Sermon for 7/2/23: Fourth Sunday After Trinity

 CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

Forgiven, Forgiving

Luke 6:36-42

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is really giving a variation on the Golden Rule. Instead of saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” He says, “Do unto others as you would have your heavenly Father do unto you.” If you do not want Him to judge and condemn you in your sinfulness, then don’t you be judging and condemning others in their sinfulness. If you want God to forgive your sins and give you richly all things to enjoy, then let go of those grudges and put stinginess far away from you. That’s what it all boils down to.

But there is something inside us that doesn’t like this Word of God at all. There is something in us that enjoys judging and condemning others. There is something in us that is reluctant to let go of wrongs suffered, that enjoys playing the scene repeatedly in our mind’s eye to fan the flames of resentment and keep the bitterness burning. There is something in us that thinks Jesus surely got it wrong when He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

That something inside us is the Old Adam. He like to judge and condemn others because he is filled with pride. He thinks better of himself than he has any right to think. And the one sure way he has of raising himself up is to knock others down: to point out the failings of others, to gossip about and condemn our neighbors. And the old Adam wants to hold grudges and refuses to let go of the wrongs he has suffered because he is selfish. He thinks in his heart that, if he doesn’t look out for himself, who will? He doesn’t want to be a doormat that others will wipe their feet on. The Old Adam does not trust that vengeance belongs to the Lord, and that He will repay, as St. Paul teaches. Does that old fellow sound familiar to you? He should. He prowls around inside of you, like just he lives inside of me. And he wants to boss us around. He wants to run our lives. And he wants us to ruin our lives and the lives of our neighbors.

But we have been claimed by Another. We have been marked with the sign of the holy cross. Bearing that sign, soaked in the waters of Holy Baptism, we belong to the New Adam, to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. We’ve been baptized into Him. His life has been given us as our own. Jesus did not come into this world to judge and condemn; He came to rescue us, because we were judged and condemned by the law as worthy of death. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” He did not come to pay us back for the countless times we have risen up in rebellion against Him; He came to separate us from our sins by taking them from us and bearing them Himself under His Father’s judgment as He hung on the cross. “Father, forgive them...” was His cry. And all who take shelter under His cross in faith are forgiven, just as He said. His cross is like a great fortress that shields us from the righteous wrath of God.

Unlike the Old Adam with his distrust of God, our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the work of salvation by trusting His Father. And His trust was not disappointed. Our Lord Jesus—the One who had not judged and had not condemned; the One who had forgiven everything, even to the point of laying down His own life—our Lord was raised on the third day, vindicated as the Righteous One, raised to the right hand of the Father to rule over all things.

His perfect life of trust is the life He has given us in our Baptism. He calls us to drown that Old Adam and his distrust of God. He calls us to confess that we have logs in our own eyes: logs of pride, resentment, stinginess, and—behind all of those—distrust. As you confess this to God and receive His forgiveness, you “take the log out of your own eye,” and you can finally be of some use to your neighbor. When you see yourself as a justly condemned prisoner who has now been given an undeserved pardon and reprieve, then you are a sinner who can serve others. You even get to carry the good news of that free pardon to other sinners, telling them of the forgiveness which the death of Christ has won for them. You get to be merciful, just as you have received mercy from God. You get to do unto others as your heavenly Father has done unto you” in Christ. We go out from this place with joy to live out the forgiveness we have received in our Lord Jesus Christ. 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.