Day 21 Lent 2023
Some days things come harder. Other days, it flows like the nourishing rain from the clouds. It is raining outside right now. It was cold yesterday, but today, it is just under sixty degrees. I walked the dog in the rain, and while it was uncomfortable, it was bearable. The dog was of mixed emotions. He loves going on walks, but he was uncomfortable too. We did our business and cut it short.
Yesterday's words didn't flow like today's. Today, they are moving easily. That makes me second guess what I wrote yesterday, but it is what I was given and what has been put out there. Today's words may be more or less painful, depending on where we are on our walk with God. Let's take a look.
36 "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
38 "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."
Luke 6:36–38 (NASB95)
Progressive Christians love this passage. They almost always follow it with something like, "love is love. Yeah, right. Don't judge others." And they stop there. The implication is that everything is acceptable, and it will be alright. That's not what this passage says.
Traditional Christians like to focus on other words in this passage. Words like "merciful," "condemn," and "pardon." They like those words because they indicate rules have been broken and judgment is justified. They usually follow this passage with something like, "But we're called to judge, to call out sin where we see it." That's not what this passage says either. Let's break it down and get the full meaning.
36 "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:36 (NASB95)
This scripture absolutely implies that something has been done for which punishment is justified. No question. You cannot be "merciful" unless there is something to remove that is undesirable. The Greek word oiktirmon is simple. It means tender mercy or compassion. Let's look at Dictionary.com's definition of compassion, which can be found Here.
compassion
kuhm-pash-uhn
noun
a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
Compassion suggests it is just dumb luck for the reason the person needs our mercy. "Misfortune" implies that. The scripture does not suggest it is luck. However, the point isn't that the person has done something wrong. That's just the situation we find them in. The point is that God is merciful, and we should be merciful too, thus emulating the one we claim we follow.
The progressives are nodding their heads, but they miss the point that some sort of infraction was, in fact, committed by this person necessitating the need for mercy in the first place. Yes, we are called to be merciful, to care, to want to help the person, but they have done something, in this case, to need us to care. There is fault there, and it is squarely on the shoulders of the person needing us to be merciful. Let's not stop there. Here's the next verse.
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
Luke 6:37 (NASB95)
This is the part that gets both Progressives and Traditionalists twisted up in knots, and for the same reasons, they aren't willing to accept all aspects of this one passage. Do not judge, do not condemn because there is something that worthy of judgment and condemnation. That one statement has two aspects that cannot be divorced from one another if we are a Christian. I don't care if you are a progressive or traditional Christian. If you are a follower of Christ, and these are Jesus' words, you cannot separate the two things. The person did something wrong against God, and we aren't going to hold that against them. This is an "and," not an "or." Now, why is that? If a real and valid rule has been broken, why aren't we supposed to render unto the rule breaker proper judgment? The easy answer is in the second half of this passage, I won't be condemned, and I'll be pardoned. But I didn't break that rule. No, I didn't, but I did something else wrong, something I might not even be aware I was or am wrong about.
I'm never wrong.
Really?
9What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
10as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one;
11There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
Romans 3:9–11 (NASB95)
"But I seek God." Really?
1How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:1–3 (NASB95)
And this…
97O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
98Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine.
99I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.
100I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts.
101I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.
102I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.
103How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:97–104 (NASB95)
Or this…
7 "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.
8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Joshua 1:7–8 (NASB95)
I know what some are thinking, that the New Testament says that love fulfills all the law and prophets, which is what all those old, antiquated passages I just quoted are. Let's see that passage in context before we go further.
7Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
8Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9For this, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:7–10 (NASB95)
Love fulfills all the law, and then Paul quotes the literal Old Testament Law that we are to still adhere to. But wait, some will say, that's Paul, a fallible man, and above, there's a scripture that says there is no one righteous, not even one, so Paul could be wrong. Okay, let's go to the source of truth and righteousness and the reason we are even having these discussions.
17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17–20 (NASB95)
Every word of that is Red Letter meaning Jesus said it Himself. The Old Testament is just as valid today as it was the day Moses delivered it to the children of Israel. But that's only half of it. Yes, we all are under the Law. We all sin and fall short of pleasing God through our works. But that doesn't mean we are supposed to not try.
38 "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."
Luke 6:38 (NASB95)
We cannot earn our way into Heaven. We will not put more check marks in God's book of life by doing good deeds. Our faith in Jesus is what gets us to Heaven, but we are still supposed to do good things, and what makes it harder is that we are to do good things to the people who neither deserve them nor like us. That part is hard, but from a purely altruistic standpoint, a selfish motivation, God says He rewards our efforts.
If you're in my camp, a junior Pharisee who likes the rules because they tell me where I can go and not go, this is really hard. I don't like to be kind to the people who do mean things to me. I like to see them get what's coming to them, and God doesn't like me when I do that. That is convicting to me as I type these words; I promise you. It is something I work on and struggle with. How do we get better? My first step is here.
14Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.
15Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
16But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
2 Timothy 2:14–16 (NASB95)
I am prone to argue with anyone who disagrees with me. I'm not sure why, but it is ingrained in my nature. This passage has me consciously moving away from banging out words on social media with people I don't know and will never meet who have said something I disagree with. It helps me to scroll on when I think they've just posted that to purposefully get a rise out of someone like me. By not responding, I deny them the pleasure of hooking me with their bait. That is likely not always true, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that's how I get through my online day.
The other thing I do based on that passage is spending time in God's word. This sort of thing for Lent helps with that. Left to my own devices, I set other priorities. If I don't have this commitment, I let it slide. For me, the best thing about Substack is that there are a whole host of people I have never met who have signed up for the emails that bring you these words. That I committed to these unknown folks to produce stuff like this is enough to make me prioritize doing it. Because I have to do it for you all, I want to give you my best work in the time allotted. That makes me listen to the Holy Spirit and go where He leads me to the fullest. I learn more about God's Word doing this than I ever would by myself. For that, I thank you. You have my gratitude for being there for me in ways you cannot and likely will never fathom. God bless you, and Godspeed.