In today’s Gospel, Jesus is really giving a variant on the golden rule. Not just, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Instead: “Do unto others as you would have your heavenly Father do unto you.”
Do you want God not to judge and condemn you? Then don’t you judge and condemn others. Do you want God to forgive your sins and give you richly all things to enjoy? Then you let go those grudges and put stinginess far from you. That’s the gist of the Gospel today.
But there’s something inside of us that doesn’t like this Gospel one little bit. Something inside of us that very much LIKES judging and condemning others. Something inside of us that is very reluctant to let go of wrongs suffered; something that enjoys playing the scene repeatedly in our mind’s eye to fan the flames of resentment and keep the bitterness burning. There is something inside that thinks Jesus surely got it reversed when he said “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
That something inside is the old Adam. Why does the old Adam like to judge and condemn others? Because he’s filled with pride. He thinks better of himself than he has a right to! And the one sure way he has of bolstering himself up is to point out, condemn and gossip about the failings of others. And why does the old Adam want to hold grudges and refuse to let go the wrongs he’s suffered? Because he thinks in his heart of hearts that if he doesn’t look out for #1, who will? We’ll just be doormats that others will wipe their feet on. The old Adam does not trust that vengeance is the Lord’s and that He will repay, as Paul taught in today’s epistle. And why is the old Adam stingy? Because he doesn’t trust the Father to provide for his every need. He’s always thinking that it’s all up to him and that it’s his hard work that has earned every penny and why on earth should he give any of it away to those who haven’t worked as hard as he?
Does that old fellow sound familiar? He should. He lives inside of you and me. And he wants to be our boss. He wants to rule our lives.
But we have been claimed by Another, haven’t we? We have been marked with the sign of the cross and we belong to the New Adam, to the Crucifed and Risen Lord Jesus. We’ve been baptized into Him. His life has been given us as our own. [As we saw with Clara this morning]
Think of our Lord. Did he come into the world to judge and condemn? No. He came to rescue us who were judged and condemned by the law as worthy of death. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him!”
Did he come to us to pay us back for our countless rebellions? No. He came to divorce us from our sins by taking them from us and bearing them Himself under His Father’s judgment as He hung on the tree. “Father, forgive” is the cry of His life. And all who in faith shelter under His cross are just that: forgiven. His cross is like a great umbrella that shields us from the wrath of God.
So did He come to take from us? No way! He came to give to us. Rich measure, pressed down, and shaken together, pouring into our laps a heavenly bounty.
And unlike the old Adam with his distrust of God, our Lord Jesus accomplished of all of that by trusting His Father. And He was not disappointed in His trust, was He? He who had not judged and not condemned and who had forgiven and given everything, even to the point of laying down His life, was raised on the third day, vindicated as the Just One and raised on high to the right hand of the Father to rule over all things.
Joseph in our Old Testament reading is a perfect picture prophesy of this. Instead of getting even with those wretched brothers of his who had betrayed him into slavery, he saw the hand of God behind all the events of his life so that even though his brothers had intended evil, God overturned it for good. Joseph was exalted and make ruler of all Egypt and promised to forgive and provide. Just so our Lord Jesus was not overcome by evil, but instead overcame evil by good.
And that’s the life He has given us a share in in our Baptism. He calls us to drown that old Adam and his distrust of God. To confess that we have logs in our own eyes – logs of pride, resentment, stinginess, and behind all of those, distrust. To confess this to God and to receive His absolution – because that is how you “take the log out of your own eye” so that you can finally be of some use to your brother. When you see yourself truly: as a prisoner who had been condemned justly and sitting on death row, but who has been given an undeserved pardon and reprieve; then you are a sinner who can be of some use to your neighbor! You can carry the good news of that free pardon to other sinners too, telling them of what the death of Christ has won for us all, unlocking the chains that bind them in shame and fear. That’s just the opposite of judging and condemning, isn’t it? It’s forgiving and giving.
Today in the Eucharist, Christ continues His giving to you, pouring into you more life than you can hold. He reaches you forgiveness for all our sins and seals that forgiveness to you with His own body and blood. Can you taste of this Supper, and the rich forgiveness it gives, and dare to walk away from this table with the old Adam still in charge, still living in pride, still bearing grudges in your hearts, still with closed hands and hearts, refusing to open up and give? No way. You cannot. You dare not.
Rather, we dance out of this place with joy to live out what our New Adam, our Lord Jesus, has given to us: the mercy that we have here tasted and known, so that we get to - GET TO - “do unto others as our heavenly Father has done and will do unto us” and to Him be glory with the Son and the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto ages of ages! Amen.
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