Kathleen Rushton says that Matthew 18:15-21 challenges us to show evidence of our ecological conversion.

In Matthew 18 Jesus talks about life in the church, the community which with God’s guidance continues the reign of God in their time and local place.

The discourse has two main sections. The first (Mt 18:1-14) shows the attitude of humility in the community especially in how it cares for vulnerable members. This section ends with the parable of the lost sheep.

The second section (Mt 18: 15-35) outlines a way for dealing with deviant behaviour (Mt 18:15-19) which is placed within the context of limitless forgiveness and reinforced by the parable of the unforgiving servant.

While Mt 18:1-14 is concerned with the danger of “little ones” straying from the church, Mt 18:15-21 considers how a person who misbehaves may remain within the church.

Australian biblical scholar Brendan Byrne suggests that in this chapter we can discern a pattern to guide us in the sensitive issue of brotherly/sisterly correction which is set in an overall framework that advocates humility and radical forgiveness. The hope is that the steps outlined will lead the person to transform their ways and be integrated into the holiness of the community. The pattern offers an opportunity for growth to those involved.

“I Am in the Midst”

The understanding that God-with-us, found at the beginning and at the end of Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 1:23; 28:20), permeates the story and emerges explicitly at this point in the context of a community: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20, literal translation).

Where “two or three” — no number is too small — are gathered in Jesus’s name they belong to him. In worship, prayer, life together and action, the Risen Christ is present “in the midst of them”. Because Jesus is with the community, the basileia of God is there.

The instructions and assurances outlined in this section only work in a small local community. What emerges is a deep sense of the value that Christian community and life have in the sight of God. We will hear this reading during the Season of Creation and it can prompt us to new insights.

Belief in a Creator God

While we regularly proclaim the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”, Neil Darragh asks: “In our local church, what evidence is there of belief in a Creator God?” (in What Is the Church For?). His question invites us to consider critically how our local church engages in God’s mission towards the well-being of Earth and its constituent beings and processes.

Pope Francis notes that the 2023 Season of Creation theme “Let Justice and Peace Flow” draws on the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Am 5:24). Francis asks: “How can we contribute to this mighty river of justice and peace?” and suggests that Christian communities can do so “by resolving to transform our hearts, our lifestyles, and the public policies ruling our societies.”

Transform Our Hearts

We can join the mighty river by transforming our hearts, the beginning of all transformation. John Paul II called us to “ecological conversion” which is to acknowledge our relationship with the rest of creation. Ecological conversion has four interconnected relationships: with God, with our brothers and sisters of today and tomorrow, with all of nature and with ourselves.

Transform Our Lifestyles

To transform our lifestyles we need to repent of our “ecological sins”. In his encyclical Laudato Si’, Francis says “to care for creation through little daily actions … education can bring about real changes in lifestyle” (par 211). By starting with appropriate and manageable change we can reform our habitual behaviour.

Neil Darragh says that all local churches “will have a strategy and priority towards current environmental issues if it does actually believe in a Creator God as it proclaims.” This could be like the statement of priorities of the NZ Forest and Bird Society: “If each and every member keeps these issues — clean water, clean air, sustainable oceans, the impacts of climate change — to the forefront … then we will have achieved a real impact.”

Local church communities could draw up a similar list of priorities and actions, include them in their mission statement and keep evaluating how the combined and individual actions of their members are progressing.

Transform Public Policies

A further commitment is to promote Earth-consciousness in the public policies of our local council and national government. This will require us to be informed about ecological policies aimed at protecting waterways, air and land, care of animals and protection of habitats and to discuss these with our neighbours. It involves signing relevant petitions in keeping with ecological safety. We can listen to and learn from tangata whenua.

We know that the rich nations of the world have incurred the most “ecological debt” and must pay that debt if Earth is to continue to be a common home for all life (LS par 51). We can urge our government to be strong in committing to just restraints of rich countries for the sake of the whole world at the world leaders COP28 summit in Dubai (30 November-12 December 2023).

We can engage in this conversion together in our local churches.

Shared Synodal Journey

The Season of Creation (1 Sept — 4 October) ends on the feast of St Francis of Assisi which coincides with the opening of the Synod on Synodality. Francis writes: “In this Season of Creation, as followers of Christ on our shared synodal journey, let us live, work and pray that our common home will teem with life once again. May the Holy Spirit once more hover over the waters and guide our efforts to ‘renew the face of the earth’”.

Jesus assures us that: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.” We hope that in our local churches we correct our patterns of damage to Earth and transform our hearts, lifestyles and policies to show our belief in a Creator God.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 285 September 2023: 24-25