The Fourth Sunday after Trinity – July 13, 2025Psalm 27; Genesis 50:15-21; Romans 8:18-23St. Luke 6:36-42
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Judge not lest ye be judged,”[1]
is among the most abused verses of Scripture, if not the most abused. It
is taken to mean there is no place for harsh or negative words on the lips of
Christians, as though we are commanded to live and let live. ‘Preach only the
Gospel.’ ‘Be nice and the hearts of many will be turned.’
But no one who has read the Scriptures can come to this
conclusion. The Bible is full of commandments to judge and condemn false
doctrine – including sin. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he
who does not believe will be condemned.”[2]
Every pastor is commanded not only to forgive sins but to rebuke and warn
against them; as well as train up Christians for every good work.[3]
This requires making judgements and condemning false doctrine and sin.
This task of judging and condemning is not just given to
pastors in their preaching. The Prophet Isaiah says, “Woe to those who call
evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who
put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”[4]
Psalm 119 goes so far as to command us to “hate every false way.”[5]
And Christ commands the sheep to “Beware of false prophets, who come to
you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”[6]
It would be impossible to discern between a false prophet and a true prophet if
you could not judge. And how do you judge this doctrine? By comparing it to the
Word of God, the only inerrant and infallible rule and norm by which doctrine
can be judged.
Then what is our Lord forbidding in these words, “Judge not, condemn not”? He is forbidding judging hearts, not according to God’s Word but according to our own thoughts, preferences, or opinions. It is judging without love and mercy but according to the passions of our own flesh. The synopsis, or summary, of the Gospel text this morning is “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”[7] But why should you be merciful as God is merciful? What should move, or motivate, you to be merciful as God is merciful?
First, you ought to be moved by the mercy God has shown
toward you. Earlier in the sermon on the plain, Christ told us to do unto
others as we would have them do unto us.[8]
Here, that command is taken a step further. Do unto others as you would have
God do to you. Don’t get me wrong, it is not our mercy that causes God to have
mercy on us. It is not our actions that cause God to grant us grace and
forgiveness. However, what we do in and with that grace and mercy can certainly
cause our Heavenly Father to withdraw the same.
Think of the parable of the unforgiving servant. A servant
owes his master 60 million days’ wages, somewhere in the neighborhood of $10
billion, or over 230,000 years of work. The master has compassion on his
servant and forgives his debt. But then the servant finds a fellow servant who
owes him $16,000, about 5 months of work. Since he can’t pay the debt, the
servant has him beaten and thrown in jail. When the master hears what he has
done, he throws the unforgiving servant to the torturers and jailers until the
debt is paid.
The servant did nothing to earn the compassion of his master
but when he failed to show similar compassion to his fellow servant, the master
returned his lack of forgiveness upon him with the same measure: pressed down,
shaken together, and running over. That servant was forgiven 230,000 years of
debt and yet you have been forgiven more. Your Heavenly Father sent His Only
Begotten Son to die for your debt of sin and to rise again that you would no
longer be a slave but a son, and that you would enjoy this inheritance for all
eternity. You have been set free from the punishment of the Law and the sting
of death. Such is the sweet mercy of God that has been shown to you. Such is
the same mercy you’ve been called to show to your neighbor.
When we say that good works are motivated by the Gospel,
this is what we mean. Though we are but frail mortals, incapable of the perfect
mercy of God, we who have been set free by such a glorious love are to reflect
that love in our mercy toward others. What would it say to God if you refused
to show forth the mercy that you’ve been shown? It would tell Him that what He
has done means very little to you. It would be an abuse of everything that He
has done for and given to you. He gives you life and you would use it in
service to death.
Rather, see your forgiveness for what it is. It is a new
life, a new beginning, a new existence as a son of God. A son wants nothing
more than a father he can be proud of and to be like his father. We have a
Father who defines what it means to be a father. As His dear children, our
hearts ought to desire nothing less than to be like Him, to walk in His ways
and enjoy His favor for all eternity.
I’ve already hinted at the second motivation to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. It is because of the consequences of not being merciful. When we heard of Lazarus and the rich man, I spoke of how seriously God takes sin. He hates sin. He cannot tolerate sin to stand in His presence. He also provides the antidote to the poison of sin. His great love sends the shed blood of Jesus to be for you the medicine of immortality. As seriously as He takes sin, He equally takes your forgiveness seriously.
So then, how would you like God to consider you? Do you wish
that He would overlook your besetting sins, those against which you struggle
but still find yourself falling into? Of course! Then you should also be
willing to overlook such sins in your neighbor. Do you wish to escape the loveless
judgment of hell? Then do not judge your neighbor without love. On the last
day, do you want God to commend your righteous and merciful deed to your
neighbor, making no mention of your sins, as He does with the sheep at His
right hand?[9]
Then, whenever you can, speak well of your neighbor to the best of your
knowledge. Before others and in your own heart, put the best construction on
everything that he does.
Do not wish that God would remember your sins no more, keep
no record of your sins nor add them up, turn His anger away from you, smile
upon you, and hurl all your guilt into the depths of the sea, then turn around
and keep tally of your neighbor’s sins against you so that you can use them
against him at the opportune time. With the same measure that you use, it will
be measured back to you.
The final motivation to be merciful as our Father is
merciful as presented in our text is the burden of our own sin. You know the
depth of your own sin. You know which temptations to which you are likely to
succumb. In this knowledge, the temptation to lovelessly judge your neighbor is
twofold. There is the temptation to judge those with similar sins. The man
prone to anger is especially angered by another man prone to anger. One who
steals is often the first to judge another thief. The opposite temptation is
also true. It is very easy to judge someone who is tempted to sins that you are
not tempted toward. Such self-righteous indignation boils over from a lack of
sympathy.
Yet to be ever mindful of the burden of your own sin ought
to move you to show compassion and mercy toward your neighbor. It is humbling
to ponder your own sinfulness. This humility can then drive your attitude
toward others. It is a somewhat slight example but think of the person who cuts
you off in traffic or quickly pulls out in front of you. How easy it is to
condemn them for driving recklessly. And it is true, what they’ve done is
dangerous. What you don’t know is their child was just flown into the city for
emergency surgery; or he has just learned of the infidelity of his wife; or he
is a first responder who just received an emergency call that pulled him out of
bed during his time off. And besides, who among us hasn’t missed a stop sign,
unknowingly cut someone off, or even purposely broken traffic laws?
The point is that you know what it is to be a sinner, and you know what a sinner needs. A sinner needs to be forgiven. A sinner needs mercy. It is not your duty to determine the eternal fate of every person you encounter, but to love God and serve your neighbor. There is a time and place to judge and condemn false doctrine and sin, but there is also a time to remove the plank from your own eye first. Attending to your own sin prepares you with a humble heart to seek the reproof, correction, and instruction of your neighbor.
Your Heavenly Father has had mercy on you. By right, there
is only One who may even call Him His Father, for Christ is the only True Son
of the Father. Yet in His infinite grace and mercy, He has given to you
everything that is His own, including your adoption as a child of God. In faith
toward Him and in fervent love toward your neighbor, be merciful, even as your
Heavenly Father is merciful.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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