Trinity 4

Good Shepherd

2004 Pass Rd, Biloxi, MS 39531

Draft Gen 50:15–21; Rm 8:18–23; Lk 6:36–42; Ps 138; antiph: v. 8b   –     6/29/26

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Two years ago I told you how Jesus when He says, 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,” that the judgment Jesus speaks of here concerns the state of souls, not crimes, not false doctrine. Today I would reiterate that lesson. Jesus is not telling us that there is no time ever where we would judge between false doctrine and true doctrine, between false teachers and true teacher, between faithless living and faithful living. But there is also never a time where we are given the right and obligation of judging the salvation of another person, rather, let the man’s own words and works show his faith or his damnation without our judgment, and let us judge ourselves, show compassion as we have been shown compassion, and guard ourselves and our families from the works of the devil.

What ought we be doing instead of judging the state of our neighbors’ souls? For that our Old Testament and our Gospel reading are our guides. First, listen as Jesus teaches the people of Israel in the valley: He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? He is, of course, speaking about spiritual blindness. If I sin then I am a slave to sin and blinded by my sin to God’s Word and Will. I cannot see either to the left or the right. I can neither go forward nor backward with any surety. So what would become of another blind sinner whom I would lead. He would stay stuck in his blindness and sin until he like me wound up in hell because of our faithless living and my unfaithful teaching of him. What then is necessary? As a child of Adam who has inherited Adam’s fallen, sinful nature, as someone who with Adam has only the broken fragments of the image of God, I must be made whole, made able to see before I can guide my blind sinner friend to the waters of life. I must repent of my sin. I must take responsibility for all I have done, and confess as David confessed, I have sinned against the Lord. And then the servant of the Lord will say to me, as Nathan the prophet said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die (2 Sam 12:13).

Then Jesus says, A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. What does He warn of here? Pride. When I have once read a small part of Scripture I may think I fully understand it, that reading it this one time will be all I need to know it fully, or if I have faithfully attended church all the days of my life and heard hundreds of sermons I may think I have heard, read, and attended enough, that I am well equipped now to spend my time at home or watching the ball game or going to work, that I don’t need to listen to the pastor or be with the congregation. But I or anyone who thinks that way is puffed up and has neither understood the Bible nor those hundreds of sermons, he is cruel to his own soul and his own family. What has Christ our teacher said through the writer to the book of Hebrews: let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (10:24–25). Therefore I must repent and return to the sheepfold that Christ may teach me yet again.

And at last He says, 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.” That is, when I have sinned, when I have acted hypocritically, when I hold false beliefs, how can I judge the false doctrine or sinful acts of my brother. I am blind to my own sin, hypocrisy, and false doctrine. I cannot but help misjudge my brother and condemn him where no condemnation may be right, and God will see and God will punish me for causing greater harm. I must first have my eyesight restored, then I must return to the true font of living water that is the faithful church where the Bible is faithfully taught, then I will be able to see, then I will be able to judge, then I will be able to help my brother with his own sins, hypocrisy, and false doctrine. I must receive mercy that I may show mercy. And when by faith I show mercy, God is pleased with me.

Second, look at the example of Joseph and his brothers: 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.” They know their sin. They know that they were blind, that they bore not specks but logs in their own eyes. They know that they deserve the greatest punishment for their sin, so they sue for mercy, mercy which they did not show to their innocent brother. They fear and tremble, for by just judgment according to their own works, their own mercilessness, they ought to be judged in wrath, measured in full, pressed down, shaken together, and running over poured like molten fire upon their heads.

But what happens next? Joseph wept when they spoke to him. See how Joseph is no longer angry with his brothers. Yes, they envied him. Yes, they mocked him. Yes, they sold him into slavery. Yes, they lied about his fate to his father, nearly causing Israel to die from sorrow. Yes, they were merciless. But long ago Joseph had forgiven them. Long ago the sin they had committed was laid aside. So rather than hearing this plea with the wrath they feared, Joseph is hurt on their behalf that their sin still clings to their consciences, that it still blinds them even though he had absolved them years before to their own faces. Their terror is based on nothing. Their unease is vain. Their obsequious request out of place for its goal is too low; Joseph had already given them something higher in value. Where was their faith?

And then, 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. Far from the burning wrath they both expected and deserved, Joseph showed them mercy as God had shown him mercy. Joseph believed God’s Word, had confessed his own sins and been forgiven. God had removed his blindness. God had taught him they way of truth and mercy. God had removed the log from Joseph’s eye so that now Joseph saw clearly. Now Joseph can see to lead his brothers to the waters of life where their blindness will be removed. Now Joseph can teach his brothers so that they will believe and receive faith. Now Joseph can judge rightly and show them undeserved mercy by removing the specks in their eyes.

You ought, therefore, learn from these parables and this history so that you may be like Joseph, one who sees and confesses his sins, one who doesn’t attend church for the sake of appearances but so that you may learn at Christ’s feet, daily studying the Bible, one who judges himself first so that he may have a clean conscience before God. Then you also ought to act like Joseph toward all who sin against you, family, friend, and even enemy. Jesus said: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. That should be your goal, and I as your pastor am here, Christ’s servant, to help you in all of this.

So now we must ask, what about when I fail to follow Joseph’s example, when I fail to live like Jesus? When I fail to be merciful? When I sin? Remember, Christ your God is merciful. Go to him like Joseph’s brothers came to him to confess your sins, all that burden your conscience, but confess in faith, not doubting that God will forgive you. Joseph’s brothers confessed without faith and quivered in fear, but God has promised you that He has forgiven you already in the death and resurrection of Christ. What did you all profess at the beginning of service? Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth (Psalms 124:8). I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin (Psalm 32:5). Did or did not God forgive the iniquity of your sin? Did He or did He not send Jesus to die in your place for your sins? Is God a liar? No, God is not a liar like men; therefore you can believe His promise completely, so that when He says Christ took all your sins away from you, that means He did. When He says that you are forgiven in the waters of Baptism, that your heart is regenerated by His Word and the water, that you are in Baptism made His child, then it is so. When He says that the pastor’s forgiveness of your sins is His own forgiveness, then it is so. When He says that the bread of His Supper is His Body, that the wine of His Supper is His Blood, that in eating and drinking these you receive His forgiveness, life, and salvation, it. is. so.

Do not despair when your sins confront and accuse you. St. John writes, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1.2:1–2). Trust in your Advocate. What does David say in the psalm today? For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Thus God is toward you who believe His Word and seek to keep His commandments. Therefore, you also strive to be like Jesus toward you those who sin against you, show them mercy as your Father in heaven showed you mercy.

Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen