The Story of a Young Man from the Land of Cars Who Went to the Land of Milk, Cheese and Butter

Here is the manuscript version of my sermon from today (September 4) based upon the Matthew 18:15-20 text.)

Once upon a time, there was a young man who came from the land of cars, who decided to wander about. He went from the land of cars to the land of where a great battle was fought, then he went and lived on a mountain in the South for a while, then wound up in the land of milk, cheese and butter. And he enjoyed himself in the land of milk, cheese and butter. The people in the land of milk, cheese and butter were nice to the young man from the land of cars. They even let him be their leader one day a week. But then they found out something about the young man from the land of cars. He didn’t pay honor and tribute to the rulers of the land of milk, cheese and butter. He did not bow in reverence when their name was called. “The Green Bay Packers.” He did not ritually wear the Green and the Gold. He did not tremble at the name of Rodgers; he was not in awe of the golden locks of the Hawk or the Matthews. 

He would not partake in the wearing of cheese upon his head. There were rumors that he did not bow at the whispered name “Lombardi.” He did not even consider the Frozen Tundra to be sacred. He kept his allegiance to the silly colors of Honolulu Blue and Silver, and the weaklings who represented the land of cars.

So the people of the land of milk, cheese and butter wondered what should they do to the young man from the land of cars. He seemed to be not that bad, except for the whole not honoring and wearing of the Green and Gold. So they talked and thought and prayed on what they should do with the young man from the land of cars. Some wanted to shun and ignore him. Some wanted to force him to repent and convert. The use of something called “lutefisk” was threatened. Then they decided what to do.

They threw stones at him and then burned him at the stake as a heretic. As a final insult, they buried him with a pig’s skin – in the colors of Green and Gold. The End.

Thank God that is just an imaginary tale. I’d hate to be that young man from the land of cars.

Today’s lesson from the Gospel of Matthew gives us a guide for how to deal with those who won’t conform or who have sinned against us. Let’s look at what Jesus is telling his disciples: “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” [Mt 18.15]

So, to use this imaginary story as an example, one of the residents of the land of milk, cheese and butter should go to the young man from the land of cars, taking him aside so that it is just the two of them, and say, “Hey, your beliefs aren’t what our’s are. You should change – REPENT!!”

Now, I do not want to get into an argument over whether not giving your allegiance to the Green and Gold can be considered sinning against someone. But let’s use that as our example.

Jesus says to take your brother or sister – a fellow believer, a member of the church – take them aside and between just you and them, tell them where they have wronged you. Show them the errors of their ways. Just the two of you.

Please note, it doesn’t say to: Tell all of your friends, neighbors, relatives, casual acquaintances, the people in line with you at the Quik Mart, whomever friends or follows you on Facebook or Twitter about how weird this person from the land of cars is for liking “Honolulu Blue.” No – you are NOT to talk about them behind their back. You are not to spread rumors or gossip about them. This is not the time to have a gripe fest. If someone has wronged you, sinned against you, take it up with them, face-to-face, person-to-person.

“If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.” [Mt 18.15b] If you get the young man from the land of cars to see the light, and he partakes in the wearing of the cheese upon his head – GREAT! Maybe he will get on the season ticket waiting list at whatever number is beyond infinity.

That person may not have realized they did something wrong. They may have thought it wasn’t that big of a deal. Or maybe they knew they were wrong, but couldn’t bring themselves to make the first move and apologize. But because you went to them, one on one, they did not have to be embarrassed in front of everyone.

“But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” [Mt 18.16] So the young man from the land of cars refuses to wear the cheese on his head and continues to pay respect to the Honolulu Blue and Silver, what do you do? Stone and burn him!! Grill ‘em like a brat!! No.

If he won’t listen to you, take a friend or two along with you to talk to him again. These should be mutual friends, people who care for both of you. They should listen to what you have to say about what has happened. They may be able to show the young man from the land of cars where he was wrong. They may be able to find a compromise, a middle ground between you. Maybe he wears cheese on his head on certain festival days. Maybe you don’t laugh at the sad people who honor the Honolulu Blue and Silver, and you encourage them for the effort they put forth. Or maybe, just maybe, your friends tell you that the other hasn’t sinned against you.

Sometimes, we feel wronged, we feel slighted when we really weren’t. But we feel that we were wronged and we hold that grudge, that slight, and it gets under our skin. Then that becomes a sore point, and may infect other areas of our relationship.

But if the other person did something wrong, the others can hear from both sides and be able to say, if nothing else, that you tried to mend fences.

“If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” [Mt 18.17] The young man from the land of cars won’t listen to you and your friends. Now what. You take this to the whole church, and explain to the entire assembly what has gone on. Maybe when he hears from everyone that what he is doing is wrong, maybe then the young man form the land of cars will honor the Green and Gold and wear the cheese upon his head. Or maybe he won’t.

You have taken multiple opportunities to show the young man from the land of cars that he has wronged you. You talked to him face to face. You brought others to hear from each of you, and they gave their opinions and recommendations. You came before the community of believers and stated your case and they weighed in on your side. And yet the young man from the land of cars still clings to his Honolulu Blue and Silver. Now what do you do?

Burn him at the stake! Cook him like kielbasa! No. Stone him! No. Then what.

Treat him as a non-believer or one who has fallen away. Treat him like someone who follows the boys from Texas who wear stars on their heads, or the blue and orange ones who growl and smell like bears, or the ones who wear black and who work with steel. Treat him like one of those outcasts, unclean and unworthy.

But how did Jesus treat the Gentile and the tax collector? Well according to Matthew, Jesus said the Centurion had faith greater than anyone in Israel before his son was healed, and Jesus said the Canaanite’s woman was great before her son was healed. He also healed cast out demons from the man near Gadarene and sent them into a herd of swine; that man told many about what Jesus did. He also healed lepers and those who were paralyzed.

And as for tax collectors, Jesus made one of them a disciple. His name was Matthew. This passage is in the Gospel that bears his name.

So how did Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors? He reached out to them. While they weren’t his primary mission, they weren’t his core audience; he still helped and healed them. He included them in his ministry.

So how should the young man from the land of cars who won’t wear the cheese upon his head, or even the grizzly followers of those from the City of Wind be treated?

Often this passage is used as a way to kick people out. It is the only Bible passage specifically referenced in the ELCA Constitution. It is there as a guide to how to discipline a member.

It was very nice of Jesus to give us the process and procedure that we can use to draw the line between those who are with us and those who aren’t. Because Jesus was all about pushing people away.

But he wasn’t. Jesus drew people to him; he was inclusive. That’s one of the things that got him in hot water with the Pharisees. They wanted to define who was in and who was out, and Jesus kept hanging out with those they labeled as unclean and unworthy.

So this passage seems out of character and out of context. Let’s look at what surrounds it. Following these verses, Peter asks how many times you should forgive someone. A pretty good text for the 10^th anniversary of 9/11, so I’ll save that for next week. The header for the passage preceding this is “The Parable of the Lost Sheep.” [Mt 18.10-14]

In that parable, Jesus tells about a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to go after one that has gone astray. THEN, he talks about how to deal with someone who has sinned against you. Right before he said, “If another member of the church sins against you …” he said, “It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones be lost.” [Mt 18.15a, 14]

Does that change how you view how to treat those who done something wrong to you? Because the shepherd rejoices when he finds the one that has gone astray; more so than he does over the 99 that never wander off.

Sunday, September 18 is National Back to Church Sunday. There is a bit of information about it in the bulletin. I would encourage you to invite a family member or friend who has wandered off, away from church, to come to worship with us that Sunday or any Sunday. If you know someone who feels like they were chased away, invite them. If you know someone who has wronged you, ask them to come. If you have wronged someone, please invite them.

So if some has wronged you, and won’t admit to it, or apologize, or even admit they’ve done something wrong, even if they won’t make amends after they’ve been confronted by friends and by the entire worshipping community, even to that point, they are not alone. While they may no longer be a part of the community, they are still part of God’s community. They are still a child of God, and God still loves them.

We are to reach out to them. Minister to them. Pray for them. Care for them.

Even love them, enough to invite them to come to be with us.

We still love them. We may not like them a lot, but we still have Christian love for them. I want to re-read verse 17, but from a different translation, The Message: “If he still won’t listen (to the church), you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love" [Mt 18.17 The Message]

Now, that’s the first time I used the word “forgive” during my message. We will talk more about forgiveness next week. Jesus says we are to talk to the one who has sinned against us, wronged us, and show them the error of their ways. But it is to seek their repentance.

When someone has sinned against us, it may have been in some different ways. Some of those ways may have truly hurt us, abused us, changed us. No deed can be undone, and some things you can’t get over.

I’m not asking you to forgive them – that’s next week’s topic – I’m asking, and Jesus is telling, they are still a child of God. But while they have sinned against you, we have all sinned against God. We throw ourselves at the foot of the Cross, begging for mercy, groveling for grace, hoping to be forgiven.

While you are at the foot of the Cross, remember to leave room for other sinners, even those who have sinned against you.