21 July 2013 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: Matt 7:15-23 (Rom 8:12-17)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
“Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” The Lord tells us that “on that day,” many
will point out that they have prophesied and exorcised in His name, and even
worked miracles – expecting these works to save them. The Lord will reply to them: “I never knew
you; depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.”
Is
this the Gospel of the Lord?
Are
these the words of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Are we judged by our works? Are
we to seek admittance to the City of God based on our deeds? If this is the long and short of it, dear friends,
we might as well quit right now. We are
indeed poor, miserable sinners. For by
the fruits of our sins the Lord knows us.
And
while our Lord’s words are sobering, and while they do exhort us to good works
by putting our faith into action, our Blessed Lord is truly preaching the
Gospel to us. For not even workers of
miracles, exorcists, and prophets can use their supposed good works to gain
admittance to heaven. Their works are
counterfeit, because their faith is counterfeit.
Our
Lord explains this in the previous paragraph: “A healthy tree cannot bear bad
fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” A better translation is: “A good tree cannot
bear evil fruit, nor can an evil tree bear good fruit.”
It’s
all about the tree. For if the tree is
bad, the fruits will be bad, though they may even appear good. Just as a peach may look beautiful on the
outside, but on the inside it is sour, filled with bugs, and bitter to the
taste.
This
is the Lord’s point, dear friends. The
goodness of the fruit depends on the goodness of the tree. If the tree is evil, not even the
good-looking fruits are truly good on the inside. And if the tree is good, not even the sad and
unimpressive fruits are evil. It’s all
about the tree.
Our
works that “serve our neighbor” do indeed “supply the proof that faith is
living” in the words of the great hymn “Salvation Unto Us Has Come.” We are not righteous because of these
works. Rather our righteousness comes
from the source of these works: our faith.
A healthy faith produces good works.
A counterfeit faith produces fraudulent works. Man can be fooled by phoniness, but not the
Lord.
And,
dear friends, this is what our Lord means by “false prophets, who come to you
in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” He warns us not to fall prey to them. He says that you will “recognize them by
their fruits.” A wicked teacher teaches
falsely and lives wickedly. And a false
prophet can lead the gullible and ignorant astray. The Lord is warning us, dear friends! You must be able to discern a false teacher
from a good teacher, one who teaches the truth versus one who proclaims
lies. You will know them by their
fruits. For their teaching and life will
not match the Word of God.
This
is why we preachers are exhorted to preach the Word, and you hearers are
exhorted to hear the Word. This is why we
have Bible class. This is why we study
God’s Word. This is why we pray the
Psalms. This is why we retain the
historic liturgy. This is why we teach
children the Catechism. This is why we
expect every Christian to be able to discern truth from a lie. This is why we insist that people come here
to this sanctuary to hear the Word preached.
This is why if they cannot come, their pastor will go to them. This is why the Christian life is no child’s
play. Living constantly in the Word of
God, week by week, day by day, moment by moment is not an option. For “The Spirit Himself bears witness with
our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of
God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we
may also be glorified with Him.”
The
word translated “healthy” to describe the tree that bears good fruit is
actually the Greek word “good.” This is
the same word that described sinless and perfect creation in the Garden of
Eden. The word translated “bad” is
actually the Greek word “evil” from the Lord’s prayer: “deliver us from evil,”
that is, “from the evil one.”
Brothers
and sisters in Christ, the tree of your faith has been planted by the Lord’s
Word and watered with Baptism. It has
been nurtured and tended through the tilling of the soil by preachers. The weeds are removed by Holy Absolution, and
the sunshine is the coming of the Son in Holy Communion. A tree that is planted by God, watered by His
sacraments, and fortified by His Word is a good tree. It is not yet a perfect tree, but it is a
tree that bears good fruit.
The
warning of the Lord calls us to repent of that which produces bad fruit. Our works will not save us, but if we are to
have salvation and eternal life, we must have the faith given to us as a free
gift: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” If our faith is genuine, we will see evidence
of that faith. If our faith is
counterfeit, our works will show it. And
if your works point to a weak or dead faith, then this is a great gospel – for
it calls you to repent and offers you a second chance. It gives you the opportunity to pray that the
Lord will heal the unhealthy tree and make it sound, good, and whole. Only He can do this, He who placed man in a
good garden surrounded by good trees.
Pray for the gift of repentance, dear friends! Let us pray for a full life of good works
that grow from a converted heart. For
this passage is not ultimately about the fruits, but about the tree.
The
Lord can and does take bad trees and make them good. The cross is the prime example. A tree of death has become the Tree of
Life. A tree of shame has become a tree
of glory. A tree of punishment has
become a tree of righteousness. And the
fruit of the tree of the cross is the best fruit of all, the very blood of the
Lamb shed for us poor miserable sinners for forgiveness, life, and salvation,
the good miracle-wine that the Lord saves for last, given to us in the chalice
as the New Testament in His blood, the cup of salvation, the good fruit of the
Good Vine.
Every
Christian is a bad tree made good. Every
Christian is a convert. Every Christian
bore bad fruit at one time. Every
Christian bears good fruit by God’s grace.
Today’s gospel is a gracious invitation to live a life of repentance,
week by week, day by day, moment by moment.
It is not about our trying to make good fruit by our own effort, but
rather about the Lord’s work on the tree so that the good fruit of forgiveness
and eternal life is the result. And that
is indeed the Gospel of the Lord! Amen.
In the name of the
Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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