this image of the sentinel and applies it to Ezekiel.

Verse 9 says that God holds the people responsible for their response to the prophet’s message but he holds the prophet responsible for giving that message.

A Dominican once asked St. Francis of Assisi about this passage and whether he personally would be held responsible for the souls of those in mortal sin whom he does not warn and correct. St. Francis said to him: “If that passage is supposed to be understood in a universal sense, then I understand it to mean that a servant of God should be burning with life and holiness so brightly, that by the light of example and the tongue of his conduct, he will rebuke all the wicked. In that way, I say, the brightness of his life and the fragrance of his reputation will proclaim their wickedness to all of them.” (The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul, The Second Life of Saint Francis)

How can you be more like a sentinel, watching from a high point and then sharing with others what you see?

Does your life and actions alone burn so brightly with love of God that others would be attracted to want to examine their own lives?

Matthew 18:15-20

During Ordinary Time, I’ll cover the Old Testament and then the Gospel readings as a pair so that we can better see the connections.

Last week we finished chapters 14-17 which was a gradual acceptance of Jesus by those around him and also, we saw, by Jesus himself, of who he was and what his mission was. Today’s readings begins a movement towards Jerusalem and an embracing of that mission and destiny.

Chapter 18 is a “community” discourse and parallels chapter 10 which was about the community on mission. We are sent out but we also come back and join as community.

Chapter 18 can be thought of as a “Discourse on the church,” directed towards internal community relationships, between Christians. Verses 1-5 speak of true greatness and the responsibilities of those who lead. Verses 6-9 address those leaders who cause the little ones to sin – the responsibility of leadership to care for all. Verses 10-14 is the parable of the lost sheep – going out to seek the lost.

We might subtitle the passage today “the art of reprimand.”

In recent weeks from the Romans readings we saw a number of times that Paul echoes Jesus in not doing away with the Mosaic law; rather, he shows us how we are called to something much more demanding. The Old Testament sentinel/prophet/watchman had a duty to alert others to danger, to call them out when their behavior did not live up to the standard of the Torah. The gospel here calls us to something deeper. We can’t be content with just calling out sin – we have to go beyond that to root it out of our very community. This is a really tough passage, maybe one of the toughest we’ve read in a long time.

Think about the placement of this passage right after the parable of the lost sheep. What does that placement say to us? Are we to seek out the lost and then confront them with their sin? How does that balance with welcoming all? There are no easy answers and if someone says this is black and white, it might pay to be a bit suspicious of such a trite approach. I have long suspected that Christian maturity is far less about gaining the right answers and more about being comfortable with shades of gray.

One scholar called his study of this speech “Matthew’s Advice to a Divided Community,” because he saw in this passage the evangelist’s focusing of Jesus’ sayings to address problems of Matthew’s own divided church.

The lectionary reading begins “If your brother sins against you.” If you look this verse up in your New American Bible, you will likely see this: “If your brother sins [against you].” The New International Version reads “If your brother sins.” These discrepancies tell us right away that there is more to this passage than meets the eye. The differences indicate manuscript discrepancies. Some of the oldest and most important manuscripts do not contain “against you,” indicating that this may have been added later on.

Bottom line: It’s not crystal clear whether what follows applies to an individual case of someone sinning against us personally or to a sin impacting the Christian community, the church. The process implies that the sin has affected the whole community but perhaps the question is left open as to who should initiate the process.

I suspect we should always read this passage alongside Matthew 7:1-5 and John 8:7, as well as verses 21-22 following today’s reading..

Verse 15 is the first step of the process: confront someone privately. Verse 16 is the second step if step one does not seem to work: bring along witnesses. This comes from Deuteronomy 17:5 and 19:15.

Steps three and four are found in verse 17: if the person still does not change their behavior, the matter is brought before the entire community. If that still doesn’t work, the person is to be shunned, set outside the community who will then have nothing to do with them.

Verse 17 says the person is to be treated as a Gentile or tax collector. Remember that the audience of Matthew’s gospel was Jewish and so their definition of outsider was “Gentile or tax collector.” What image might we use today to illustrate this?

Shutting someone out of a community does not have the same impact today. In that culture, it would have been tantamount to a death sentence because the person would no longer be able to find work or have the protection of the family and community.

One of the things that strikes me is that the church is not directed to issue an edict of excommunication, as though the church is acting to exclude. Rather, the community is called to start treating the person as their actions warrant: the person is acting the sinner, they’ve separated themselves from the community by their refusal to change, so the community is simply called to treat them that way. Perhaps it’s less the community doing something to a member and more that member experiencing the repercussions of their actions.

In verse 18, Jesus repeats what he had previously said only to Peter back in chapter 16, but this time Jesus uses the 2nd person plural. If we translated this verse into the Authorized Texan Version, it might read something like this: “Amen, I say to y’all, whatever y’all bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever y’all loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Verses 19-20 are ones that get plucked out of context a lot of times and made to mean something standing on their own. Usually these verses are interpreted to apply to personal prayer. But actually, the context is community decisions. We can make decisions as a Christian community in Christ’s name because he is here among us.

So what are we to do with this passage? For me, this passage raises far more questions than it answers and I am left leery of saying much at all about it. Thinking of those who have hurt or sinned against me, have I confronted them privately? Or have I only talked openly in the community about their sin? Is there someone in the community whose sin is affecting the unity of the community? Is it my duty to confront them? Raising a person’s sin to the community level, I am always reminded of the “prayer meetings” of my childhood. I would listen as the adults would name people and their sins under the pretext of praying for them (“Pray for Ruth Ann, bless her heart; that husband of hers was seen at the bar again last Saturday and I heard from a reliable source he’s done got another woman on the side.”). But it was always clear to me that what was really taking place was a community shaming (of Ruth Ann or the husband one could never be sure). How often have we all been guilty of this? Remembering Jesus’ injunction to forgive seventy times seven, at what point does a community legitimately shun and exclude someone and have nothing to do with them?

What questions does this passage answer for you? What questions does it raise?

Old Testament / Gospel Connection

How are the Old Testament and Gospel readings connected? Each week I will offer my views on this but I encourage you to first read the passages and look for your own connections!

Way back in Genesis 4, Cain asks God the question “am I my brother’s keeper?” The passages today would seem to answer that question with a resounding yes. We are, in fact, the keepers of each other in many ways. The concrete shape of that in community life, especially where sin is involved, is not always clear and must be tempered, always, with love, mercy and compassion.

Romans 13:8-10

See detailed background on Romans here. See last Sunday for background on this passage.

This is one of those times when all the lectionary readings line up to the same theme. This passage reminds us that Jesus didn’t abolish the law; rather he calls us to something much deeper and more radical.

The lectionary skips v1-7 but they are basically talking about the relationship of Christians to governing authorities. Paul says we’re subject to them because they’ve been established by God. And he belabors that point in vv1-5. In v6 he says this is why we pay taxes and that we’re to give to everyone what we owe them, whether it be money or respect.

Verse 8 continues that thought: give everyone their due; don’t owe anyone anything. That said, love is a debt from which no one is ever free. The great paradox is that we are to owe nothing and yet we owe everything.

Verse 9 cites five of the ten commandments from Ex 20:13-17. These are the commandments dealing with interpersonal relationships (as opposed to the commandments dealing with our relationship with God). Paul says that loving someone prevents us from doing any of these; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.

How have you recently loved a neighbor as yourself?

What neighbors have you passed by without tangibly loving them?

Questions to ponder

What do these readings say about how to live day in and day out as Christians?