The words from our gospel reading, “Judge not,” have been turned into a slogan by misguided Christians and unbelievers. I use the word slogan purposely because the way they use these words of our Lord is not the way He uses them. And so they are not Christ’s words at all, but they go against what He says in our gospel. To understand these words, we must examine those that come prior. As Christ, the Lord, says, “Therefore be merciful just as your Father is also merciful.” The keyword is “as your Father is.” So, by simply understanding how people communicate, we can ensure that Jesus instructs us not to judge, in contrast to how God the Father judges. Christ is not saying that His Father does not judge at all, but He instructs us that our judgments cannot go beyond His Father.
This is the only reliable way to read this passage because if we truly did not want to judge anything whatsoever, we could not make any decision, whether it is what kind of toothpaste to buy at the store, who writes the best music, or trying to predict who will win the soccer tournament; they all require us to judge. So if our judgment is needed to make trivial decisions that have very little impact on our lives, then why should we not use judgment concerning those things that do impact our lives, mainly the things of God and our salvation?
So, why does Christ instruct us that our judgments and mercy cannot go beyond or come short of what the Father has done? Christ does this because of our sinful nature. That original sin that we all possess is made manifest by incorrect justice and lack of mercy. The old Adam is a selfish man who is willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. If it means to look down on others because of their poor decisions or to withhold grace and goodness towards others, that is just part of the game of life. The old Adam will help his neighbor, but only when it means helping himself even more.
Today, in our reading of Genesis 50, we find the final patriarch of the book, Joseph, a man who, by all accounts, could have abandoned his family. He could have left them, starving in the promised land. Yet he is a living example of what Jesus’ words look like. As a young lad, he was the favorite child of Jacob, his father, and he and everyone knew it. Jacob gave him a marvelous coat, and he used it to taunt his brothers about his status. He spoke of the dreams that told him that someday he would be superior to all his brothers, and that they would need to bow the knee to Joseph. In the spirit of jealousy, his own brothers throw him into a well and fake his death while, in actuality, selling him as a slave to be hauled away to Egypt.
That is all that anyone knew of Joseph, even while his father was deceived that his son was dead. And how many years later, as Joseph had become second-in-command over the entire nation of Egypt, only to the pharaoh, his brothers unknowingly came into the kingdom of their brother, asking for wheat, and he surprised them with no cost. Their own flesh and blood, who was put in the position of God, also acted as God to them. Joseph was merciful as his heavenly Father is merciful. He did not judge beyond God’s judgment. And he gave as it was given to him, and he forgave as God Himself forgave him.
Therefore, we can say that Joseph does judge his brothers. Yet, his judgment is correct and necessary because Joseph’s judgments do align with the will and Word of God. The word of God that says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” God’s word that says “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” And also that “God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” It is his correct judgment that saves them; therefore, we should judge as God judges, according to His mercy and goodness, with His eagerness to forgive and His earnest desire for repentance.
This also brings us to the point where God’s mercy can be wrongly applied or extended beyond what even our merciful Father has deemed. This comes about when we make excuses for the sins of our people or even our own. By simply making excuses that this is just how things are now. Even though you know deep down that it has never been right. When people say it is my life, why do you need to tell me how to live it? So we are pressured to just ignore what we know is wrong from the word of God. Because we are accused of not accepting their decisions, we are considered unloving. I believe that the personal attacks taken against us are often related to the most personal kind of sins, including marriage and sexuality. I’m guessing that many of you have heard of, or been part of, conversations about these issues that simply end with “you can’t judge me.”
We are told that homosexuality is a settled issue. Or this is what people do: they live together for a year before they get engaged, and another two or three before they get married. And we may or may not know it, but this is an appeal for a false kind of mercy. Meaning that they are asking that their sins just be ignored by all, and that we would just accept it. Yet, that is not what mercy is at all. When we ask for God’s mercy upon our sins, we are not asking that He just ignore them, but that He would deal with them through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, meaning that the Lord would forgive them and then, by His grace, we would live contrary to our sinful state. This is what it means to be merciful, as God is merciful, and to judge not. Jesus here instructs us not to let our mercy and judgment direct us, but to let His mercy and judgment guide our way in how we love our neighbor and make decisions in how we should live.
It is true that we cannot ignore judgment and mercy, and still God desires us to use these things, not on a blind whim because of the pranks in our own eyes, but in accordance with the sight of faith. It is by the word of God that we can examine ourselves first and see the plank that is in them, so that we can see Christ and our neighbor properly. And when we look at our neighbor, we see that they are sinful too, and that they need Christ just as much as we do, and by pointing out the speck in their eye, we are not condemning them; instead, we are loving them.
Because we do not show the speck 7 in their eye, they would be led to despair. Instead, they would be led to our gracious and merciful Savior. Christ Jesus, who has died for the sins of the whole world, that many would come to see Him face-to-face. And that they would see him perfectly with no speck or imperfection in the kingdom of God. This we do out of love for Christ and love for our neighbor, who has been made, that they would be with Him forever and ever. Amen
St. John's and Grace Evangelical Lutheran Parish 