My first sermon preached at Faith Lutheran in Bay City, MI

“A Restored Relationship” (Based on Matthew 18:15-20)
16th Sunday After Pentecost

Grace Mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; today’s message comes from the Gospel of Matthew 18:15-20. In this Gospel Jesus reminds us about the importance of restoring our relationships with one another because He has restored our relationship with God.

1. Have you ever found it hard to forgive someone when they did something wrong to you? Maybe you felt betrayed, angry or sad when you found out about it. What did you do when you learned what they did to you? I know that there were many times when I was young that I got angry at my two younger brothers for teasing me. It was hard to deal with them at times and I admit I didn’t always handle the situation as well as I could have. In fact, there were many times when I didn’t follow Jesus’ teaching on reconciling and restoring relationships in Matthew 18:15-20. Jesus says in Matthew 18:15, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. Instead of talking to my brothers about how I felt and trying to win them over, I retaliated either by telling on them or I went ahead and began a fight. Needless to say both of those reactions are not what Christ calls us to do in Matthew 18.

2. So, how do we apply what Christ teaches us to do in Christian love to our neighbors, family members and friends in a way that shows love and forgiveness? Let’s take a moment to learn what Christ is teaching us. Before Jesus speaks about how Christians should reconcile their differences with one another, He teaches the disciples the parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18:10-14. In the parable Jesus compares the Shepherd who searches out for the lost sheep to our Father in Heaven who sent Jesus into the world to find the lost sheep. Based on our understanding of Scripture from Psalm 23, John 14:1-10 & Ezekiel 34:23-24 Jesus has found each and every one of us through His death on the cross and restored our relationship with God. His resurrection proves that He has overcome the devil, the world and our own sinful natures that only seek to separate us from a relationship with God. Through His death on the cross, Jesus has restored the relationship between God and humanity.

3. The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 describes Jesus’ work of reconciliation, that is restoring our relationship with God, in this way: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” Now some of you may be saying, “Vicar Taggatz, what does the ministry of reconciliation mean? The ministry of reconciliation means that Christ has enabled us to forgive one another through His death on the cross. He takes us from being hostile enemies of God to being God’s children.

4. He’s even given to the church the authority to forgive and to retain people’s sins. We call this the OFFICE OF THE KEYS as many of us have learned in Catechism class. To retain the sins of those who do not repent and want to change their ways and to forgive the sins of those who recognize that they have done wrong both to God and to their neighbors. It’s only through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that we are able to forgive one another for our sins of stealing, lying, cheating, saying swear words and taking our God’s name in vain. The list can go on and on and on. So shout out to God an AMEN, because He’s forgiven all of us for our sins no matter what we’ve done with “no strings attached.”

5. For this reason we’re able to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus and warn them of their own sins. These people may be a co-worker, a loved one who doesn’t know Jesus as their Savior or it could even be your next door neighbor. We can tell them that Jesus has forgiven them of their sin and that He too will give them the faith that promises eternal life. Through baptism Jesus has given to all of us new life. Through the visible sign of water that symbolizes that God has cleansed us of all our sins and the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” we’re made children of God. We’re now heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven and we’ve been transformed from once being enemies of God to being His friends. Now we can restore our relationships with one another. Yes it’s true. Jesus has restored the relationship between God and humanity.

6. Have you ever seen the movie “Good Company?” Well, I have and I think that it gives to us an example about how conflict can come up between different people in our everyday lives. Dan Foreman is a hard working advertising sales executive for Sports America magazine. In the movie a large corporation purchases his magazine’s parent company and Dan loses the current position he once had. Can you imagine it? After 20 years at his post, Dan is now forced to be second in command to his new boss a 20-something year old Carter Duryea. Even though Dan has been demoted in his job he can still go home to his loving family. However, Carter’s life is in shambles. Even though he’s successful in his job he doesn’t know how to be a good husband, what it takes to be a good salesman and an upright citizen. In fact, in the movie Carter loses his wife, begins a relationship with Dan’s oldest daughter Alex and threatens to break apart the business relationship that Dan and Carter have with the magazine.

7. The film Good Company reminds us about the daily conflicts that come up in our lives due to the relationships we have as co-workers, family, friends and the like. The truth is that God has made us social creatures, but sin came into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. It’s because of our disobedience that we aren’t able to live in harmony with one another. However, Jesus reminds us that it’s only through Him that our relationships can be restored. In fact, in Matthew 18:18-20 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." That’s why Jesus calls us in Matthew 18:15 to win our brother over. To show them their sin and to tell them that we forgive them for it in the name of Jesus. It’s for this reason that we’re able to come together as a body of believers to worship Jesus in Spirit and in truth.

8. Jesus is reminding us in Matthew 18:15-20 that one of the most important things in life is about building relationships. I hope that all of you bring home with you today this message, that Jesus has broken down the barrier that was once between us and God and it’s only because of this that we’re able to restore our relationships with one another. Your probably wondering what happened to Carter and Dan in the film. In the end of the movie Dan forgave Carter for going behind his back and dating his oldest daughter Alex. The two became good friends and they actually fulfilled an important business deal. However, Dan Foreman was just a good and moral person. Can you imagine what his relationship with Carter would have been like if he was also a Christian? Dan could have showed him how Jesus had also restored Carter’s relationship with God. Because it’s only through Jesus that we’re able to truly live in harmony with one another.

9. Jesus has put people in our lives to mold and shape who we are as Christians. He has made them to be examples for us in how we live our lives. That person may be a pastor, a teacher, a parent or a friend. One thing that Matthew 18 does show to us for today is the importance of showing our brothers and sisters in Christ their faults so that they may continue to live for God and in obedience to Him. It’s for the sake of the Gospel that we may be able to live in harmony with one another and continue to worship Jesus in Spirit and truth. Our Heavenly Father want us to learn as much as we can from our life’s mentors and teachers, those people that correct us of our sin and discipline us to live an upright Christian life. My prayer for all of you is that you do the same in your lives with the people you come into contact with.

10. May each of us as we go on our way today hold Matthew 18 as a guide for how we carry out our relationships with one another. As you interact in your relationships remember that it’s only through Jesus that we’re able to forgive one another, because He first forgave us through His death on the cross. If someone sins against you go to them on your own and tell them of their sin. If that doesn’t work go and get some friends and approach the person in Christian love prodding him or her to repent and change their ways. If that doesn’t work take it to the church in hopes that the person may repent and ask God to change their ways. Bill Hybels once said that, “The mark of community--true biblical unity--is not the absence of conflict but the presence of a reconciling spirit. May this be the goal for all of us! Jesus has restored the relationship between God and humanity. NOW YOU ARE ABLE TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER. Amen & Thanks be to God!!!
(For further reference See:) Ro 12:5; 1 Co 1:10; 1 Pe 3:8.

-My first sermon went pretty well. Although, I could have been a little bit more prepared from a memorization standpoint. I hope all of you who read this are doing well.