"Who Are You To Judge Me?"

By Pastor Lohn Johnson, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, www.gslclexington.org   Text:   John 20:19-31   To His disciples Jesus declares, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained."   INTRODUCTION:  My dear friends in Christ, the movie Simon Birch is a study of an unusual boy who has an unusual faith.  [Clip one] There is a scene where little Simon has a run in with his Sunday School teacher.  [Clip two]  Here we see the stereotypical Christian who judges someone without love and a lack of understanding.  This teacher and Christians like her give Christians a bad name all too often.  I’m sure Simon could have said to the teacher: “Who are you to judge me?”  Especially when you find out more about her as the movie progresses.
I.  We hear these words spoken from time to time: indeed, judging others is "out" in our world today.
	A.  Tolerance and acceptance are watchwords of the day; we are not to be critical of the behaviors and practices of others.
			1. We have even reached the point where missionaries are criticized as "intolerant" for trying to share the Gospel in foreign lands, because they aren't accepting of the false religions that they find there.   2. "Who are you to judge me?" It is an automatic defense when anyone is criticized, when we want to set the critic back on his heels.
					a. It is a deadly trap for the critic because according to our society today, there are few things worse than being judgmental. The label itself can ruin you.    b. And in this sensitive world that doesn't want to be judged, we hear our Lord’s words of our text and cringe. Is the practice of forgiving and retaining sin an appropriate thing to do in a non-judgmental world?
	B.   Well, first let us deflate a highly-annoying myth. We do not live in a non-judgmental world, despite how so many voices preach the virtue of tolerance.
			1. People make judgments all the time.  By the judgments they make, they choose if they will attend a church and what church they will attend; by their judgments they decide where they will send their children to school; by their judgments they decide what causes they will support, and much, much more.   2. And those in the world who preach that we must tolerate everything also condemn those who don't tolerate everything. They themselves are making judgments.
					a. No, don't be misled: When someone says "I tolerate everything and anything," they are saying, "I do not have any values and standards  that are worth standing up for. There is nothing that I consider to be beneath me."   b. How absurd. That means you have no standards at all. Your life is adrift with no foundation.  Nothing is too low for you.   c. The virtue for life in this world is not to be non-judgmental; the skill is to make sound judgments based on truth.
II.   We need to set the myth of toleration aside, and move on to what is true. The truth is from God’s Word from words like what Jesus says in our text.  So what does it mean to forgive sins and retain sins? Is this some rarely-practiced, mysteriously shrouded ritual of the Church?
	A.  It's true, in this world that denounces anyone who judges anything at all, we see a Jesus who commands His Church to forgive sins and to retain sins. And in this world someone might put up with being "judged" forgiven: but tell someone they are not forgiven, and you're likely to hear "Who are you to judge me?" But we must remember forgiving and retaining sins is nothing else than to declare to people the Word of God. It means to tell them what the Law of God says about them, and the consequences of their sin. It means to tell them what the Gospel says about them, that Christ has died for their sin.
				1. So, let us take the example of a man who has been caught, oh, spreading rumors about someone else.  In speaking with the man, we say, "You know, God declares in His eighth commandment that spreading rumors is wrong. He commands, `Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Therefore, according to God's Word, what you are doing is sinful." This is hardly a prejudicial judgment. It is a statement of fact, a statement of what the Lord says in His Scriptures.   Let us say that the man responds, "I don't care what the Bible says. I'm going to keep on doing what I'm doing." How do we respond? Once again, with the Word of God not ours: "Then I must tell you, according to God's Word, that because you are not repentant you are not forgiven. I would urge you to repent, cease this sin and confess it, or else you will face God's judgment." This is what it means to retain sins: It means simply to declare what the Lord says about a person's unrepentance. It means to tell them that since they want nothing of God's forgiveness for their sin, they do not have it.   If you're in a conversation like this, you are likely to hear, "Who are you to judge me?" The answer is simple: "I am no one, and I am not judging you. I am simply declaring to you what the Word of God says about you; in fact, I am proclaiming God’s love and concern to you about your actions.” This is quite true: We are merely messengers, not the Judge of heaven and earth.   2. On the other hand, let us say that when the man is confronted with God's Law, he says, "You're right. What I am doing is wrong and sinful. I repent and will not do that anymore." How do we respond? With the Gospel! "Then I have the joy of telling you that Jesus has died to take away your sin, that God doesn't hold this sin against you, and that you are forgiven!" This is what it means to forgive sins: To announce to them the forgiveness that God has for them, for the sake of Christ.   Let us go further to make this important point and imagine for a moment that the man smiles and wryly remarks, "Well thanks, but a fat lot of good it does me if you forgive me. Who are you to forgive me, and how does that count before God?" Our answer is back to God's Word: "You're right!  It doesn't matter much that I forgive you, because I can't take away your sin. What matters is that, for the sake of Jesus who died for your sin, God forgives you!"
	B.   This is what it means to exercise the forgiving and the retaining of sins. We do not set ourselves up as mind-readers or writers of new laws; the Church is simply called to tell the world what God declares in His Word.
				1. The pastor does so publicly, on behalf of the Church, especially on Sunday morning. Take, for instance, the confession and absolution at the start of the service.
					a. How does the absolution go? "Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins." Note the phrases here.   b. The pastor says he absolves you by virtue of his office as a called and ordained servant of the Word. He is not the one forgiving you; he is a servant of the Word, declaring God's Word of forgiveness to you. And so he goes on to declare that he forgives you in the stead and by the command of Christ; he is announcing that Christ, not he, is taking away your sins. This goes right back to our Gospel lesson.  The apostles were not to forgive sins on their own authority or by their own power: That would mean nothing! No, they were sent as Christ's ambassadors, announcing to people that God forgave them for the sake of Christ.   c. Though not an apostle, the pastor carries on this apostolic ministry publicly, on behalf of the Church.
				2. But that does not mean that only the pastor can exercise the forgiving and the retaining of sins.
					a. Any Christian, in conversation with another, is set free by Christ from sin to declare God's Word, to tell people of His holy Law and wondrous Gospel.   b. Maybe we can look at it like this: When Leonardo da Vinci was painting his masterpiece, "The Last Supper," we are told that he had a quarrel with one of his companions. In revenge for the wrong he had received, he painted his companion's portrait as Judas in his great picture. After he had done this, his work was complete except for the face of our blessed Lord. It was da Vinci's ambition to paint the noblest and most perfect portrait of Christ that had ever been put on canvas; but try as he did, he could not succeed. In the meantime, his conscience was working, and at last he took his brush and painted out his companion's portrait and forgave him his wrong. That night in his dreams da Vinci saw a glorious vision of Christ which thousands have gazed at in wonder ever since.   Forgiveness given gives peace.  Forgiveness from a pastor, forgiveness from a lay person brings us to see Christ.
		C.  So until the end of time, the Church is to proclaim the Word of God, His Law to accuse and His Gospel to absolve. We do not do so to judge, but to save.
				1. To that end I declare to you your sin, but I do not do so with joy. I do not do so to make you angry. Indeed, I do not do so to judge you, for I am not the judge. Any opinion that I have about you, you are free to disregard and ignore.   2. But whatever God says about you is true; and to ignore His Word and continue in sin will bring judgment upon you. Not from me, but from Him.
CONCLUSION:   Our Lord Jesus has died for your sins. He is risen from the dead. He lives and reigns to all eternity. This same Son of God is present with you today, forgiving your sins and granting you life and salvation. When He died for you at the cross, God judged Him guilty for all of your sins. And because He has died for you, God the Father declares you "not guilty" because Jesus has died in your place. We rejoice that Christ has unlocked the door, that the gates of heaven are opened. There is no sin too great that the cross does not cover. You are forgiven. Now that same word of forgiveness we have received we speak to others.  We speak His Word not as those who judge, not like that Sunday School teacher, but as those who are delivered from judgment. We speak not as those who wish to condemn but as those who in Christian love desire that others be delivered, too. And deliverance is ours this day, we want as many others as possible to receive that same deliverance, too. Amen.

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Sermon by: Lohn Johnson, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Lexington KY Text:    Luke 13: "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." This is the Word of the Lord. INTRODUCTION:   My dear friends in Christ, John Cobb’s book, Praying for Jennifer, is based on a true story, about a group of four teenagers, all model students in school and members of their church youth group. They were out joy riding in the country one day – not misbehaving in any way – when the girl driving the car failed to negotiate a curve, and the car overturned. Three of the kids were thrown free and escaped with minor scrapes and bruises. The fourth, Jennifer, was critically injured. She was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. Jennifer’s friends rallied around her and prayed that she might live. They solicited the help of their minister and the other members of their youth group and maintained a 24-hour vigil at the hospital. They took turns praying for Jennifer. And  they all talked about what had happened and tried to make sense of it all. “Why Jennifer, of all people?” they wondered.   After about a week, Jennifer awoke from the coma she and was taken off life support. Her friends rejoiced. Their prayers had been heard. Or so it seemed. But they soon got another bitter taste of reality when they learned that she was paralyzed from the neck down and would probably be a quadriplegic for the rest of her life.   The teenagers and those around them struggled with this whole situation wondering: Why did these bad things happen to such a “good” girl?  Then the author projected the question onto our whole society postulating that we wonder the same things.
I.   The author says our problem is not in making sense of everyday life, but in comprehending the nature of God  -- and he is right.
	A.  Cobb says, as long as we conceive of God as some sort of celestial power broker sitting high in the heavens parceling out blessings here and inflicting punishments there, we’ll always be at a loss to explain why bad things happen to good people.
			1.   Others have struggled and gone in slightly different directions.
					a. In his play, J.B., Archibald MacLeish summed up the dilemma in one nifty sentence, saying something along the lines of, “If God is God, He isn’t good. If God is good, He isn’t God.”   b. In his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Harold Kushner concluded that God is indeed good, but He’s not all-powerful and He can’t stop all the bad stuff from happening. That’s not much of a comfort.
			2.    These are non-Biblical concepts about God.  He is both all-powerful and supremely merciful.
					a. But often our sin keeps us from seeing Him as He is.    b. And also He may not reveal all we’d like to know about Him and the things He does.
	B.   Not only do we have non-Biblical concepts of God but Our problem is also that we’d like to have a world that is totally predictable and manageable and under control; one in which, if we abide by the rules, we can be assured of getting a fair shake: Just tell me what’s required and what I can expect in return.
			1. This sort of wishful thinking influences our concept of God: We want a God who plays by the rules – our rules.
					a. If we read our Bibles, say our prayers, go to church, pay our tithe, abstain from sin and do nice things for others, then we ought to be able to expect equal consideration from God.   b. We ought to be able to expect God to protect us from danger, answer our questions, keep His end of the bargain.
			2. The bottom line is this: We want a God on our terms, not one who is supreme and in many ways incomprehensible to us. And that’s the essence of our sinfulness, that we conceive of God in our image, then, hold God to our expectations.
II.   We’ve got to ask, How does Jesus answer the question of Why do bad things happen to “good” people?  His answer seems just plain odd to us. He says, “I tell you; unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” That is Jesus’ answer.
	A.  I find the Lord’s answer a little unsatisfying and I’ll bet you do too.
				1. But there’s a reason for it: when Jesus doesn’t answer the question the way we’d like Him to it’s because when we ask Why?, we’re expecting a “because…”. We want Him to say, “This all happens because….”  And Jesus confuses us when doesn’t give a “because.” He gives a “repent.”   2. And when Jesus doesn’t give a “because” answer, it tells us we’re not allowed to, either.
					a. When we try to explain why bad things happen, we’re saying more than God tells us. As Christians, we are bound to His Word, not what we think His Word ought to say. b. We can ask all the questions we want but, the only questions we get answers for are the ones He gives us the answers to.
	B.   But although Jesus didn’t give a “because,” He did give a “repent.” That’s a better answer than you might first think for the following three reasons:
				1. The first is the most difficult for us sinners to accept: because of our sin, we don’t deserve any good from God at all.  In other words there are no good people.  Paul tells us that there is no one who is righteous, not even one.  All we truly deserve from God is condemnation because of our sin.  So when we get uptight and ask the unanswerable “why do bad things happen” to us, we should be asking the more appropriate question: “Why does any good happen to us at all?”   This is a better question for two reasons.
					a. First, it recognizes the depth of our sinfulness, which is deep. b. Second, the Lord makes that answer very clear: good things happen because God pours out all sorts of good on you for the sake of Jesus Christ. And He continues to work good throughout the world to give more people time to repent before Judgment Day. c. It is good to be reminded that every good thing is an undeserved gift of God. The more we think we deserve things from God, the more we deny our sinfulness; and the more we will grow angry with God when we do not receive what we think we deserve. d. Don’t ever forget that because of our sin, we don’t deserve anything good at all. That’s what makes Jesus’ call to “repent!” in our text such a blessing—although we deserve nothing good, He bids us to be forgiven and gives us His grace freely.
				2. The second point is this: God treats us like children and keeps some things to Himself. Sooner or later, parents find themselves saying to their kids for the best of reasons, “I can’t explain why right now. Just do what I say. You have to trust me.” God says the same to us. He treats us like children—and with good reason: we are His children! He has made us His children for the sake of Jesus, and He assures us that “He is our Father, who art in heaven.” He establishes the relationship between Him and us as parent/child.
					a.  God deals with you in terms of fatherly mercy. And as a merciful Father, He says, “I’ve made you My own child, and I take care of My kids.“ b. “You don’t have all the answers, but you can be sure that I’m working all things for your good. I’m telling you: trust Me.”
				3. Which leads us to the third point to keep in mind. While you don’t know why bad things happen, you do know that God is merciful.
					a. You know it because you know the Gospel. You know God is merciful because He makes the Gospel crystal clear: He points you to the cross and says, “That’s My Son, dying on the cross, in your place, receiving the due penalty for your sin. At the cross, you see me working for sure, and you don’t have to wonder what’s going on because I tell you.” You can’t know for sure what God is up to in what you see from day to day, in both good and bad. But you do know for sure that Christ has died for you. And if your heavenly Father has paid such a price to make you His own beloved child, He will not forsake you now. No matter what bad things happen, He will deliver you, because He is faithful and He is merciful.   b. Like this: During the years of Communist rule in the U.S.S.R., a person could be arrested for any act or statement that seemed threatening to the government. Writers, philosophers, teachers, and pastors were imprisoned for their beliefs. During this era, Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was sentenced to eight years of hard labor in a Soviet prison camp for writing "disrespectful" remarks about Stalin in a private letter to a friend. The oppression, the humiliation by the guards, the backbreaking work in the gulag wore him down. He was ready to give up on life. One day, he wandered away from a work team and sat down. At any moment, he expected the guards to kill him, and he no longer cared. Instead, an old man came and sat next to Solzhenitsyn. Picking up a stick, he drew a crude outline of a cross in the sand. And as Alexander Solzhenitsyn looked at that cross, he suddenly realized that this was his only hope. With Jesus' power inspiring him, he could survive anything. After his release from the camps, Solzhenitsyn wrote world-renowned books on the nature of freedom and faith.
		C. There are some other times and places where you know exactly what God is up to, because He tells you once again.
				1. One is your baptism, where He made you His child. That’s why you remember your baptism daily in the face of temptation and affliction, because it is your assurance that you are God’s beloved child, that you have a merciful Father in heaven who will deliver you. 2. Another place and time is Holy Absolution: for no matter what else is happening around you, the Lord declares, “I forgive you. You are Mine.” 3. Third, of course, is His Holy Supper: there you know that the Lord is present with His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. In the midst of all the bad and uncertainty of the world, you are not forsaken: the Lord comes to you to give you life.
CONCLUSION:   That is what the Lord gives us as His answer to the problem of suffering. That is why Jesus bids us to repent, lest we perish, in our Gospel lesson. Repentance is not some cruel exercise we must follow in order to grovel for some good at Jesus’ feet. It is a gift of God to us. It is the Lord calling us from sin to grace and life in Him. When met with evil, sinners will be tempted to ask, “What have I done to deserve this?” and then grow angry with God. But that is not for you. For you, the time to ask “What have I done to deserve this?” is when you are confronted with God’s grace in Christ. What have you done to deserve this? The answer then, of course, is nothing. You don’t deserve it at all. But your heavenly Father delights to give it to you because Christ has died to redeem you!