Friday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 15, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 6:36-42 (NKJV)
6:36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
39 And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Devotion
“For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” The question is: What is the correct measure to use? There are basically two measures, man’s word and God’s Word. For much of the world, the standard is man’s word. But how reliable is man’s word?
Let’s take an example, slavery and segregation. For decades, man’s word in the United States was that slavery and segregation were just fine. Later, slavery was abolished, but segregation was still just fine. In 1896 the Supreme Court upheld segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson. It wasn’t until later, in 1954, that segregation was then found to be unconstitutional. Man’s word is not sure and certain. We make mistakes that need to be fixed.
“Can the blind lead the blind?” Without God’s Word we are indeed blind. We are blind to the seriousness of our sin and how desperately we need a Savior. Only when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes through the Law to see how sinful we are, and through the Gospel to see our gracious Savior, do we then possess the correct “measure”. Listening to God’s Word, we do not “judge”. Instead, we let God’s Word, not man’s word, speak its judgment and condemnation. Listening to God’s Word of forgiveness spoken to us, we find ourselves enabled to be merciful and willing to forgive others.
Prayer: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
