Matthew 18:10-20 (At peace with one another.)

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  

Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

In my September Blog I make the bold assertion that the angels in heaven sing every time a child is born (including when you were born). Now, before you dismiss the idea as sentimental twaddle let me explain how I have arrived at this belief. 

Jesus doesn’t ever sit his disciples down and say to them, ‘I want to tell you about angels’ but there are some very interesting occasional references to them. In Luke 15:7 Jesus talks about the rejoicing that goes on in heaven every time a sinner repents. It might be just a throwaway line but it hints at the idea that the heavenly hosts are well aware of what is going on here. If you need more convincing, in Matthew 18:10 Jesus makes reference to children’s Guardian Angels. And then in our reading for this week Jesus talks about a direct link between what goes on here and what happens in heaven. He says, ‘Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ We won’t delve into the full meaning of this statement, but we will simply note, once more, the way that heaven and earth are linked. So, earthly events have heavenly consequences. Well, even if you need more convincing, at least you can see where my idea came from that something as joyful as a child’s birth is a cause for an angelic hallelujah!

If some of you are mystified by my ramblings so far, and are wondering why I haven’t focused on the main subject of our reading which is about forgiveness, then let me explain the link. The question arises, ‘Why should we be so preoccupied with forgiving people?’. Why go to such lengths to be reconciled to one another? These questions must have been on St. Peter’s mind because, having heard Jesus’ teaching and having understood its implications, he goes on to ask in the next passage, ‘How many times shall I forgive my brother?’. Dear lovable Peter has understood what the other disciples may have overlooked – Jesus expects us to put a huge effort into the hard work of forgiving one another. Why? Because that is what heaven in like, and our actions here below need to conform to how it is above. Do you realise that every time we give up on somebody there’s a big sigh in heaven and a whole orchestra of disappointed angels put down their musical instruments? Oh dear, you may think that I’m having another flight of fancy, but I hope you can see where I’m coming from.