The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

 The Fourth Sunday after Trinity – July 13, 2025

Psalm 27; Genesis 50:15-21; Romans 8:18-23

St. 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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[1] St. Luke 6:37.

[2] St. Mark 16:15-16.

[3] 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

[4] Isaiah 5:20.

[5] Psalm 119:104, 128.

[6] St. Matthew 7:15.

[7] St. Luke 6:36.

[8] St. Luke 6:31.

[9] St. Matthew 25:34-40.

Vespers - Advent 2

 Vespers on the Wednesday of Populus Zion – December 11, 2024

Psalm 1; Song of Solomon 2:8b-14

St. Matthew 11:11-15

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Song of Solomon, or Song of Songs as it is sometimes called, is a love poem, written by King Solomon for his bride, the Shulamite woman. It is written almost like a play or opera, with some parts spoken by the Shulamite, some by her Beloved, and even some by two choruses, one of the Shulamite’s brothers and one of the daughters of Jerusalem.

In the text before us this evening, the Shulamite stands in the house of her parents and gazes out the window. She sees her beloved, her fiancé, leaping upon the mountains and skipping over the hills as he comes for her. He is coming to get her for their wedding, to receive her from her father’s hand and take her into his own household. She compares him to a gazelle or young stag, animals known for their beauty and dexterity. He is gentle yet full of strength. He is swift and sure of foot as he bounds through mountains and hills to come to her.

Her beloved stands outside the walls of the house and peers in through the window, through the lattice and speaks to her, assuring her that the winter has passed and it is time to come with him. Complimenting her with beautiful, poetic language, the bridegroom calls her his love, his fair one, his dove who is resting safely in the clefts of the rock of her father’s home. He bids her to reveal her face and speak to him, for her voice is sweet and her face is lovely.

In a literal sense, we have a description of both an ideal man and an ideal woman. The man seems singularly focused on her, bounding great distances while only having eyes for his beloved bride. He is gentle with her, never presumptuous. He is dexterous, knowing how to navigate the world and the pitfalls therein. He has great strength, shown in the horns of a gazelle or the antlers of a stag, but combat is not their first use. He is capable of violence but does not turn to it hastily. He showers her with praise and poetry, complimenting her on her femininity and reassuring her that he has made her new home a safe refuge. He is promising to care for her, to provide for her, and, in the imagery of new birth in the spring, give her children.

She too, only has eyes for her beloved. She patiently but eagerly awaits her groom. She watches for him and awaits his coming. She has remained in the household of her father, as is proper, but longs for a new home with her beloved. She pays careful attention to his words, as most of our text is taken up by her recounting what he has said. She finds comfort in him and his words, trusting that he will do as he has promised: provide, protect, and produce children.

Now if this poem was only written to express the love of the Shulamite and Solomon, it might retain its beauty, but it would be little different from the thousands of love poems of the ancient world. Rather, as St. Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.”[1] Again, St. John writes, “These things are written,” that is, the Scriptures, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”[2] As such, it is the purpose of the Holy Spirit that we understand the Song to have a spiritual meaning to serve faith.

We, the church, the Bride of Christ, are the Shulamite woman. Our Beloved is Christ Himself. He comes leaping from the mountains, that is, He comes down to us from the Father. He comes to us in the Incarnation. He becomes man, coming down from His everlasting throne in heaven that He would bring us into His own home.

He comes also to us this very day, though He is standing by the wall, that is, we cannot see Him. He speaks through the window, the Words of Holy Scripture. He speaks through the lattice, the lips of the Pastor. His presence is real, spiritual and physical, even though our eyes do not see Him. In fact, Christ sees us through the window and lattice, but our eyes are not as keen as His. He comes to us and gazes upon us; upon our bodies and souls. Even as we wait for Him with both patience and expectation, He comes to us and delivers the consolation of His Word.

In His voice, we hear the call to come to Him, to come with Him. Rise above the cares of this world. Rise above the sins of the flesh. Rise above and come away with Him as His beloved. The winter of our sins, the rule of the Law on our hearts, the death of this world is past. See now that the flowers appear on the earth, the Holy Sacraments as visible signs of the presence of Christ and the forgiveness of sins. The voice of the turtledove is heard in our land, that is the voice of Christians singing the praises of Christ and extolling His wonderful works as a symphony in the doldrums of the world that is passing away.

The blooming of the fig tree is a sign of the coming of Christ and the fruits of faith as they spring forth from the renewed soul of the Christian. Even as the sinful flesh clings to the Christian, the Holy Spirit is at work, creating a new will and desire to fulfill the Law of God and seeks to serve God and neighbor. And as we serve our neighbor, we in fact, serve Christ.[3] These tender grapes give a good smell, pleasing to God.

Even now, we are safe in the clefts of the rock, the secret places of the cliff. On the one hand, this safe place is the Church. She is the rock which Christ has built for the safe keeping of His beloved Christians. On the other hand, the rock and cliff are also Christ Himself. The Church is born from the side of Christ, and we are kept safe within Him, within His body. This is what it means when the Church is called ‘the body of Christ.’ As Moses and Elijah both stand safe in a cleft in the rock when God speaks to them, so too do we stand safe in the rock of the Church, even as we are within the Body Christ, receiving from Him the call to His side in glory.

Truly, your voices are sweet, and your faces are lovely in the eyes of Christ.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] 2 Timothy 3:16.

[2] St. John 20:31.

[3] St. Matthew 25:35-36.

Septuagesima

Septuagesima – February 5, 2023

Psalm 18; Daniel 9:2-10; 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:4

St. Matthew 20:1-16

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Lord compares the Kingdom of God to a man, a vineyard owner, who calls laborers to work in his vineyard. This landowner negotiates with the earliest workers for a settled wage and sends them into the vineyard. Every few hours, he returns to the market and finds more workers who are standing idle. He commands them to work in the vineyard and he promises to pay them whatever is right. In the last hour of the day, he finds more workers who have spent the day standing in the market. These lazy ones are also commanded to come into the vineyard and promised a right wage.

At the end of the day, the landowner commands his steward to line up the workers, from last to first, and pay their wages. Everyone receives the same wage—a denarius, one full day’s wage. Those who worked the longest, endured the most labor, the harshest heat, and put in the most effort—those who were called at the first hour—are indignant. They are angry because those the lazy bums who barely worked got paid the same as them. The landowner reminds these ungrateful laborers that they were paid precisely according to their agreement and then he casts them out of the vineyard.

The call of the laborers is the call into the church purely by grace. From the first to the last, not a single worker presented a resumé or portfolio. They were called by the master into the vineyard and given duties to attend to. They are set to work caring for all that belongs to the master.

The landowner in the parable is our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is compared to a man and all that is spoken of in the parable belongs to him. Jesus is the only man who is also God. He holds all of creation in His hands.

The laborers who are called into the vineyard are Christians. They have been called by the Gospel to dwell in the vineyard of Christ. In the vineyard, they are set to caring for God’s creation and are sustained by the same. Each is given duties and not all have the same responsibilities. At the same time, none is given possession of the vineyard. The vineyard belongs to the Master, to Christ, to God.

The steward in the parable is the pastor of Christ’s church. He is set in authority over the people of God to guide them, teach them, rebuke them, exhort them, warn them of danger, and console them with the gifts of God.[1] The vineyard does not belong to the steward any more than it belongs to the laborers. However, the steward has been set in authority over the laborers for the sake of good order and as the steward of God’s word and watchmen of God’s people.[2]

In plain language, the church as an abstract concept, that is, the body of believers, does not belong to Christians. The local church also does not belong to Christians. The abstract church and the local church do not belong to pastors. In every sense, the Church belongs to God alone. Christians are called to dwell in the Church; to serve in the Church; to gather in the Church; and to be sustained by the Church. Pastors are called to the same but we are also called to steward the Church of God; to manage the affairs of the Church; to lead the flock on behalf of the Good Shepherd; to be a watchman concerning the dangers of the world and the sins of the congregation.

Whether clergy or laity, we do not enter the vineyard by our own reason or strength. No one can think his way into the church nor work his way in. Only the call of the Holy Gospel, that is, the death of Jesus Christ as delivered in the Word of God and His Holy Sacraments, can draw us into the Church. Christ our Lord calls you through His word, by the working of the Holy Spirit. You are called to dwell in the vineyard forever yet you are not idle in this dwelling. You are called to serve.

Some are called early in the morning, those who were born into Christian households. These have the longest service in the vineyard. They can work the longest, do the most work, and also endure the most suffering on behalf of Christ.

There are those who are called at midday. They are called by the Gospel in the middle of life. They are given the same work as those called in the morning and set about their task in the same way.

Then there are those who are called at the end of life. They have little time left in the Church Militant, but they receive the same reward as those called in the morning. They are the first to see Christ in glory, that is, they are the first to die, but their reward of eternal life is just as wonderful.

This reward of eternal life is the same whether you are called into the church in the wee hours of the morning or at the eleventh hour. There is no privilege in the Kingdom of God given to those who have spent 70 years in the Lutheran Church over those who are new converts. At the end of the day, all receive the same reward. The teachings and practices of the Church are governed not by experience or longevity, but by the Word of God.

And this is exactly what angers the laborers called in the morning. They’ve been here longer, worked harder, and endured more. In exchange for this, they believe they are due more reward, more clout, more power.

This is a temptation for Christians, especially those who have grown up in the Church. It is tempting to believe that more work, more time, more history means more reward, more influence, or more merit. This is the way of the world. The way of the Church is to follow the Word of God. The grace of God is not fairly distributed to all laborers. “Fairness” has little or nothing to do with God. God deals in equity. Grace is distributed equally. All have fallen short and all are redeemed by the blood of Jesus. That is not fair, but it is equal. God shows no partiality, meaning He does not account for prestige, fame, history, or power. He accounts only for faith, that is, trust in Him according to His word.

We in the church, those who have been in the vineyard since at least midday, tend to become too familiar with certain passages of Scripture. We forget how surprising they can be. We forget to sympathize with those called in the first hour. Of course, they expect to be paid more. In any business situation, it would only make sense to pay your best workers the best wages so they will continue to work for you. Yet God is not running an earthly business. He deals in grace, a free and undeserved gift.

Jesus asks those who were called in the first hour if their eye is evil because He is good.[3] What He means is, “Do you see evil in what I am doing? I AM Good. There is nothing Good outside of Me. By calling Me evil, you reveal the evil within your own heart. Take what is yours and get out of the vineyard.” You have already been called to stand in the church. Eternal glory is already yours, do not call the grace of God evil in your eyes. God is Good. God is The Good and His goodness has called sinners to repentance and faith.

Thanks be to God He has called us to faith and forgiven our sins. Thanks be to God He goes out again and again to call sinners to repentance. Thanks be to God that He has not given the vineyard to either the laborers or the stewards because we cannot see with His eternal eyes. He has given us responsibilities within His Church to serve God and neighbor within our various vocations. He has also given stewardship of His Church to pastors not on the basis of merit or worthiness. He has given this stewardship for the sake of good order and in service to His Church.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 15:4.

[2] Ezekiel 33.

[3] St. Matthew 20:15.