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Fourth Sunday after
Trinity.
The Collect.
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O
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GOD, the
protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is
holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and
guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the
things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
The Epistle
Romans viii. 18-23
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I
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RECKON
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the
creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we
know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit, the redemption of our body.
The Gospel
St. Luke vi. 36-42
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B
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E ye
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. And he spake 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. And why beholdest thou the
mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam
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.
In
today’s Gospel there are points of variance between
that which is commonly and erroneously taught in modern churches; and the
clearly stated truth of the Scripture itself. One has to do with the false
notion that we are helpless to judge both sin and sinners
- the second is that our good works will suffice to save us if only we
perform enough of them.
The
world places a very high premium upon achievement and performance. We are often misled, even by our clergy, to
believe our works are the means by which we are saved. The modern church
emphasizes giving almost to the exclusion of all other considerations. The rich
man, or woman, will be rewarded with honors and positions of responsibility
even if their daily lives do not reflect that Spirit of which Christ spoke.
Perhaps the poor widow that spends all of her available time in cooking for the
sick and homeless will be forgotten in the perishable minds of men, but shall
be more highly remembered and favored in the Infinite Mind of God. God gives us
many hints of His Will to be fulfilled in Christ in the midst of the Old
Testament.
The
people of Israel were living as they pleased and believing that all their sins
were remitted by the sacrifices of the wealthy. But God counseled: For
I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt
offerings. (Hosea 6:6) The money-changers of the modern temple would
have us persist in believing that we can BUY God’s
favor while living as we please, but it was NEVER so. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. (Psalms 85:10) Mercy and truth
are husband and wife - inseparable! If we will have mercy, we must
accept truth with it. As Jesus told the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s
Well, “. . . the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him. (John 4:23) ‘Spirit’ is not emotionalism, but love of
God and our fellow man. But our love must be directed in truth, for
false worship is an abomination in the eyes of the
Lord.
As
we read in our biblically-oriented prayer of Collect, God is the protector of
all who trust in Him. We can claim none of God’s
protection apart from the measure of trust we place wholly in Him. Without God, we have no strength at all, and our
righteousness is as filthy rags. Apart from God, there is no holiness to be
had. We lean upon God for His increasing mercies in His Sovereign Rule over us,
and to Guide us through the Wilderness of Sin of this present world. Only God
can show us the safe and righteous way - we cannot find it alone. In
avoiding those things that worldly, we are amassing to ourselves those
treasures that are heavenly. These are the Godly petitions we repeated from today’s
prayer of Collect.
In
our Epistle for today, taken from Romans 8, we discover that there is groaning
of the mortal soul that is inclined to the Holiness of God. Such a struggle and
groaning is forever present with us until the curtain of time is lifted and
time shall be no more. It is not a sorrowful groaning, but an intense desire to
see God’s will worked out on earth as it is in Heaven according to
that prayer the Lord taught us to say. When sorrow and misery befalls the stranger to God,
hope is forlorn and there is no brilliant Light upon which he may fix his eyes
from the darkness that engulfs his wretched soul. But the child of God embraces
the Light even more earnestly as the dark circle surrounds him, or a loved one.
He knows, innately, that the Light is his destination and not the dark fires of
Hell that seem to presently surround him. “. . . . weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in
the morning.” (Psalm 30:5b)
Our
Gospel text calls us to a higher standard of life and Spirit than a rigid
adherence to the law can afford. If perfect obedience were possible, there
would be no need of mercy; but we can never be perfect keepers of the Law of
God, therefore, we must have mercy if we are to be accounted blameless and righteous
in entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Consider
the great pardon and mercy shown to us through the substitutionary death of
Christ! He suffered that we might forego the eternity of Hell. We should
rightfully be punished for our life of sin, yet Christ died in our stead that
we, accepting His Lordship, might be pardoned and forgiven. Be ye
therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. This
is a mighty admonition to us, for we can never be as merciful as God has been
toward us. But God would have us to take on the very nature of mercy in our
dealings with others. Though a child can seldom match the understanding of his
father or mother, he will nonetheless mimic the nature he sees in his parents.
That is what God desires of His children today.
37 Judge
not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned:
forgive, and ye shall be forgiven So many good Christians
misunderstand this to mean that Christian judgment is forbidden. Nothing could
be further from the truth. The meaning to us is this: We should not judge with
our personal judgments, but with the righteous judgment of God as evidenced in
His Word. Jesus Christ gives us commandment that is clear: Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous
judgment. (John 7:24) We are not only
to judge from the heart, but also judge only by the measure of God’s judgment and not our own. If God has declared a certain behavior sin, that is not OUR judgment,
but God’s. Simply declaring God’s
condemnation of a sin is not our PERSONAL judgment, but HIS! Remember the
debtor to the king whose great debt was forgiven by the king and, who, after went out and took a man by the throat who owed him a small
sum, threatening to sell his wife and family into slavery? He was
forgiven a fortune, but refused to forgive his own servant a small debt. How
merciless was he! Are we not the same? The King of Glory has forgiven us an
enormous debt, and a multitude of debts, yet we refuse to forgive those who
offend us in the slightest measure.
38 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. It
is not possible to give more than God has given, for He immediately replenishes
our bottles of oil the moment we pour out our blessings to others. There are
blessings that cannot be measured in simple terms of a piece of bread for a
piece of bread. Our giving of bread to the poor is multiplied in return value a
thousand times. Our souls have rest and a good conscience thereby. Peace of mind
is a possession not enjoyed by the greedy.
Can
the blind lead the blind? Of course they can! It is happening in 90% of America’s churches today. Ministers, blind to the love and Spirit
of God, are leading their blind disciples ever nearer the gaping abyss that awaits all who do not hear with clarity the voice of
God. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead
the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? This is a
parable of Jesus that has profoundly present implications. Our seminaries have
been turned from a concentrated focus on the Word of God to an obsession with
church growth, conflict resolution, seeker friendly programs, and, yes, MONEY
schemes! If the lay Christian is NOTR blind (informed deeply by the Word of God)
it is not likely that he can be led by the nose by a blind guide.
Do
you know that there are theologians today who believe that they are better
informed of God’s Will than Jesus Christ? It is
true. There are those among the despicable movement called “Higher Critics” who believe textual analysis and archeological digs have
revealed to them information Jesus did not have while on his earthly ministry.
They obviously discredit Christ as the Son of the Living God, and God Himself! Their new bibles attempt to
alter the evidence to support their intentional errors. 40 The
disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his
master. I once disputed with a local minister who
claimed that speaking in tongues (nonsensical babbling) was required for
salvation. We argued the issue endlessly. Finally, I asked, “Is Jesus Christ our perfect example in all things?” Of
course, the minister answered in the affirmative to which I followed up, “Do
we have any evidence of Jesus EVER speaking in an
ecstatic and incomprehensible tongue?” The man REFUSED to
answer. If we will have perfect religion, and undefiled, let us be as much like
Christ as our earthen vessels will afford.
How
many clergymen preach against the sins of lying, stealing, adultery, etc., and
harbor those sins in the dark chambers of their own hearts? Of course, these
sins are condemned by God; however, we must not judge others by a stronger
measure than we apply to our own conduct. If we criticize the housekeeping of a
neighbor, let us first sweep the trash and filth from our own floors. 41 And
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not
the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 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.
If
we are to have authority as men and women of God, we must see that we follow
Christ in love and truth. We not only pronounce the truth of God’s Word to others, but we must make that truth the rule of
our own lives. Owning the Spirit of Love and Truth,
we shall walk the Valleys and Mountains with our eyes open to the presence and
company of God.
