https://assets-cdn2.dropwave.io/086174f0-efbe-400f-a3e9-b91549a26ab7/media/Trinity 4 AD 2026.mp3

https://app.dropwave.io/show/our-savior-lynchburg/trinity-4-ad-2026

++ JESU JUVA ++

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In today’s Collect, we prayed that God, by His governance, would peaceably order the course of this world. But when you examine your heart and life according to God’s Word, you see that it is often neither ordered nor peaceful. You see your failure, your lack, your need. You see your sin. Your life is chaotic and disordered.

Others might think about it differently. Maybe the loss of autonomy of being brought under God’s order scares them. Perhaps it evokes memories of being under harsh authority or being mistreated. When you’re outside this order looking in, it might look like constraint, and you focus on all the things you have to give up. It doesn’t feel like freedom — at least not yet. Whatever you might think about your life, being conformed to God’s order seems like an impossible task. Even if you see the value and peace of this life, it feels unattainable.

Last Sunday, we heard how the Prodigal Son wanted to follow his own desires — and to do so apart from his Father. That kind of life only led to sin, hunger, and despair. Only when he was restored to life with Dad did he have true freedom. It’s much the same for us. God is your Father in heaven. Being ordered according God’s way is true freedom. So we live not as prodigals wasting what God has given, but as sons of our Father in heaven and living in His home. As we live with our Father who is kind to the unthankful and evil (Luke 6:35), we are also conformed into His image. Today we’ll consider what it means to be rightly ordered according to God’s judgment and His mercy.

Judgment: Disordered

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns against the misuse of judgment. We’ll consider several misuses. Avoiding correction or judgment altogether. Flattening sin. Falling into judgmentalism and judging unequally.

[Avoiding judgment]

Of everything written in the Bible, this statement from today’s Gospel is probably the most misused: “judge not.” The world doesn’t believe in the Bible, but it tells us how to interpret it. The world doesn’t believe in Jesus, but they presume to tell us what He means. People fear God’s judgment, so they pull these words out of context and speak as if Jesus forbids all judgment, so Christians have no solid basis to judge them. Then they can pursue whatever sin they desire without fear of correction.

Jesus’ words get misused and transformed into a shield for sin. Instead of being brought into the order of God’s Word, they train themselves to avoid it. Sin gets protected. Repentance is avoided. It feels like kindness, but it’s cruel. It leaves one comfortable to remain on the road to destruction. And it puts people under a false understanding of what God’s Word truly says. They forget the true power of God’s Word is not for them to use as they please. God decides how to use His Word. He is the Judge.

The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13).

God’s Word is supposed to bring life, restoration, and salvation. When the world attempts to wield the Sword of the Spirit, it becomes a dangerous weapon that harms both the one who misuses it and the one it is used against. This also happens in the church when we turn a blind eye to certain sins, or we ignore infractions against certain commandments. In our synod, congregation, and families, we fail to address what’s truly wrong. We fall into complacency. Maybe out of a desire to be “loving” or “grace-focused” — or even just to preserve a relationship — we remain silent about sin. And we fail to act.

[Flattening of sin]

The Word of God can also be misused in the church. Instead of one owning up to the particularity of his own sin, he might instead say, “we’re all sinners. Who are you to judge?” This is a way of deflecting God’s judgment. Every sin is rebellion against God. A single sin is enough to separate you from God. And it’s also true that every sin is died for by Jesus. No sin is beyond the reach of His blood. But sins are not all equal. As one example, Jesus tells Pilate: the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin (John 19:11).

[Judgmentalism and Unequal Judgment]

God’s Word can also be misused when we know what it truly says. We can fall into judgmentalism. It’s easy to do — perhaps the easiest thing to do. When you know God’s Word, you seek to apply it — but only to your neighbor, and only to point out your neighbors’ sins. Jesus says: why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? (Luke 6:41). The more you seek to judge others, the less inclined you are to examine your own heart.

It’s what happens when you’ve been sinned against. You replay the event in your mind. Each time you review the facts, you remember yourself as more and more righteous and the other person as more and more wicked. Do this long enough, and you eventually become the innocent victim, while the other person has no redeeming qualities at all. He can do no right. You can do no wrong. This is the sin of pride.

Pride is especially dangerous because it’s self-perpetuating. Other sins eventually bring shame or obvious pain and other consequences. But the longer you indulge in pride, the more it justifies itself and the stronger it grows. Pride simultaneously makes one blind to his own faults and increasingly sensitive to the faults of others. The more one engages in this sin, the more spiritually mature he feels. So he becomes less and less able to recognize his need for repentance.