In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s portion of the Sermon on the Plain presents the
climax of the Sermon. Jesus speaks to His disciples concerning the way they are
to live—that is, how they are to imitate God. Today, we will view this text as
four discreet sayings of Jesus, and then unite them in a conclusion.[1]
1. “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” This
word for “merciful” is very rare in the New Testament. It is not the request of
the beggar when a powerful man comes riding into town. It is also not the word
we repeat at the beginning of every Divine Service, “Lord, have mercy. Christ,
have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” Rather, this word is primarily influenced by the
Old Testament. It is the word used in describing God who is “gracious and
merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”[2]
This mercy is a description of God. The simplest definition
of mercy is not giving someone the punishment he deserves. The mercy in today’s
reading describes first the emotion of grief or sorrow at the misfortune or
death of a man and then the sympathetic movement of one’s heart to help the one
in need. God not only refrains from the punishment due to man in the Fall, but
He is moved by love to take on the flesh of man. In this way, He can sympathize
with our low estate. This sympathy moves Him to do something about our deathly
condition. He joins Himself to us such that He takes on our punishment. He sees
His own righteousness and delivers it to sinful man. The God who cares for the
lilies of the field and the birds of the air, sympathizes with man, and dies
for him.
This is the mercy we are called to show to our fellow man
and the mercy we are so terribly at showing. There is certainly generosity and
kindness in the world but there is far more hatred and spite. Friendships built
over decades often grow cold in an instant. Marriages that outwardly appear
strong are torn apart in one night of careless anger. Human nature is not only
incapable of expressing such divine mercy—it is hostile to it.
Even for the Christian, this is difficult. Think about how
hard it is for someone to please you but how easily you are offended. Or how
many times you expect your wife to read your mind and how quickly you are angry
when she can’t. This is not mercy. It is spite, vindictiveness, and cruelty.
2. “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” These commands of Jesus are among the most misunderstood words of Holy Scripture to be found. Much like being merciful, Christ is calling us to imitate our Heavenly Father in these commands, but He is not calling us to imitate Him to the same divine degree. Put another way, do not judge the eternal fate of others and your eternal fate will not be judged. Do not condemn the eternal soul of others and your eternal soul will not be condemned. Forgive others their trespasses against you, and you too will be forgiven.
These commands are against making claims to the eternal fate
of others. They are not commands against judgments and condemnations of those
actions and beliefs God has judged and condemned in His Word. Rather, it is a
call to remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord, not to you. Calling on
your Heavenly Father to damn a man He has bled and died for just because you
are angry with him is a terrible blasphemy. Such rage and spite are easy for
the perverse human nature, but it will do nothing but harm your own soul.
Giving in to the temptation to wish the damnation of your neighbor is giving in
to Satan and slapping Jesus in the face.
But there is a strange comfort in these words as well. No
matter the condition of the world; no matter the hatred shown to you and the
church by the city, state, or even your relatives; no matter the harm that has
come to you on account of your faith—God will have vengeance. It is not your
duty to determine the eternal fate of your neighbor. It is not even your duty
to determine the eternal fate of your children. That is the duty of God alone.
What is given to you is to forgive. Forgive those who
persecute you and turn the other cheek such that you would imitate the God who
died for you. Such forgiveness is not what grants you salvation, but it is a
necessary consequence of your salvation. When you forgive, you know that you
have been forgiven.
If you struggle to forgive, pray for the strength to forgive
and know that even the desire to forgive is a holy thing. The struggle you feel
is the struggle between the Holy Ghost and your Old Adam. This struggle will
last until you draw your final breath on this side of glory. If you had no
desire to forgive, Satan and your Old Adam would have already won the struggle.
There would be no conflict.
3. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed
down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with
the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” There are so
many temptations in our age that it is difficult to name the greatest. We live
in such prosperity it is almost insufficient to call material wealth and
possessions a temptation. Rather, materialism is our default position. The
frustration and difficulties we experience when the electricity goes out, the
internet slows to a crawl, or the AC breaks down reveal how fragile we are.
It is this fragility that leads us to trust in material
things. If we know that our electricity is prone to going out once or twice a
year, it is more important to have a generator or two than to learn how to live
without electricity. Internet slow? Better increase the speed (and the bill)
rather than use it less. I’m using somewhat frivolous examples of modern conveniences,
but the Holy Ghost who dwells within you is smart enough to find the deeper
temptations of your heart—those fears you hold higher than God which prevent
you from giving freely.
As for the measure, you must understand that Christ is
promising to give you an unfair measure. He is promising to pack it down and
overflow the cup which He will give to you. He is also comparing this to the
measure which you use to give to one another. This giving is not strictly
financial. In fact, it could apply to everything that has come before—mercy,
compassion, patience, and forgiveness, as well as material giving. There are
many in need in our world, all you have to do is open your eyes to find them.
It is also entirely possible to give to someone who is not impoverished but who
could use a gift—a gift of sentiment, forgiveness, patience, or mercy.
4. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your
brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you
say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you
yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the
plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from
your brother’s eye.” This parable is clearly hyperbolic but is not difficult to
understand. Before claiming to judge the faults of your brother or sister in
Christ, reflect upon your own faults. Beg for the mercy and forgiveness of God
before you beg the repentance of your neighbor.
Very rarely do I use personal examples in sermons, but when
my Beloved and I were going through pre-marital classes with our pastor, he
told us that the worst fights in marriage occur when you are thinking about how
she hurt you. This is the single greatest piece of advice we have ever received,
and it is rooted in this parable. Before accusing your husband of being lazy
because his shoes are in the middle of the floor, remember that you left the
dishes until morning because you were tired last night. Then, remind him to put
his shoes away because you both desire a tidy home.
The parable does not forbid calling your brother to
repentance. Rather, it teaches us to first repent of our own sins that we might
see the sin of our brother clearly and call him to repentance in love and
mercy. It is a loving act to call someone to repentance because it means you
are concerned over his eternal soul. Such a call to repentance is not to be
made in a moment of anger or frustration but should be done in love. Therefore,
you must first examine your own conscience. You must recognize that you are a
sinner in need of forgiveness.
5. “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” There
is no mistaking that today’s text is full of God’s Holy Law, that is, God’s
eternal Will for our lives. Christ is instructing all who would be His
disciples. This instruction necessarily carries with it the accusation that you
do not live up to this standard. You are not and will never be as merciful as
your Heavenly Father on this side of glory and yet that is the standard to
which you have been called.
Throughout history, many have seen this as unfair. Such a
conclusion leads to either disregarding God’s Law as unimportant or
unnecessary. Others have concluded that God would never command something we
are incapable of doing, leading to a belief that man must work his way to
salvation.
The truth of the Scriptures is neither. The truth is that
you have been called to become merciful, to become holy just as your heavenly
Father is merciful and holy. This is done first in recognizing that you are not
merciful or holy. You cannot be merciful and holy on your own. You must
recognize your inadequacy before God. This is repentance. You must first
receive the mercy and holiness of God. You must first receive Jesus and the
sacrifice He has made in your place.
Then, you must submit to the will of the Father. By this I
mean you must recognize that God’s ways are not your own, but they are in fact
better than your own. Seeing the fault in your own flesh, desire and seek the
mercy and holiness that reside in the Father. By the presence of the Holy
Ghost, strive to imitate your Heavenly Father not to earn salvation but because
of salvation. Repent of your own sins and then call your brother to repentance so that he too might enjoy eternal life.
Claiming to be Christian in word but not deed is not enough
for salvation. The heart of merciful flesh transplanted for the stony heart of
your birth must change the way you think, act, and feel. This is the Christian
life. It is the life of all who would be saved. It is the life of the Baptized.
It is your life. It is the glorious life you have been called to live in the
presence of the Holy One of Israel.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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