Jesus said, “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.”
The world in which we live is anything but merciful. It speaks often about justice. It demands fairness. It insists that everyone receive exactly what he deserves. If someone hits us, the world tells us to hit them back. If someone insults us, the world tells us to insult them in return.
Our sinful flesh thinks the same way. It wants us to keep record of wrongs. It wants us sit in judgment over others.
But Jesus tells us not to be like the world, but to be like our Father in heaven. Jesus tells us to be merciful, as our Father in heaven is merciful. Jesus is not merely giving us some good advice. He is not simply telling us to be nice to other people. He does not say, “If you are merciful, then God will become merciful to you.” Rather, Jesus calls us to reflect the very heart of our heavenly Father.
Notice where Jesus begins. He does not begin with us. He begins with our heavenly Father. He simply declares, “Your Father is merciful.”
Now we cannot give mercy if we have not first received it from our heavenly Father. A dry well cannot provide water. An empty hand cannot give bread. Likewise, a heart that has never received mercy from God cannot show mercy.
Mercy does not originate in our hearts. Mercy is not something we create. Rather, mercy begins with God. It belongs to His very nature. God is a God of mercy. Exodus 34:5 says that God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. God delights in showing mercy because mercy is His character. It is who He is.
What does God’s mercy look like? It looks like this: The Father sent His only-begotten Son into the world. The Son willingly went to the cross on your behalf to pay for your sin. The Holy Spirit called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and kept you in the true faith. This is what mercy looks like. Everything God has done for your salvation flows from His mercy.
This is good news because none of us deserve His mercy. We have rebelled against God. We have broken His commandments. We have loved ourselves more than God himself. We have spoken words that wound others. We have harbored resentment, pride, lust, envy, bitterness, and selfishness. We have failed to love our neighbors in the same way we love ourselves.
Jesus said, “For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” If God were to judge us by the same measure we use for others, we would stand condemned. If God dealt with us according to strict justice alone, none of us could stand before Him.
Yet He has not dealt with us according to our sins. Instead, He sent His Son into our world to save us. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly where we have failed. Then He suffered the judgment that we deserved. He took upon Himself our guilt, shame, hypocrisy, and sin. He suffered the punishment that we deserved so that we might receive His righteousness. The cross is the greatest revelation of God’s mercy. On the third day, Christ rose from the dead. There is now forgiveness. Eternal life is freely given through faith in Christ. Our salvation rests entirely upon God’s mercy in Christ and not upon our works.
God loved us before we love Him. He sent His Son while we were still sinners. He continues to love us even though we repeatedly fail Him.
And you have received God’s mercy. How and where? You received it when you were baptized. You read about God’s mercy in Holy Scripture. You hear God’s mercy preached and you touch and taste it in the Lord’s Supper.
You have received God’s mercy; not a little mercy, but an abundance of it. Jesus says that God gives us a good measure of His grace, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Like grain poured into a basket until it overflows, God has filled your life with mercy beyond measure. His mercy toward you overflows. It never runs out. It never changes. It is entirely free.
This Gospel changes us for the better. It transforms us according to His image. We show mercy to others because we have first received mercy from God. We approach others with humility because we ourselves stand before God purely by grace alone. God’s mercy is reflected in our lives. We who have received mercy are moved to show mercy toward others.
The same is true of forgiveness. We forgive because we have first been forgiven by God. God’s forgiveness becomes the source from which we forgive others. We receive forgiveness from God and we willingly forgive others,
Although we are not perfect, we seek to imitate Christ. We seek to reflect His mercy and forgiveness. We desire to be merciful, forgiving, hospitable, kind and compassionate to others so that others may see Christ in us.
What does mercy look like within our earthly family, our church family, or in our community? We joyfully encourage one another. We bear one another’s burdens. We forgive one another. We gently correct one other. We speak the truth in love. We help one another. In this way, we reflect Christ.
In our Holy Gospel for today, Jesus not only encourages us to reflect God’s mercy, He also gives us a solemn warning. He says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned” (v 37). Our culture encourages us to criticize everyone and everything. This is done through social media, our phones, and via the internet. We think that we are better and wiser and more righteous than other people. Such judgment often flows from our pride and our sinful nature.
Living in a fallen world, there is a place for courts of law and civil judgments. Parents need to teach their children right from wrong. Pastors should preach both Law and Gospel. We are to condemn false doctrine. There is such thing as truth and error. Murder, abortion, adultery, sexual immorality, gossip are wrong and we should speak against them as well as other sins.
Jesus is not saying that there is no longer any right or wrong. Rather, He is warning us from judging others unjustly; according to our own standards rather than according to God’s Word. He is warning us against a self-righteous attitude as if we are better than others. The Eighth Commandment forbids us from unjustly speaking evil of others, but it also requires us to put the best construction on everything.
Jesus illustrates this saying, “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 easily we notice another person’s sin while remaining blind to our own sin. We want to help someone else when we do not see our own sin.
Jesus continues, “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.” Notice what Jesus does not say. He does not say, “Leave the speck where it is.” The speck needs to be removed. To correct someone is not wrong. We are called to help one another. But we can only help other people when we first repent of our own sins. Only the humble sinner is prepared to help another sinner. We should repent of our own sins and then correct others gently rather than arrogantly.
Again, Jesus does not forbid correction. He wants us to warn others when they are wandering from God’s Word. He does call us to rebuke sin, but do it in a manner of love and humility. The danger lies in correcting people while ignoring our own sin. Before helping remove a speck from a brother’s eye, we must recognize the plank in our own eye. The goal is to restore a person not to condemn them.
God’s law humbles everyone of us. It reveals the log in our own eye. It exposes our pride, envy, lust, selfishness, bitterness, and countless other sins. It drives us to repentance and to the mercy and forgiveness found in Christ alone.
Congregations, marriages, families, and friendships inevitably involve sinners who sin against one another. Harsh words are spoken. Gossip spreads. Tempers flare. People disappoint one another. The temptation is to keep a record of wrongs.
But remember the forgiveness we have received from God. He removes the log from our eye on account of Jesus. We deserve judgment, yet God has forgiven us. We deserve condemnation, yet God has declared us righteous through faith in Christ. We deserve eternal death, yet God has given us eternal life on account of Christ’s death and resurrection.
God’s mercy continues to overflow. In Absolution this morning, God forgave your sins. In preaching you hear the Gospel for you and in the Lord’s Supper, God gives you Christ’s body and blood as a pledge and guarantee of that forgiveness. Again and again, He fill you with an abundance of His grace and mercy. Psalm 136:1 says, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endures forever” – His mercy endures forever.
Dearly beloved, the world would want you hurt other people. The world despises Christ and those who follow Him. But do not be like the world, rather be like your Father in heaven. Forgive one another. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for their conversion. Show them that you possess a peace in Christ that the world can never give. As others see your kindness and forgiveness, they may begin to wonder about the source of your hope and peace. Then you will have the opportunity to point them to Jesus, who alone gives the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and the hope of eternal life. They will see your good works and will glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Your life is shaped by the Gospel. Your identity is found in Christ. You show mercy because mercy has first been shown to you. You judge according to God’s Word rather than according to your own opinions. You speak God’s truth in love. You do not delight in condemning others. You freely forgive because you have been forgiven. You repent of your sins then you humbly address the sins of others. You reflect Christ in your life.
Therefore, continue to receive God’s mercy through His Word. Continue to come here to His house where He feeds you with His precious Gospel and with His body and blood. Having received His mercy in abundance, you joyfully and willingly are merciful to others, even as your Father in heaven is merciful. Thanks be to God. Amen.
