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Trained in Mercy
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The world is topsy-turvy. All that
our Lord calls good and right in His Word, the world considers evil and
judgmental. Everything our Lord calls evil and perverted, the world considers
good and right. Abortion is legal. Homosexuality is celebrated. Living together
outside of marriage is the norm. It almost seems as if the blind are really in
the lead, doesn’t it? It is to the people living in these circumstances that
our Lord delivers His message. “Be
merciful.” “Judge not.” “Forgive.”
But wait. Aren’t Christians
supposed to be concerned with the truth of the Word of God? Yes, of course you
are. But your problem is that you think that others are the bad people and you are
basically good. Sure, you might sin, but you cannot believe you might be evil.
Evil people do evil things; you just mess up from time to time. After all, you are
only human! If anyone is evil, it has to be that other person, not you. That
sort of thinking is the very thing which is condemned in this text. You aren't
better than the next poor sinner. The things you judge and look down on others
for doing are the very things you do. How can you point out our neighbor's
little splinter sins when you have a giant plank of your own?
Seeing the truth brings the hearts
of sinners to anguish. Jesus says, “[The
disciple] who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” Yet clearly you
are not like your Teacher. Who here today does not sin? Who here has found and
removed the plank from his own eye? Who here today is not “as His Master”? Examine your life in the lens of Holy Scripture,
where you see how our Lord lives and interacts with the people around Him. Ask
yourself, “Have I loved the Lord my God with all my heart? Have I loved my
neighbor as myself?” And when you recognize that you have not done so, all
that’s left for the sinner is judgment. The plank is lodged in your eye, and
you cannot remove it.
But our Lord offers comfort even
for those who cannot dislodge their own plank. At the Word of Christ, those who
know they are not like their Teacher are forgiven for the sake of Jesus Christ.
The same Word that spoke all things into existence also speaks your holiness
and righteousness. You are made to be like your Teacher. You who know you don’t
love your enemies; you who know it’s against your nature to forgive; you who know
you have no desire to show mercy—you are loved by the God who your old Adam
made into an enemy. You are forgiven by the God who paid the price with His own
blood to wash away your sin. You are shown mercy by the God whose very nature
is mercy.
Christ is speaking to you this
morning, He is inviting, beckoning, calling, urging, desiring, drawing,
requesting, nudging, to this very altar. He speaks His life-giving Word to you
to forgive all your sins. He feeds you with His body and blood, fulfilling in
you all righteousness, again bestowing every baptismal grace and goodness so
that you may stand against the fleshly onslaught that says you are not our
Lord’s child and disciple.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking
that you are good. Don’t come here and pretend as if you have some sort of
special claim on God through your own merit. After all, God owes you nothing.
But don’t be afraid to come. After all, everything God has for you is a free
gift in His Son. Approach His altar with confidence, trusting that Christ is
merciful even as His Father is merciful. He shows His mercy and grace to the
ungrateful and evil—yes even to you and to me—so that, by His washing with
water with the Word, by His Word of forgiveness, by His body and blood, you may
be fully trained to be merciful, even as your Lord and Master is merciful. In the
name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The
peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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