Christ’s Recipe for Christian Unity
I. Humility, not Hypocrisy
II. Forgive, and Be Forgiven
Luke 6:36–42
[Jesus said:] “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 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.”
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
“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.” (ESV)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we give thanks to You for Your great mercy. By sending your only begotten Son to be our Savior, who bore our judgement and condemnation on the cross, we have been given full pardon and peace. We ask that You rid us of all hypocrisy and strengthen our faith so that we might reflect Your mercy to others. Amen.
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
I grew up with many cousins, so we had large family gatherings. Whenever you have kids getting together, there is bound to be a little fighting. One child might for no apparent reason, push or kick another child. The injured child will cry and plead for justice. “He hit me!” But it is always amazing to me, and somewhat humorous, that children can go from fighting to complete harmony in almost seconds. One says, “I’m sorry,” and the other replies, “I forgive you,” and then they go back to playing as if they were the best friends in the world. It’s almost like the incident never happened!
Wouldn’t it be nice if it was that easy for the rest of us? King Solomon writes, “A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle” (Proverbs 18:19). That was king Solomon’s way of saying that feuds among brothers can be one of the most painful things in life. It’s true. We have all faced contentions and fighting in our life, our family, and even in church. It’s sometimes hard to know what to do in those situations. We may have hurt someone or may have been hurt by someone else. Today, Jesus gives us a recipe for Christian unity. Christ explains how God expects us to treat one another and what God has given us.
The theme for this Sunday in the Church Year is The Congregation of Sinners. If we are to speak about unity, this is where we must begin. We must first acknowledge that we are sinners. Since we are sinners, there is bound to be sin. Sin naturally brings strife and leads to division in all relationships—both between us and God and between us and our neighbors.
When sin comes into our lives, our relationships, our church, or whatever area of our lives it may be, we quickly imitate our first parents. When God asked Adam why he had eaten of the tree which God forbade, Adam blamed someone else. “The woman, whom you gave me, she gave me the fruit and I ate.” Our first reaction to God’s Law, even to a gentle question, is to place the blame on someone else. If you want a recipe for a disastrous marriage, friendship, or congregation, blame others first. While we know how terrible this vicious cycle can be, we easily fall into it. It’s natural for us to see the sin, the speck, in our neighbor’s eye first.
Jesus teaches us that before we can judge our brother, before we can say anything to him, we are to examine ourselves. Jesus tells us to take the log out of our own eye, before taking out the speck in our brother’s. Of course, the illustration that Jesus uses is ridiculous and exaggerated. But he does this to make a point. If you don’t examine yourself first before confronting a brother, you are like a man with a log in his eye trying to take a splinter out of your neighbor’s eye. It’s impossible to do because you can’t see. It’s like throwing darts blindfolded.
Jesus calls such a person a hypocrite. A hypocrite is an actor. He says one thing but does another. He is an imposter, pretending to be what he is not. If you are a Christian, you must acknowledge your own sins. A Christian is someone who has been forgiven an insurmountable debt—a debt so great that God sent his only Son to die on the cross to pay it. And Jesus did. On the cross Jesus made full satisfaction for all our sins. Jesus has saved you from hell, forgiven your sins, and given you the hope of eternal life! You didn’t deserve it or earn it; you are saved completely by God’s grace. You and I have been shown the greatest kindness and mercy by God. But now you don’t want to forgive your brother or neighbor? You say you’re a Christian, but also want to be judgmental and not forgive? You dare approach the holy throne of God holding on to the sins of others while expecting God to overlook your own sins? Then you will be judged. You will be condemned. You will be weighed and measured and found to be lacking.
Instead of looking first at the faults of your neighbor, look in the mirror. Have you failed as a coworker, spouse, parent, or child? Have you failed to love your neighbor? Have you been quick to judge and slow to excuse? Have you chosen not to forgive the person next to you? Have you said you have forgiven, but don’t plan on forgetting? We should all be nodding our heads. We all need to pray along with the tax-collector, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” But here is the good news: God has been merciful to you. He doesn’t condemn you, he forgives you. Jesus took your judgement, your condemnation, so that you could be forgiven.
Christ’s recipe for Christian unity is that we are to first come to our neighbors in humility, not hypocrisy. Why? Because we know we are sinners, who need God’s grace. God has been so gracious to us. He loved us. He suffered for our sakes. He died that we might live. We rejoice, knowing that when we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us all our sins (I John 1:8–9).
Since we have received forgiveness and mercy from God, we seek to reflect that same mercy, forgiveness, and love to others. The second part of the recipe for Christian unity is that we are to forgive and be forgiven.
To those who have received the Father’s mercy, Jesus speaks these words: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Only those who have received his mercy can begin to understand what Jesus means, “be merciful… judge not… condemn not… forgive.” Just as Jesus has borne our sins, he calls us to bear the sins of others. We are to bear with them in their weaknesses. Putting up with the sins of others is not to condone them, but to love them: “Judge not… condemn not… forgive.” Jesus did not condone our sins when he covered them with his holy blood shed on the cross. But he did endure them! And so, Christians are to endure the faults, weaknesses, bad habits, and just plain sins of ignorance and meanness from others and do so without making ourselves anyone’s judge. When we endure the faults and failings of fellow Christians, we are reflecting the mercy we have received from our Father in heaven and imitating Christ.
When Jesus tells us not to judge, it does not mean that judges can’t pass sentences, that we can’t judge between true and false doctrine, or that we can’t speak the truth, calling a sin a sin. However, Jesus does forbid us from self-righteous, hypocritical, and unchristian judgements of our neighbor. We love because he first loved us.
Our Lord’s recipe for unity doesn’t sound that difficult: “Judge not… condemn not… forgive,“ “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, until we start interacting with other people. A driver cuts us off, and we think, “what a jerk!” However, when we do the same thing, we excuse it because we know we are running late to an appointment or didn’t see the other car coming. When we are treated poorly or ignored, we think the person is out to get us and accuse them of all sorts of things. However, when we make a similar mistake, we excuse it because we didn’t get much sleep or didn’t have enough coffee. When someone speaks harshly to us or in an unchristian way, we don’t let it go. But yet, we expect others to forgive us when we do the same thing.
Sometimes, when we see our failings, we say, “Next time, I am going to do better!” We determine to make more deliberate efforts to follow Christ’s recipe for unity. Yet, sometimes we forget about the most important part. It’s not my determination that will improve my relationships. It’s Christ’s. It’s his forgiveness, help, and mercy. If we rely on our devotion and efforts, we will always be disappointed and fall short. But if we rely on Christ, we will have all that we need.
Our Lord Jesus loved his neighbor perfectly. As Scriptures says, “When He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (I Peter 2:23–24). The reason we do not need to shuffle the blame on others is because Jesus has taken your blame, your sin, and your punishment on himself. He paid for your sins so that you could be declared innocent, forgiven. He has shown you mercy and compassion, patience and love. And it is because of this, that we can forgive, love, and show compassion to our neighbor.
God wants us to live in harmony with one another and to remember that our enemy is not our neighbor or the person sitting next to us. Our enemy is the devil—but he has been defeated. He knows this and so he does everything he can to turn husband against wife, parent against child, or member against member. What God loves the devil attacks. So don’t let him win. Stand with Christ. Love your neighbor. Forgive and be forgiven.
Yet, for those times when you have said the things you shouldn’t have, judged when you should have forgiven, been critical when you should have been compassionate, repent. Repent of your sins and know that you are forgiven. If you have been holding on to grudges or memories from the past, repent and be forgiven. Pray for them, love them, and ask your Lord Jesus Christ for patience and strength.
At the same time, we can sometimes be carrying around guilt from past mistakes. Perhaps, even from many years ago. Times where we should have done this and not done that. Then hear this: God does not want you to feel guilty for sins that you have repented for. You are forgiven. God has forgotten those sins. He remembers them no more. The devil wants you to feel guilty about sins for which you have repented and been forgiven. He wants to wave your dirty laundry before your eyes constantly. But he is a liar. Your sins are forgiven. Jesus has made your garments as white as snow.
God grant us unity in our marriage, friendships, and church. May we be instruments of peace and unity. We will never regret showing mercy to our neighbor. As Christ says, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.” And may we then experience, although imperfect, what we one day will experience forever. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). Amen.