In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
When our Lord Jesus Christ tells us not to judge, He is explaining the so-called “Golden Rule” proclaimed earlier in Luke chapter six. Jesus tells His disciples just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. Our fallen human nature wants to be unmerciful to our neighbor, especially when someone shows their shortcomings. When a mistake happens, we are usually the first to say, “I didn’t do it.” We want to make sure we don’t get blamed for someone else’s mistake. It’s much easier to find fault than to be merciful.
It’s easy to find wrong in everyone else but much harder to find wrong in ourselves. If everyone were just like me then things would be a lot better. It sounds like an old “Twilight Zone” episode. Everyone is just like you, except you.
What if God were just like you? What if God judged you the same way you judge others? What if God exposed every deep thought about your neighbor? What if God found a way to broadcast all the juicy gossip you can’t wait to tell about someone? What if God was merciful to everyone except you, leaving you to receive the consequences of all the pent-up spite that lingers inside you?
Jesus warns His disciples, and you and me too, that if you insist on living without mercy toward others, you invite God’s wrath against you rather than His mercy toward you. If you’d rather pick at specks of sawdust in other’s eyes, the 2-by-4 in your own eye will whack you upside the head.
The prophet Micah proclaims: [The Lord] has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? It’s easy for Micah to say, but very hard for us to do. Our heavenly Father has a standard He expects us to live by. We can’t do it, even when we think it’s possible. Go ahead. Try to keep every commandment every day. Sure, it’s easy to say you can. But remember, God has you both coming and going. It’s not just the deeds that count. It’s thoughts and words too. When you think someone should drop dead, you’ve fallen short of the expected mark of mercy God sets for you.
What’s worse is when you believe the good that you do is good enough for God. Jesus puts your works-righteousness to shame when He says: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.
Loving your neighbor alone won’t get you into heaven. Doing good works alone won’t get you into heaven. Giving without expecting something back alone won’t get you into heaven. These works are wonderful things, especially when they flow from faith. But when works displace faith, they are nothing. Heathens do these things because it’s the right thing to do. We do these things expecting a Divine pat on the back. But what about those times when we do good works out of spite? That’s taking a merciful thing and turning it into a sinful thing.
No wonder we read Luke chapter six or Matthew’s recollection of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount and cringe. We can’t begin to do the things Jesus expects us to do. When we do them out of spite or because we are trying to be nice to God, we shouldn’t be surprised that it’s not enough. All that’s left to do is cry out “Lord, have mercy!”
That’s exactly what He does. He does it even for the unrighteous ones too. The Lord doesn’t send rain, sun, riches, and good tidings only to Christians. There’s a great difference between someone who realizes God’s mercy and someone who doesn’t realize God’s mercy. The one who is ambivalent towards God expects good things to happen. When good things don’t happen, they curse their luck and hope for the best next time. When God blesses or afflicts a Christian, we thank Him for His mercy toward us. After all, it could be worse.
Maybe the Swedes are on to something with what they call lagom. Lagom doesn’t have a direct English translation. The closest thing we have is “just right”. Swedes, and to an extent Norwegians, are happy with what they have. It’s a defense mechanism against hoarding and commercialism that we Americans relish so much. Why have two when one is enough? If one hand is closed and another is open, it’s easier to put something in the open hand than in the closed hand. Lagom can be used for social permissiveness and perhaps that’s why Sweden is one of the most liberal countries in the world. But lagom can be something beneficial for a Christian too.
Why close your fist and shake it at God or neighbor when our hand could be open to receive good things from Him through our neighbor? He gives all things “just right”, especially His only-begotten Son Jesus. Saint Paul begins Romans chapter eight saying, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. God is not watching you and waiting for you to mess up so He can nail you. He’s already nailed His Son to a cross on your behalf. Though Jesus was blameless, He allowed all your blame and blaming to be put on Himself. Because Jesus takes the blame for your sins, our heavenly Father gives you forgiveness and life instead of binding your sin and sentencing you to eternal death. You don’t need anything else. Christ’s death and resurrection is lagom, just right, for you.
All creation groans for a life of lagom. We have a bit of it now when the Holy Spirit gathers us around altar, pulpit, and font in the Divine Service. Our Lord Jesus Christ washes us clean of sin in Baptism, declares us forgiven in Absolution, strengthens our faith in preaching, and feeds us forgiveness and salvation in His Supper. We walk out those doors privileged to live according to our Father’s standards. When we fall short, and we will fall short, we trust in Jesus Christ’s blood and righteousness to clean the plank from our eye so we may in mercy help our neighbor remove the speck from their eye.
It’s nice to abide by the “Golden Rule”. Yet that rule alone cannot save us. Only Jesus can do unto others as He first does to them. Because He is merciful to us, we are merciful to others because everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. All creation groans for that day. When that day comes, we will see our merciful Savior face-to-face. Then all will be lagom, just right, for eternity.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit -- Rev. David M. Juhl Our Savior Evangelical-Lutheran Church Momence, IL http://oselcmomence.googlepages.com ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
