Bible study

Welcome and opening prayer (5 mins)

A prayer of approach

O Lord our God,
we sometimes tremble as we think of who we are and who you are.
Bring us now, in this moment, to know you.
See us as we are, and see our yearning to be more like you.
May we lay aside anything that hinders our journey with you,
and with our friends and neighbours.
Amen.

Read the text (10 mins)

Consider different ways to read the text. For example, sharing parts between several readers, or hearing it more than once using different versions, or using/adapting this suggestion.

Present the Gospel

This reading is less about church discipline and more about a good pastoral approach and healthy community relationships (see Bible notes), within the overarching message of Jesus’ radical inclusion emphasised by most of Matthew’s Gospel. Use the mime   to accompany the reading of the passage. It presents the reading twice, to emphasise this understanding. You will need: a sinner, a leader, some friends, and one other person who has a brief speaking part.

Use the mime below to accompany the reading of the passage. It presents the reading twice, to emphasise this understanding. You will need: a sinner, a leader, some friends, and one other person who has a brief speaking part.

Mime script

The ‘sinner’ sits on the floor looking sad and lonely. The leader comes and stands over him/her, points an accusing finger, then displays a large card, made to look like a tablet of stone with ‘10 commandments’ written on it.

The sinner looks up, pleadingly, miming asking for forgiveness. But the leader is having none of it and refuses to listen to the sinner.

The leader beckons some friends over, points at the sinner and at the card, and ‘talks’ to his friends. They all stand over the sinner, nodding their heads.

The leader turns to the congregation, then points at the sinner and at the card. The leader and friends forcefully turn their backs to the sinner.

By now the reader should be at verse 18. The reading is suddenly interrupted by someone who waves their arms and shouts: ‘No! Stop! You’ve got it all wrong!’ The action and the reading stop.

After a few moments of silence, start the reading and the mime over again. Except, this time, the leader comes and sits beside the sinner and they start ‘talking’. The leader nods to show they are listening carefully.

The leader’s friends walk by, and the leader beckons them. They come and all sit down in a semicircle. They too listen to the sinner. Someone gives the sinner a leaflet. They are clearly friendly towards the sinner.

As verse 18 is read, the leader and friends shake hands with, or give ‘high fives’ to, the sinner, and all stand and slowly walk away waving goodbye.

Explore and respond to the text (30 mins)

Use the Bible notes as a way into Bible study. For example, you could read a section, then allow time for people to discuss issue raised and respond.

Bible notes

Old Testament: Ezekiel 33.7-11

The prophet has been called to be a watchman for Israel, someone who sees and points to the nation’s failings so that they can mend their ways. It was the call spelled out in chapter 3 and it is repeated here like brackets around the first half of the book. God reminds Ezekiel that however unpalatable it is to point out another’s wrongdoing, that is the prophet’s call and it is the way that both will receive God’s blessing. But Ezekiel is also to remind the people that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather wants all of them to turn and live.

New Testament: Romans 13.8-14

Paul draws the threads of his argument in Romans 12 and 13 together by pointing out that the Christian ethic is love of neighbour in action. It is this that fulfils the Law, that does what God wants. Earlier in the chapter Paul has claimed that Caesar’s empire rules by fear and violence. Here he stresses that God’s kingdom is marked by love. The second half of the reading is couched in apocalyptic language highlighting the coming of the dawn of the new age, where the empire’s deeds of darkness have no place. Rather, we are called to be like Christ – using the bold image of putting him on like an outer garment – so that we fulfil the Law as he did.

Gospel: Matthew 18.15-20

What happens when someone in our circle is living in such a way that they deny their confession? Jesus’ teaching here follows on from warnings about not putting stumbling blocks in the path of the weak or the young (18.1-14).

The words ‘another member of the church’ (NRSV) are not in the original; this section is more about interpersonal relationships than church discipline. Jesus says we each have the responsibility to gently correct one another (taking due note of the warning in 7.1-4). When disciples stray because of sin, we need to name it in the hope that the one straying will see that their actions violate the values of the kingdom and repent. If they will not listen to us, then we should take someone else so there are witnesses of our concerns and the brother/sister’s response. Perhaps the witness will decide that we are wrong, not our brother/sister! Only if someone persists in blatant sin do we tell the rest of the community. The picture is of the community gathered together for fellowship and teaching.

Verses 18 to 20 put this in context. The community we are part of is not just a club, it is the kingdom of God; Jesus is at the heart of it – so how we live matters. Jesus’ words echo the language previously used of Peter (16.19): every disciple is equally able to discern the mind of God in Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 2.15). Here the passage comes full circle and picks up the question about status: we are all equal.

‘Binding’ and ‘loosing’ are about things and issues, not people (the words are gender-neutral), so probably refer to the actions of the straying brother or sister. Jesus says that we are able to discern right and wrong behaviour (because we have heard his teaching; see Matthew 28.20) and have a duty to point it out. The clue to how this works is in the tense of the verbs relating to heaven (v.18). They are future perfects, indicating that we are let in on what God has already decided – that is, through prayer and the Scriptures, we discern God’s mind and communicate that to each other and God, asking him what he wants us to ask him (v.19). This is possible because we are the community of Christ (v.20). Jesus looks beyond the resurrection to when he will truly be our Immanuel, God with us all the time, at the heart of all our gathering, however small (cf. Matthew 1.23; 28.20).

The links between the lectionary readings

God is committed to drawing disparate people into a community founded on his values. For Ezekiel and Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, this is about calling out sin where we see it in the hope that an individual will turn and mend their ways. For Paul it is about embodying love of neighbour; in doing that, we start to look like Jesus – not just as individuals but as churches.

For more discussion ideas, and practical and active ways to explore and respond to the readings, choose from: Sermon ideas; Active worship; Picture pointers; or PostScript

Pray together (10 mins)

Prayers of intercession

Eternal, ever-living God,
we pray for those who this day need our prayers:
those we see around us…
those we have left at home…
family and friends near and far…
strangers and communities we will never meet or know,
but whose peril we hear of and see on our screens…
those whose life is ebbing away
consumed by old age, frailty, illness or neglect…
those who grieve deeply for lives and loves lost…
those who cause grief and chaos in society
and who live seemingly with different values from ours,
for them and their victims and their families…
those who are forgotten, unnoticed, unloved, unmissed…
Lord God, in your abundance of mercy,
hear these and all our prayers.
Amen.

End the session (5 mins)

A sending out prayer

Being Christian, O God, is not just about ‘me and you’,
not just about our conversations and our love.
Help us to see those we meet beyond these doors
in the way that you see them.
Help us to offer support from what we know of you.
Send us out from here to be a shining light for you,
a guiding light for those in confusion, aloneness and darkness.
Amen.

Live your faith

Write a letter to your MP about an issue that stirs your feelings, or join a campaigning group for such an issue (e.g. Avaaz or 38 degrees).