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September 4, 2011 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20 'Shun em!

Dr. Ted H. Sandberg

Levi Zendt was a young Mennonite man, growing up in Lancaster, PA in 1844. He was the IiIth son
in a well to do Iarming Iamily which sold much oI its produce in the market each Saturday. This
particular Saturday, Levi had the astonishing privilege oI having Rebecca StoltzIus sit with him at
lunch. And when he went to deliver the leIt-over produce to the orphanage aIter the day`s selling,
Rebecca jumped on the sleigh with him.
James Michener, in his book Centennial, tells what happened next. 'The nearness oI this Iriendly and
beautiIul girl and the Iact that she`d chosen to ride in his sleigh got possession oI him, and he started to
wrestle with her, trying to steal a kiss. He was rough and awkward, and when she coyly pushed him
away, he tore her dress. It was an appalling perIormance, and she began to scream and leaped Irom
the sleigh.
Immediately it seemed, the entire town knew oI what he`d done, and worse, his brothers, including
Mahlon who was planning on making Rebecca his own wiIe, knew. Levi thus Iaced the wrath oI his
brothers and eventually the entire town. Because Levi had dared to breakout oI the restraints which
those Lancaster Mennonites placed upon themselves which said that sexuality was to be expressed in
words rather than actions, without a Iormal vote, the Mennonites decided to shun Levi. 'From that
moment he became an outcast. He could not attend church, nor speak with anyone who did. He could
not buy or sell, or give or take. He could converse with no man, and the idea oI striking up a
Iriendship with any woman was beyond imagination. On Friday, when he walked Irom the Iarm to
Lancaster, no passer-by would oIIer him a ride. The black sleighs skidded past as iI he were a pariah.
And when he reached the market, none oI the merchants would talk with him.
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And so, Levi leIt
Lancaster and his Iamily, because, even iI the town eased its shunning in the spring, he`d never live
down his disgrace.
Does that kind oI behavior, that shunning, occur today? Sometimes. Good Iriends oI mine were asked
to leave the church in which they`d spent their entire lives because oI some dispute with the minister
who`s since leIt. Their philosophy oI the church diIIered Irom the philosophy oI the minister and their
church, their Iriends, asked them to leave the Iellowship and go elsewhere aIter the church, believing it
was obeying the teaching oI Jesus, had Iollowed these steps: 'II another member oI the church sins
against you, go and point out the Iault when the two oI you are alone. . . (I)I you are not listened to,
take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be conIirmed by the evidence oI two or
three witnesses. II the member reIuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and iI the oIIender
reIuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. In other
words, they understood this to mean, iI the person doesn`t listen to you or the church, 'shun em,
have nothing to do with them.
How oIten, I wonder, has this particular passage been used to get rid oI those individuals with whom
we don`t agree, or with whom we`re having a problem? How oIten have we in the church used this
passage to Iorce those who are diIIerent Irom us away Irom us? How oIten have we used this as an

1. Michener, James A., Centennial, Fawcett Crest, New York, 1974, p. 313.


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excuse to shun someone, rather than as a means oI settling diIIerences?
It`s the purpose oI this passage, aIter all, to settle the diIIerences we have with Iellow Christians. And
we do have our diIIerences, don`t we? Sometimes people get the idea that because we`re involved in
church work, we don`t have diIIerences or disagreements. Sometimes people Ieel that everything
should always go smoothly with no dissension or tension.
But Jesus knew this wasn`t going to happen in the church, because the church is made up oI very
human people. There are going to be disagreements, dissension, and dare we even say, Iights. People
are going to get angry Irom time to time. Ollie says something about Lars` political position, and Lars
takes exception to that analysis and soon they aren`t speaking to one another, and everyone knows,
and most take sides. Whenever people come together, there are all kinds oI dynamics that come into
play. The church, because it`s made up oI people like you and me, is Iar Irom perIect, and when we
come to worship, we shouldn`t expect perIection, nor use our diIIerences as an excuse to go
somewhere else.
Because none oI us is perIect, it`s diIIicult to know how to deal with tensions within a congregation.
Even this morning`s passage doesn`t help me all that much to know what to do, to be honest. One
commentator on the passage writes, 'In many ways this is one oI the most diIIicult passages to
interpret in all oI Matthew`s gospel. Its diIIiculty lies in the undoubted Iact that it doesn`t really ring
true; it doesn`t really sound like Jesus, but rather sounds more like the regulations oI some church
discipline committee.
Further, this passage seems to reIlect a Iully developed and organized Church with a system oI
discipline already in place, and that didn`t occur until well aIter Jesus` resurrection. What`s more, it
speaks oI tax-collectors and Gentiles as irreclaimable outsiders. Yet Jesus himselI was accused oI
being the Iriend oI tax-gatherers and sinners; and he never spoke oI them as hopeless outsiders, but
always with sympathy and love, and even with praise. The whole tone oI the passage is that there`s a
limit to Iorgiveness, that there comes a time when a person may be abandoned as beyond hope, a
teaching that`s directly counter to the argument Jesus makes in just as Iew verses, the passage we`ll
look at next week. Most probably, what`s happened here is that the Church has remembered Jesus`
words, but has missed some oI his compassion.
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So when we work with this passage, it`s important to
remember the compassion Jesus had Ior all people, tax-collectors and Gentiles included.
Given that, what`s the process suggested to us Ior settling the disputes? First, 'II another member oI
the church sins against you, go and point out the Iault when the two oI you are alone. In other words,
what Jesus is saying is that we`re not to tolerate any situation in which there`s a breach oI a personal
relationship between us and another member oI the Christian community. II someone has hurt us,
we`re to go and talk to that person about the hurt.
Not that this is easy, but it does work. BeIore we moved to Chico, I was deeply hurt by something a
colleague had said in a sermon at a convention. I didn`t have an opportunity to respond to him right
away, so I Iumed Ior the rest oI the day, during which time I talked with a number oI other people to

2. Barclay, William, The Gospel oI Matthew, volume 2, revised edition, The Westminster Press,
Philadelphia, 1975, p. 187.


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see iI I`d misunderstood what had been said. I hadn`t. That night, sleep was very diIIicult as I
wrestled with what to do; ignore the comment or talk with the person. Once I decided to conIront him,
I think I spent most oI the rest oI the night trying to Iigure out how to go about that conIrontation, and
worrying about what, and how, to say it.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, my worst Iears about the conIrontation were absolutely
unIounded. When I talked with my colleague and told him that I was very angry about what he`d said,
he immediately said that he hadn`t meant to cause anger or hurt, but that he could see how I`d been
angry at what he said. He apologized Ior what he`d said, and Ior the hurt. He then said he was very
glad that I`d come to him with my Ieelings rather than simply staying angry with him. We were able
to deepen our Iriendship because both oI us had gained added respect Ior each other.
Not that it always works out this well. But the worst thing that we can do about a hurt is to brood
about it. That can poison us, until we can think oI nothing else but our sense oI personal injury. II we
want the relationship to continue, our hurt or angry Ieelings are best brought out into the open and
clearly stated. OIten, the very stating oI the problem will show how unimportant and trivial the whole
thing is. Or by stating the problem with the other person, that will in itselI go Iar in resolving the
issue. It`s amazing how oIten just the simple act oI sharing our hurt and pain with the person who
caused the pain, helps.
I take the second part oI this passage, '(I)I you are not listened to, take one or two others along with
you, so that every word may be conIirmed by the evidence oI two or three witnesses, not in a legal
sense, but in the sense that sometimes it`s helpIul to have someone work through the issue between us
and the other party. It can be very helpIul to have third party serve as mediator. Frequently, because
oI the pain involved in a dispute, neither side is able to truly hear the other person. We may hear the
words with our ears, but we don`t hear the Ieelings with our hearts. We may hear anger, but miss the
love. A third party, especially a trained third party, can help two parties hear each other and work
things out.
And iI that doesn`t work? Then what? Then we go to the church, Jesus says. But we go, bringing
both parties as iI they`re tax-collectors and Gentiles. We don`t shun, as Levi Zendt experienced in
Michener`s book. Instead we remember that Jesus never gave up on the tax-collector or the Gentile.
The point here isn`t to burn someone at the stake, or shun em, but to witness to them about the love
and Iorgiveness oI Jesus Christ.
Maybe this was at the heart oI the problem in Ephesus when we read in Revelation, 'I also know that
you are enduring patiently and bearing up Ior the sake oI my name, and that you have not grown
weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at Iirst.
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The believers
there were so caught up in the 574-028 that they Iorgot to love. It`s easy to do. May it be our
prayer, however, that no matter what problem we Iace, we remember to love as Christ loves, and
Iorgive as Christ Iorgives. II, through the giIt oI the Holy spirit, we can remember to love, then we`ll
never have the need to shun someone in our church, but can instead open our arms to include
everyone.

3. Revelation 2:3-4