Logs and specks [Trinity 4; St. Luke 6:36-42]

Jesus speaks to us today by the Gospel saying,

“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.”

I put it before you today that if you were able to remove the plank from your eye, then the prophecy of old would come true, that your eyes will be opened and you will know good and evil. However, you know that those were the devil’s words and not God’s.

There are two commands from Jesus today: take you own plank out and take your brother’s speck out. So do you want eyes that see or do you not, because it appears as if the devil and Jesus are saying the same thing here.

To complicate things even further, Jesus says in John “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”(9:41). Also, your favorite song states that you were once blind, but now you see.

So, hypocrite, what is it going to be? Will you desire your sight, to see good and evil, in order that you see more good and evil than you can handle OR will you remain blind and keep the sins you already know and love?

I am not trying to trick you and neither is Jesus. You will be tricked if you feel that there just must be some thing you can do about it all, but if you are saved by faith alone then all you hear is God’s revelation of your own sin and Christ’s absolution.

A true plank in the eye is not just some misguided principles, it is anything that turns you away from the person, words, and work of Jesus. Anything that says, “Jesus didn’t really say that…”.

For the Pharisees, they continued to condemn Jesus and His disciples by the Word of God. They refused to listen to God’s interpretation, from His own mouth of flesh, and instead interpreted holy Scripture according to their thinking and pleasure.

For the modern world, there are too many to list, but for an example we can look at what is said about marriage. The modern American thinker condemns marriage, not upfront, but in a round about way. By refusing to see the real good of getting and being married, marriage is rejected.

It is said that it is better NOT to be married. Then you are free from the responsibility of children and the drudgery of being with just one person forever. Keep your options open. Don’t have children. All this is taught and yet their only alternative is to wallow in prostitution and adultery.

Repent. You think you have no plank in your eye. And this is Jesus’ point. You presume to see the tiny faults of your neighbor and point them out, as I just did, but you believe that those things are not in your life.

You believe that, because you have your life under reasonable self-control, that your plank does not exist. In fact, you are so plank-free that you just want God to use you to extend His kingdom. You are so plank-free that you want some greater experience with God, because you have out-grown His milky Word and are mature enough for solid theology.

Dear Christians, true mercy means that you are performing speck-surgery on each and every person of the world, every minute of the day and being successful. True non-judgment means you let your neighbor get away with wronging and defrauding you, every time. True forgiveness means to really forgive and mean it, not just forgetting about it.

Jesus would rather that He be defrauded in the front of all people, than that you remain with a plank in your eye. Jesus would rather be wronged and falsely accused, than allow you to determine which is the best way to remove your plank. Jesus would rather that His Name, the Name of the Almighty, everlasting God, be dragged through the mud and open to all accusation and criticism, than you to expend one iota of energy on doubting your forgiveness.

Jesus is as merciful as His Father in heaven. Jesus gathers all those with specks and planks in their eyes and performs successful surgery. Like a magnet, the cross of Jesus forcibly collects all the specks and planks, making it incredibly large. And when it looks like God can not take all that suffering, He rises from the dead.

Jesus is non-judgmental. The unlimited atonement He paid for in holy, precious Blood, covers ALL sin. His forgiveness goes so far as to plead for those who don’t even believe in Him and who wallow in their wickedness.

Unlike your mercy, judgment, and forgiveness, Jesus’ actually does what it says its going to do. Being both God and man, Jesus can pronounce judgment upon sin, death, and the devil and they are judged and condemned. Jesus can unleash His mercy on whomever He wishes and they will have mercy, regardless of who they are.

Jesus can proclaim salvation to the entire world and it will be true, simply because He said it and it is all yours simply because He says so, in His Word.

What a wonderful comfort it is to know that when we start to really concentrate on planks and specks and find no end to them within ourselves, that there is no lack of the Blood of Christ to cover them. What a joy to know that though we fail and come short of true mercy and true sight, that the Body of Christ works these out for us perfectly.

God gives no instruction manual on how to remove your plank or your neighbor’s speck and that is for the express purpose of not letting you do it. Because, when you remove one plank or speck, two take its place. There is no end to sin in you or your neighbor and both are fatal to the eye. God gives no manual, but He does give His Son.

These are what build up the cross and yet we are not condemned, but set free. Our sins have caused the suffering and anguish of the God-man, Jesus, yet we are given prosperity; you are given the fruits of the wronging and defrauding of God and they are eternal life and forgiveness.

You receive your just desserts, not from your transgressions, but from the suffering and death of Jesus. And those desserts really are desserts, not sarcastic ones. You really do get to sit at the King’s table, wear the King’s clothes, and sleep in the King’s bed, because you have been given, for free, true Faith.

And this Faith is the only thing that lays hold of God’s grace in Christ, and justifies you before Him. Faith alone, without any work, lays hold of God’s blessings. Though we pray for a sin-free life or rescue from misguided principles, salvation is only to be had by a clean heart and a right Spirit.

In this way, even the twisted words of Satan to Eve come true, by the grace of God. IN sin your eyes have been opened to see good and evil just like God. It has come to pass just as the devil said it would.

But God has taken you one step over that line. Not only are you like god in knowing things, but you are now physically a part of Him. In Christ, you don’t just think and act like God as child’s play or pretend, you are gods. Christ has assumed your mortal flesh into His immortal flesh, something that the devil couldn’t even foresee or want.

You are now the god of this world you always wanted to be, except through suffering and death, for this godliness is attained only through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, not your own. You now see good and evil, not in order to use it to judge others, but to judge yourself dead to sin, but alive in Christ.

Your condemnation has been removed. You judgment has been meted out upon Christ. The forgiveness and mercy you receive from the Father, at the hand of Jesus is full and complete. You now receive the Good measure which overflows from the side of Christ, into you mouth, for the forgiveness of your sin.

Jesus’ solution to the pandemic of planks and specks is to dissolve them Himself in Body and Blood given and shed for you.