Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20

We all need to do our part. It is not enough to know and lament that harm is done to others, we need to speak up and do our best for the person to stop their harming behaviour.

The prophet Ezekiel had been asked to proclaim warnings on behalf of God. His laments concerning Pharaoh, the king of Egypt were certainly not easy to proclaim, but he had no choice. Ezekiel is now asked to warn the people of Israel of the consequences if they are not changing their behaviours and repent. If the people listen to Ezekiel and act accordingly, they will be spared.
God gives them a last chance. If Ezekiel doesn’t warn them, he would deprive them of this chance and would therefore make himself responsible for the consequences. God doesn’t hold Ezekiel responsible for their behaviour but connects Ezekiel’s fate to his willingness to do his part – which is to proclaim God’s warning.
In the text, God calls Ezekiel ‘son of man’ which might be seen as a reference to the weakness of a human, but at the same time God trusts Ezekiel to do the right thing.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul urges the people to live together in harmony, to love one another, to overcome hatred and feelings of revenge or retribution, and instead to cultivate love and forgiveness. However, if people commit evil acts, if they sin, they will be held accountable. In this sense, it is everyone’s duty to pay their debts, be it the taxes, revenue, honour or respect. Paul warns his audience of a trap that makes people dependent and that takes away their freedom: the trap of debt.
While financial debt makes people vulnerable, Paul brings up the idea of losing one’s freedom for mutual love. Mutual love would make two or more people dependent on each other, but as long as it is mutual, the overall result is that God’s Law, the Law of Love would be fulfilled.
Paul refers to the Ten Commandments which lay out love in action. Mutual love, the love for one another is what God asks us to give and to receive in abundance.

Jesus, in the Gospel according to Matthew, has been teaching his disciples through parables. He gives them advice where they are failing and prepares them for the time when he would not be with them. One of the most frequent topics in any community of human beings is certainly how to deal with members of the community who have done wrong, who have sinned – in the sense of the Hebrew translation of ‘missing the mark’.
Following the advice in Ezekiel, it is important to give a person the chance to recognise the wrong done and to sincerely repent. According to Paul, all relationships are best to be built on mutual love, the love of the neighbour.
In the account with Jesus, he is very precise of how to deal with someone who has done wrong: first try to solve the issue one to one with the person. If the person doesn’t listen and repent, then the conversation is done in the presence of witnesses. The witnesses can confirm that the conversation was carried out and that the perpetrator had the chance to listen and to repent. Only when this second attempt is without result, the community is informed. This is the third and last chance, the chance that was mentioned in Ezekiel: if the person is still not repenting, the community will distance themselves from the person. Punishment by exclusion.
However, Jesus comforts them immediately: when followers of Jesus are together in his name, he is among them – like the witnesses who help someone find their way back into the community.
The disciples who have been rebuked several times for their ‘little faith’, are called to follow Jesus’ advice and work together: “For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.”

God doesn’t leave the one behind who has sinned, ‘missed the mark’. God asks others to help the person to repent. Doing one’s own part to help this person would be an act of kindness, showing our love of our neighbour.

As a community, we are called to act in love and find ways to bring people back to God. Then, we are true missionary disciples. We are showing the way and inviting others to follow.

BM