The Gospel sets the tone with “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” This reading follows on the tails of loving your enemy and doing good to those who hate you. The Gospel reading is at the end of the sermon of the plain where the beatitudes have already been said the woes have already been said and now this is speaking to the Christian, the disciples of Christ. So when you hear “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned” we are not talking about actual judicial decisions but it is speaking to judgements of believers against unbelievers. Dr. Just, a Lukan scholar, puts it this way:
“It refers to judgements of believers against unbelievers, and particularly those judgements in the Christian assembly among believers. These would not simply be the normal kinds of petty criticisms that take place in every community, but judgements and condemnations about doctrine and life that are made without substantial evidence or are based on a faulty understanding of God’s standards. Above all, since Jesus does not want his disciples to misrepresent God. If they themselves are judgemental or legalistic, they sully God’s character as a God of grace.”

Therefore, this does not mean you cannot make judgements where there is evidence and it goes against God’s Word. This does not mean we cannot condemn actions that oppose the Word of God. This means you do not get to judge a person on their repentance, you cannot judge a person on their faith. To clarify, if someone asks for forgiveness and you put conditions on it to earn the forgiveness, like what they must do to earn it if they really mean it. Then forgiveness becomes about works and no longer grace. Also, you cannot say to a person if they were truly faithful then they would do this, this and this. Again, faith becomes a work based on the individual rather than a gift from God. In these cases you are judging or condemning wrongly and you are sullying God’s grace. You are tainting what Jesus has done.

Did Christ put any conditions on His forgiveness? Does He not give you faith through the Holy Spirit? You can make judgements if people do not believe Christ is both God and man, you can make judgements if people say that there is no triune God. These prohibitions, things not to do, are the characteristics Christians take on. Loving your enemy, showing mercy, giving grace. Christians reflect the love, mercy and grace Christ has shown them.
“Give, and it will be given to you.” Christ’s words reflect that very message. You have been given grace and mercy because He has loved the lepers, the outcasts, the enemies, the sinners. You were loved first by God, given grace in His sacrifice and is this you will naturally give as it has been given to you. This next verse did not make sense to me as I am a California boy, but I looked it up and it helps express the love and mercy He shows you. “Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.” Have you ever opened a bag of chips and it looks like one-third of the bag is all they give you.

Well this is the very opposite of this. It is if they took that chip bag filled it up as full as they could, then shook it so you could get more chips to fit, then heaped more on top after it could no longer fit any. The picture is an overabundance of love, grace and mercy are given to you. Christ gives you a superabundant amount of grace, mercy and love. These are the very characteristics of God. A God who delights in showing mercy.

So do not be stingy, do not be cheap. Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying,
“When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale,that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
Do not be like those in the temple. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
Have you not heard the parable of the ungrateful servant? A servant whose debt was forgiven by the king only to throw a man that owed him a little into prison. You have eternal life, you have forgiveness, you have mercy and grace through your Savior, Jesus Christ. You are given an inheritance far better than any riches in this world. You have been treated far better than you deserve. Do not withhold these riches from your neighbor.

This is what Christ is talking about with a blind man leading a blind man? This is most particularly talking to pastors, but it applies to the church as well. I know that the only way to heaven is through Christ alone; there are no amount of works that I can do to get there. That I am deserving of hell and damnation, but it is only through Christ’s death and resurrection that my sins have been paid for and I am declared righteous. If I teach you anything else other than this it is if I am the blind man and it would better if I was not born. I should have a millstone tied around my neck and thrown in the sea. Why? I would be portraying Christ incorrectly. I would be barring heaven as those in the temple did by selling the animal sacrifices. I would be giving you a chip bag one-third full and ultimately lead you to disappointment and resentment. I as a teacher of the Word must continue to scoop helping after helping of grace and mercy onto you just as Christ has done for all mankind. You too dear Christians, how can you see the speck in another’s eye if you have a log in yours? Take a minute and really think about that. Can you see at all? It’s rather absurd.

Yet, it is Christ that pulls the logs out of your eye and it is only through the Word and Spirit that you can see the truth. It is the knowledge of Christ crucified. It is the knowledge that Jesus came for to redeem the sinner and grant salvation that lets you see clearly, and also grant mercy to your neighbor that you can love your enemy. It is this sacrificial love that He gives to you that allows you to heap grace and mercy upon your enemy.

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Who is your teacher? Who is teaching you how to act? Is it the world. Are you being trained by this world and adopting it’s traits or is Christ your teacher? Are you learning from what He is giving you? Can you even comprehend the amount of grace He has given you? I am not here to remove your speck in your eye, but to comfort you and speak kindly to you. You are God’s chosen people, You are loved by a God who delights in showing mercy. Here in His divine service He remembers His promise, He gives you grace and mercy to let you know that you are justified and He sanctifies you through His Word and His sacraments. His love allowed Joseph to forgive and bless his brothers when they meant to kill him. He through His son Jesus Christ has been merciful to you so that you too can be merciful. Not as a requirement but because His mercy to you is so much that it spills over to your neighbor and your enemy.

SDG
Pr. Daniel Holm

Luke 6
36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 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.

Gen 50
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”‘ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Romans 12
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.