14 July 2019
Text: Luke 6:36-42
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
“Judge
not,” says Jesus.
And
yes, He did say this. But He didn’t stop
with those two words. This verse, Luke
6:37, may have replaced John 3:16 as the most popular verse in the Bible. “Judge not” is a saying of Jesus that conveniently
serves the purposes of the unrepentance.
“Don’t
judge me!” they say. “Jesus accepts
everybody and doesn’t judge,” they say. And so, if “they” are right, than we can say
nothing about racism, sexism, and other forms of exclusion and bias, right? If “they” are right, then we must not judge
the Nazis; we must defend slavery and segregation and bullying – not to mention
billionaires arrested for trafficking children. Jesus said, “Don’t judge,” or did he?
In
John’s Gospel, 7:24, our Lord says: “Do not judge by appearances, but judge
with right judgment.”
So
what are we to make of our Lord saying, “Judge not, and you will not be judged”?
Dear
friends, it is the church’s job to preach and teach and proclaim the Word of
God – both Law and Gospel. It is the
Church’s job to stand for what is right and just, and to condemn that which is
wrong – and that means judging “with right judgment.”
And
in fact, there is a godly vocation called “judge,” one whose job it is to hear
testimony and to judge the facts of a case for the purpose of justice. And what’s more, there is a book in the Bible
called “Judges” – for these were the wise rulers of Israel before they had
kings – judges who had to figure out who was innocent and who was guilty. The job of the king was also to be a judge –
and King Solomon was known for his wisdom in the famous case where he
threatened to cut a baby in half (which was really a trick to smoke out the
child’s true mother).
And
which parents among us would urge our children not to exercise judgment – both in
matters of right and wrong, as well as in deciding which people to trust, to
count as friends, to listen to for advice, and to marry. Don’t we want our children to, in the words of
Jesus, “Judge with right judgment”?
So
what is our Lord talking about? It’s
really pretty obvious, isn’t it? This is
not complicated unless we want it to be because we’re trying to keep from being
judged. Our Lord challenges us: “Why do
you not see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log
that is in your own eye?” Jesus is using
a little bit of irony here, if not outright humor. He says, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother,
let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see
the log that is in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”
Notice
that Jesus does not tell us, “Do not judge.” He doesn’t tell us, “Just look after your own
eye.” He wants us to love our brother by
calling his attention to the speck in his eye. But our Lord understands that in order to love
our brother in this way, we dare not be hypocrites. We cannot love our brother and help him regain
his sight if we have a log in our own eye. So our Lord tells us to repent. Take out your own log, and then you can help
your brother.
The
world has a very different interpretation. The world says, “Anything goes.” The world says that it is nobody’s business to
say what is right and wrong, and the world says that Jesus agrees with them. The world says, “Bake the cake,” and “Arrange
the flowers,” and “Take the pictures.” The
world says, “Kill the baby.” The world
says not to judge the propriety of dressing children in suggestive clothing and
have them wiggle around for dollar bills. The world says not to judge the doctors in
France who refused food and water to a handicapped man until he died.
The
world doesn’t believe in the Bible but tells us how to interpret it. The world does not believe in Jesus, but tells
us what He means. The world judges the
church harshly – even in courts of law – while telling us that we are not to
judge.
Dear
friends, the easy way out is to take the world up on its advice. The easy thing is to bake the cake, arrange
the flowers, kill the baby. The easy
thing would be for the church to approve of parents allowing their children to
be sexually exploited. The easy thing
would be for the church to look the other way as the handicapped are
euthanized.
It
would sure make our lives easier if we did.
But
can we do that, dear friends? Would we
not be the very hypocrites that our Lord warns us not to be if we bear the name
“Christian” but betrayed the very Word of God for the sake of making our lives
easier?
We
are not called to coexist, but to bear the cross. We are not called to shut up, but to “preach
the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort,
with complete patience and teaching. For
the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having
itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own
passions.”
Does
this sound like our world, dear brothers and sisters?
We
are called to judge wisely – not in such a way as to puff ourselves up, but
rather in such a way as to win over our brother. This calls for humility. This calls for introspection. This calls for repentance. We are called to judge “with right judgment”
not in the service of self-righteousness, but rather in the interest of truth,
and in love for our brothers.
And
when we are sinned against, dear friends, we are to forgive, “and,” says our
Lord, “you will be forgiven.” And when a
sinner repents, when a sinner calls upon the name of the Lord for forgiveness,
it is the church’s job to judge “with right judgment” and declare the repentant
sinner to be forgiven. For our Lord,
upon ordaining the apostles into the Office of the Holy Ministry, said, “If you
forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not
forgiven.” This requires judging “with
right judgment.” This requires truly
forgiving one who repents, but it also means withholding forgiveness from one
who refuses to repent.
And
this is where our Lord teaches us about mercy: “Be merciful, even as Your Father
is merciful.”
It
is the church’s wish that no-one be condemned, that all repent, that each and
every person acknowledge his sin, and hear the glorious words of the Gospel that
by the blood of Christ, by our Lord’s death upon the cross, by the Lord’s
pronouncement of forgiveness and mercy – even as the Father is merciful – that all
who confess and believe the Gospel have forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Each
and every one of us should wish fervently that nobody – not even our worst
enemies – should perish. We should have the
courage to speak the truth in love and call sinners to repentance (according to
whatever our vocation is). And in order
to love our neighbors in this way, dear friends, we need to remove the logs
from our own eyes.
We
need to repent. We need to judge
ourselves first and foremost. We need to
be our own harshest critics and judges. And when we have judged rightly that we too
are poor, miserable sinners, we must also judge rightly that the Lord’s death
upon the cross atones for us as well.
For
we are not righteous of our own works, but we have been rescued by our Savior,
who is merciful even as our Father is merciful.
Let
us judge rightly, dear friends, and let is judge lovingly, so that our Lord
will use us to help remove the speck from our brother’s eye, so that he too may
enjoy everlasting life. Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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