Matthew 18:15-20 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 18:15-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. Verse 16But 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. Verse 17If 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. Verse 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Verse 19Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. Verse 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Devotion
Think for a moment about the verse that stuck out to you the most as you read this passage. Perhaps you thought of verse 15, or 18, or 20-some of the most familiar verses in this passage.
Though it is an easy one to overlook as we go from one familiar verse to the other, there is another interesting verse in this passage. In the second half of verse 17, Jesus says, "If the offender refuses to listen to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." If we read this verse too quickly, it sounds as though Jesus is telling us to treat the offender in a way that is justifiable by his/her sin. Yet what is interesting is that Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and Gentiles. He did not treat them as outsiders; instead, he welcomed them into his fold and extended to them God's love.
Prayer
Jesus, just as you welcomed tax collectors and Gentiles, and extended to them your love, help us to welcome and love those who we might initially consider outsiders or undeserving. In your name we pray, Amen.