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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

Conflict – separation or gathering?

Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there (Matthew 18.20)

Context

Peace is rarely news and our media tends to be filled with conflict. As I write the news is still full of something of which most of us were unaware ten days ago: RAAC - reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. How is it that so many buildings in so many places used a material with an expected life of just 30 years and which in time and when water gets in crumbles so easily? And how is it that so little has been done as it has become clear that experts have known of the fundamental issue for months if not years? ‘Who is responsible?’ we tend to ask. Who can we blame?

Tension, if not outright conflict, seems also to underpin issues in the NHS from the failure to identify Lucy Letby as dangerous to the unwillingness to respond to appeals from family for a second opinion which underlies the pressure for ‘Martha’s rule’ – a right to seek a second opinion from a different team of experts.

Meanwhile in bigger conflicts Ukraine claims to have made a significant advance through a Russian minefield. And Birmingham City Council declares itself effectively bankrupt.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

Today’s Gospel passage reports Jesus’ teaching on how to deal with conflict in the Early Church. The passage specifically refers to the ‘church’ or congregation, despite the fact that there is little evidence elsewhere in the Gospels that Jesus intended to form a ‘church’ as such. Or are we to understand that, facing conflict in the churches for whom the Gospel is written, the Gospel writer draws on teaching which, on Jesus’ lips, was not specifically addressed to the Early Church?

To my mind, the most interesting feature of the teaching in today’s gospel is that Jesus envisages ways of bringing the conflicting parties together. He does seem to side with the church leadership but calls on those leaders to treat those with whom they disagree like ‘Gentiles or tax collectors’, both groups with whom Jesus partied! So, are we called to party with folk with whom we disagree? The final words of the passage about gathering in Jesus’ name might suggest just that!

Those words about two or three gathering are well known perhaps especially in small congregations. But their original context in a passage about conflict is rarely recalled. We are challenged to resolve our disagreements before we gather for worship (Matthew 5.23-26). But can worship sometimes help people who differ to work together? Examples might include working with other Christians at a food bank or in social care.

The hostility which some Christians show towards others seeking to follow Christ does nothing to enhance the Church’s image or – more importantly - to advance the kingdom of God. To my mind the negativity shown by some Christians to people of other religions or beliefs is also impossible to reconcile with our faith in a God who ‘proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8). The procedure outlined in this Gospel passage for handling disagreements demands respect and courtesy on the part of those who represent the Christian community towards those who are perceived to be in error; nothing here justifies name-calling, condemnation or persecution.

Does reconciliation also involve repentance on both sides? There's an interesting liturgy for repentance and reconciliation at the end of the most recent report of the international Methodist-Roman Catholic dialogue.

 

Questions for discussion

• How do you resolve conflict in your personal and family life?
• What do you make of the process for dealing with conflict set out in this week’s Gospel passage? Could and should we apply it in today’s church?
• How in today’s church can and should we disagree well, especially on issues which folk think important?

Dudley Coates is a local preacher in the Yeovil and Blackmore Vale Methodist Circuit and a former Vice President of the Methodist Conference.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

You’ve successfully made it through the first week(s) back at school! After six long weeks away, your uniform is back in action, your bags have been packed multiple times, your shoes may well be pinching your feet and, if you’ve not had many opportunities to see your friends during the holidays, now has been your chance to catch up.

However.

It doesn’t always go as smoothly as we’d like, does it? The return to school brings with it early get-ups, new school year pressures, unexpected early homework (I mean, really, do the teachers need to give you homework in the first week?), plus a whole new timetable to get your head round. Our friendships can be strained by these pressures and tiredness. I don’t know about you, but conflict always seemed to arise within these first few weeks back at school after summer.

As we settle into the rhythm of a new school year, are there ways that we can approach such conflicts, no matter how big or small, with the love and care that Jesus teaches us in these verses? Could you be the one to bring healing into a situation? Let us pray for guidance and direction as we move forward over the following days.

Lindsay Wright is a freelance writer and designer based in Lancashire.

 

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