Matthew 18:15-20
September 6, 2026
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland, California.
Welcome to worship on this Labor Day weekend! Before you fire up your grills tomorrow for a barbecue, this federal holiday was the aftermath of the Pullman Strike of 1894, a severe railroad strike in Chicago that turned violent when federal troops were sent to break it up, resulting in worker deaths. To repair relations with the American workforce after the strike, President Grover Cleveland rushed legislation through Congress, signing Labor Day into law as an official federal holiday on June 28, 1894.
Resolving conflict in the workplace is not the same as resolving conflict in the church. In my life-long involvement in church life and denominational life, conflict is a given. And if we thought that disagreements, differences in how we perceive a matter, not reaching consensus and expected to take a vote when the majority would have their way, all kinds of conflicts; that these things don’t have a place in the life of a church, we are fooling ourselves!
In our largely Western ethos, we see the local church as a voluntary association of autonomous individuals. Individualism with an emphasis on independence, self-reliance, and individual authority, is so highly esteemed. Frank Sinatra says, “I have it my way!” Diana Ross sings, “It’s My Turn.” Even Burger King says, “Have it Your Way!”
We live in a culture where church is often a place of self-sufficient individuals who gather for worship on Sunday, then leave to do their own thing throughout the week.
Body of Christ
Our Matthew text is about the nature of the church which Jesus speaks about and is reflected in the image of the Body of Christ expressed by Paul. Christ is in the church: “Whoever welcomesone such child in my name welcomes me” (18:5) and “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them (18:20). Each member is of great value, and no member may be considered superior to any others.
This means that the church is not a voluntary association of like-minded individuals that regulates its corporate life by the will of the elite, the powerful, or the majority. Rather, it is a fellowship of believers united with one another in Jesus Christ who is the head. The church is a place of mutual interdependence, where each member is incomplete without the other, where suffering of one is the suffering of all, and where the honor of one lead to the rejoicing of all.
This also means that conflict between members not only affects the individuals involved but infects the entire community. Where members are bound together as a part of the body of Christ, the disunity between a few is the disunity of all.
The point is that neither you or I can have it my way!
Many know all too well how painful church conflict can be. Some may have left the church. We expect conflict in our workplace, at school, and maybe in our homes, but how can we have conflict in the church when we say, “God is love?” We’re supposed to be Christians!
In this passage, Jesus seems to assume that there will be conflict among his followers. What makes us Christian is not whether or not we fight, disagree, or wound one another, but how we go about addressing and resolving our conflictual issues.
We see that in the world when there’s conflict, there will be yelling, slandering, gossiping, humiliating, or even taking people to People’s Court! But neither are we expected to sweep everything under the rug as if conflict does not exist, smiling on the outside while hating on the inside. Instead, Jesus calls us to the higher task of reconciliation and provides a way to move beyond our divisions.
Reconciliation
Jesus instructs us to reconcile with the offender one on one. We first honor the other person by speaking the truth in love, pouring ourselves into the process for the sake of our relationship and the community as a whole. It is only if we have exhausted ourselves and are unable to break through that we bring the conflict to others in the church, which is the communal resource for discernment and guidance.
Seeking repentance but unsuccessful in achieving it and the conflict is beginning to cause great harm to the whole body, then, as a last resort, it must be brought before the whole church. Finally, if the offending member still refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing in the presence of the community, then that person reveals that he/she is like a “Gentile and a tax collector.” This person who is no longer willing to be a part of the holy fellowship should be loosed from membership.
When we enter into membership here at Lakeshore, we bind ourselves to one another with Christ as our head. The composition of our diverse community is precisely what makes us Christians. The overcoming of such differences is what distinguishes us from the world, which is organized around sameness.
We are not free from each other; we are free in each other. In other words, we are most free when we bring into our church fellowship our insights, perspectives, and differences to discern God’s wisdom and direction for our future.
In my previous pastorate, we had a person who claimed to have a more righteous understanding of God’s plan for this church. He thought his mission was to save us, redeem us. To confront this emerging issue, I invited him out for coffee. I told him that I respected his viewpoint but that I disagreed with his verdict of this church. I reminded him that for some miraculous reason, this church has been blessed by God since its beginning in 1880. If this church is still growing and changing people’s lives, then I believed that God sees this church in a favorable light. I still invited him to come to worship but perhaps, he is more like the “Gentile and the tax collector” that Jesus spoke about. Perhaps, he would find another mission field to serve but not this one.From that point on, we had no more conflicts!
Expectations
This Labor Day weekend symbolizes our season of life from summer to the fall. After a summer break, we go back to school, although many have already done so. We return to our workplaces with stories to share and hopefully a bit more rested for the work ahead. We turn the page on our calendars and see a multitude of appointments and meetings scheduled.
In the life of Lakeshore, we are also entering a new season of substantial change and transitions. Your financial church leaders are meticulously and faithfully addressing the financial capability of the membership to hopefully, propose to you a balanced budget for 2027. This has expectedly and unsurprisingly led to the tightening of our belts insofar as to our pastoral staff team. We know that these are difficult changes when we have invested so much and for so long in the ministries that we have had together.
For over 50 years, Lakeshore has been in the ministry of the Children’s Center. With state funded Pre-K education in the public schools and the fewer number of children in our neighborhood, the consideration to close down this ministry is a hard reality to accept. But we also know that nothing on earth is permanent and when circumstances have changed, we are then called to confront these issues honestly and rationally.
And when the Pastoral Search Committee present to you a candidate to become your next pastor, there may be differences of opinions. You may have questions that may have no satisfying answers. You may have some doubts that may lead you to wonder. But this lesson reminds us that whenever and whoever may have any conflicts, we are still God’s people living together in mutual interdependence under Christ.
The Rule of Christ
These verses in Matthew 18 are often referred to as the Rule of Christ because they redefine the goals of confrontation or intervention in seeking to rescue and forgive in the spirit of humility. When we are dealing with conflict, and in cases of discipline in the church, the focus is on reconciliation, not punishment. The ultimate goal is to “regain the brother or sister” to return to the community. Every effort is to be taken to prevent embarrassment or shame for the offender.
The offended person is to go to the brother or sister in private to try to rectify the situation. Only if that fails, should one or two other brothers and sisters in the faith be taken along to attempt a resolution of the problem. If these steps still have not resolved the problem, then the matter is to be brought before the entire church.
In this next season of the life of Lakeshore, there will undoubtedly be differences in opinions that we pray will lead to taking more time to understand each other. If you find yourself in conflict with another person, I hope that you would seek reconciliation. When we find ourselves at an impasse, I hope that you will exhaust yourselves to find consensus instead of forcing each other for a majority decision; consequently, leaving others behind.
God with Us
In verse 19, Jesus says, “Again, 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.” This means that God will answer any prayer that arises from the collaboration and agreement of believers on earth. When the church brings about reconciliation and restoration, the church is acting on God’s behalf, even when the church is struggling in the midst of disagreements.
We are reassured that God is present in the community through Christ from the birth narrative of “God is with us” to the final words of the Gospel, “I am with you always.” (28:20)
Our discipleship and Christian service at Lakeshore is a call and sacrifice in ministry to the world. Being in Christ, not only will expect us to be discipline but also be reconciling our conflicts for the sake of Christian fellowship and unity.
We seek to care for one another even when injured or offended, which requires us to repent, forgive, and trust in one another to follow Christ in the days to come.
Remember, we are not free from each other, we are free in each other. Let us welcome this upcoming season at Lakeshore with hope in the future, love in one another, and the peace of understanding to continue our unity in Christ.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, in the midst of often challenging and troubling situations where conflict might derail us from making good decisions shared and supported by everyone, we seek your presence and wisdom. Help us to listen keenly to one another so that we may fully understand. Help us to pray and reflect what we might wish to say to build up understanding instead of creating distrust. As Christ reconciled the world on the Cross, lead us to learn how we may also sacrifice our own positions for the sake of the unity of Lakeshore as the Body of Christ in the world. In the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.