Romans 8:18-23 * Luke 6:36-41
The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading come in separate
sections. Let us look at each one, one by one.
Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not,
and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned:
forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you; good
measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give
into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be
measured to you again.
This is not about
pretending not to know right from wrong, but about mercy. All too easily, we
apply to others a standard we would not want applied to us, not about right and
wrong, but about forgiveness. It goes without saying that everybody, including
everybody here, is a sinner. I am not talking about notorious and unrepentant
sin. I am not talking about accepting a low standard of conduct, either for
others or for ourselves. I am talking about the need of every person, at some
point, to be forgiven failures or offenses.
Jesus
commands us to be merciful because God Himself is merciful: “Be
therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” It is that very appeal, to be merciful because God is
merciful, that is taken up later by St.
Paul Colo.
One thing that has plagued the Church
in recent decades, particularly our own Continuing Anglican branch of it, is a
readiness to pull away from each other. Rather, God commands us to acquire the
combination of love and humility that preserves not only good order, but the
sacramental bond of fellowship and communion by which we are in Christ.
Separating from a religious body that cast off the truth of the Gospel was
unavoidable; but, continued secessions are not, thereby, justified.
God, as our Father through His only
begotten Son, has brought us into His own family and made us His children. Just
as an earthly father rejoices to see his grown children love one another, and
is grieved if it is otherwise, so it is out of love for God that we are told to
love one another in the Church. “Even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you," says St. Paul
Not be a judge means not to set
yourself up as the judge, not to condemn, not to write off your brothers and
sisters as hopeless cases, beyond the pale, not worth bothering with. It is
easy to take a mental photograph that freezes individuals in time, perhaps at
their worst. But, the truth is that the Holy Spirit, the One Who is at work in
your heart and life, is active also in changing and sanctifying all of God’s
children. That mental image you retain, taken at someone’s worst moment, needs
to be torn up and thrown away. This requires faith in God, in this case, in the
Holy Spirit Who is at work changing your brother just as He is changing you.
Since the measure you mete will be
meted out to you, love one another, be merciful, and have faith that God the
Holy Spirit is at work.
And he spoke a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind?
shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master:
but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Jesus used the image of the blind leading the blind, on another
occasion, to speak about the dangers of religious leaders who teach false
doctrines (Matt. 15: 12-14), specifically of the Pharisees. But, here in this
context, Jesus uses the same words to speak of something different, which we shall
see in a moment. But, first let us consider the words, “The
disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his
master.”
Though
He was Lord of Heaven and Earth, Jesus accepted the role of a servant for our
sakes. His patience was more than remarkable; it was, literally, Divine.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the
world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John
1:10,11)
Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I
then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one
another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have
done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than
his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know
these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:13-17)
Even as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and
to give his life a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:28)
This must be the attitude of each one of us in His Church. We
are here to serve, to wash one another’s feet, and so to be like our Master (or
Rabbi).
Amen
sat in my office and told me he wanted to be a priest, in fact, that he wanted
to be a bishop, and that he asked me, hypothetically, “isn’t it right to want
to climb to the top of your chosen field?” I told him to forget entirely about
ordained ministry; that I would not help him on that road, not even one little
bit. If ever he comes back to see me, I will hope it will be because he wants
to serve God, even if it means washing the feet of his brethren; and that he
will have no longer a desire born of ambition. It is enough to be like our
Rabbi, our Master Who came not to be served. And, this calling, to be like
Christ, is everyone’s calling. It is your calling and it is mine. Be content to
serve in whatever way God has called you and given you gifts for service. It is
enough.
And why beholdest thou the mote [speck] that is in thy brother's
eye, but perceivest not the beam [log] that is in thine own eye? Either
how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in
thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt
thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
You can see, as I said, from the context that Jesus has used the
image of the blind leading the blind, and both of them falling into a ditch,
differently from how He used it regarding the Pharisees. And, here we see that
one of the services you may provide, out of love that moves you to be merciful
as our Father is merciful, is to pull the speck out of your brother’s eye.
To the degree that your
brother may need your help, you cannot help him blinded, as you are, if you are
walking around with a log protruding out of your own eye. When it comes to
helping your brother get his eye clear, if you are the one to be of help, first
remove the log that blinds you.
Well, that is simple
enough to understand, surely. But, the reality is subtle. We all prefer to see
the faults of others, and to ignore our own faults; and that includes the fault
of finding fault.
Consider what I am saying in light of last
week’s theme, about Satan going about as a roaring lion. Spiritual warfare is a
reality concerning which our own people have all too often been quite
dangerously naïve. Think of these words by St. Paul
To whom ye forgive any
thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for
your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an
advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (II Cor. 2:10,11)
But, today the Church is
ignorant of Satan’s devices. One of the tragedies of our Continuing churches is
the disproportionate number of people, in far too many cases even of clergy,
who proved themselves ignorant of Satan’s devices… We cannot afford the luxury
of ignorance about Satan’s devices. He still goes about as a roaring lion, and
it takes real humility to resist him. It takes, also, steadfastness in the
faith.
We
have an enemy already – our common enemy; and we are all the same side. It must
be like the musketeers said: “All for one and one for all.” Or, to put it
better, "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if
any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do
ye." “Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
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