Be Merciful

Text: Luke 6:36-42
Date: The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost7/9/06

  The temptation in this text from Jesus' “Sermon on the Plain” for the Christian preacher as well as the Christian hearer is to confuse Law and Gospel so that these words end up with only a moralistic meaning. That is, we could go on and on, and probably should go on and on about how the Christian is to be merciful, refraining from unfair judging and condemning of others and showing forgiveness and generosity to everyone. These are important things. But if all our talk is about and the spotlight is focused solely on you, the Christian, and your works and attitudes to the exclusion of how none of this is possible apart from the enlightenment of faith in Christ and the mercy, forgiveness and giving of God the Father through him, we will not have preached or heard the Gospel and worse we can easily end up under the judgment Christ speaks in the last verse of our text, saying, “You hypocrite.” How easily we take shallow comfort in our measly works, our records of calculated kindnesses usually toward those who are most easily served. Yet the truth is that it is only in Christ that you become truly merciful to others only insofar as you recognize and appreciate God's mercy towards you, forgiving only as you yourself have been forgiven, generous only to the extent that you see everything ultimately as gift of God. The goal of these words is spiritual enlightenment, Christian formation, to become like Jesus.

  Jesus teaches his disciples, saying, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” The two words in Greek translated “mercy” are nearly synonyms conveying both the acts of mercy and the emotion of compassion or sympathy for others in need. How is your Father merciful? God not only had the emotion of loving his now fallen world but also went into action and sent his only Son to redeem it. Jesus not only felt compassion for all people and even wept as at the death of his friend Lazarus, but he also acted as he healed the sick, fed the hungry, proclaimed good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and liberty to those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18). “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” These are words of Law, first, for our first reaction to them is to confess how unmerciful we are. But then these same words are also Gospel as we see and receive God's mercy, first of all, for ourselves.

  The works of mercy are the obvious acts of meeting the needs of the poor, the sick and injured, the lonely and all who suffer. But the mercy of God is rooted in and expressed primarily through the forgiveness of sins, for sin is the root problem. I like the homemade distinction made between the grace and mercy of God as it is said that it is the “grace” of God that he gives us what we do not deserve, while it is the “mercy” of God that he does not give us what we truly deserve. Sin is transgression against God and His Word and separation from him. As such, sin must be punished. Adam perceived that as he instinctively hid in the bushes after the first transgression. Every religious thought of fallen mankind since then has perceived at least that, first, there must be a God and, second, he's mad at us and must be appeased or reconciled through some sacrifice for sin, What the fallen, sinful nature does not see, however, and cannot see, is that God is a God of love and mercy. In God's great love, in his grace and mercy, he gave his only Son to take that punishment into himself on the cross. Jesus got and willingly accepted the punishment we deserved. It is only on the basis of Christ's vicarious and holy death, then, that God turns and forgives all our sins and restores us to life and holiness declaring the sinner righteous for the simple sake of faith in Christ. In Christ a person receives what he does not deserve, namely, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. And he did this out of his great love and mercy for his creation.

  Mercy and forgiveness for the outcasts and sinners is the central theme of Jesus' teaching and activity all the way up to his crucifixion where he says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” That's mercy. Forgiveness takes away judgment. Therefore it is to follow, says our text, that as the Father has removed his judgment against your sin you also will be enabled to not unfairly judge or condemn your neighbor because you know the great liberation, freedom and joy of sins forgiven. Jesus wants his disciples to accurately represent God and not misrepresent him. If you are unfairly judgmental of others or legalistic, you sully God's character as the God of grace because you say you belong to him yet do not accurately reflect his mercy. Please note that I said “unfairly judge,” for, of course, we must make judgments especially to distinguish between true and false teaching, doctrine and teachers. But that is a judgment for the purpose of showing mercy and not of raw condemnation that is the province and authority of God alone. As Joseph said to his brothers in our Old Testament lesson, “Am I in the place of God?” namely, to punish them? So he forgave and comforted his brothers and spoke kindly to them. In Christ you are enabled to do that too! To personally “let people off the hook” of your demands for retaliation, judgment and so-called “fairness.” When you think about it, nothing is fair, including God's great grace and mercy! And that is precisely what makes it grace and mercy!

  It has been my experience, and I have often said that the main priority and goal of the Christian life is in learning how to live in the forgiveness of sins, how to receive forgiveness for ourselves and how to work forgiveness of others in our daily relationships. The Gospel of Christ is all about forgiveness, God's great grace and mercy in his just and loving deliverance through the vicarious sacrifice, death and victorious resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord. In this life sin, death and the devil constantly try to steal us away from the great grace and mercy of God and to put us at enmity with God and with one another. Therefore we are in need of daily repentance and forgiveness. And as that is our own need, so is it the need of everyone around us. Where are they going to see and learn that anywhere else but from us who know and have experienced the great forgiveness of all our sins in Christ?

  Jesus tells of the goal of his teaching as enlightenment with the little parable in the question, “A blind man is not able to lead the way for a blind man, is he?” In early Christian literature, Holy Baptism and catechesis were called “enlightenment.” The early Church Father Justin Martyr wrote, “This washing is called enlightenment, because those that are experiencing these things have their minds enlightened. And he that is being enlightened is washed in the Name of Jesus Christ.” The scriptures say that all men are born into this world spiritually blind, dead and enemies of God. In other words all are absolutely helpless to save themselves. But, as the apostle Paul wrote, “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” [Titus 3:4-7 (ESV)]. Those are baptismal words. By his mighty Word in Holy Baptism, and through the preaching of his Word and the sacraments, we are made alive by the gift and miracle of faith.

  This faith is the enlightenment of our minds and hearts by which we can say with Simeon in the Nunc Dimittis, “my eyes have seen your salvation” [Luke 2:30 (ESV)]. In Christ we are no longer spiritually blind and we can lead the way for others to discover the grace and mercy of God.

____________________
Rev. Allen D. Lunneberg

Contacts:

deblocascio.stmark@sbcglobal.net

Pastor: Rev. Allen D. Lunneberg
7979 Commerce Rd.      (1/4 mile east of Union Lake Rd.)
West Bloomfield, MI 48324
Phone: 248.363.0741
Fax: 248.363.4755