21. July 2024
Trinity 8
Mt 7:15-23
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.
Jesus gives us, as preachers and hearers, a stern warning. Jesus does not want us to lose salvation in His redeeming suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. At first, we hear a warning as a prohibition, restriction, or shackling against what is not good. But it also encourages us to seek and receive what is good. Simply put, Jesus warns against whoever and whatever does not give us Himself in truth and purity. And Jesus directs us to receive Him where He promises to be.
Today, the focus is particularly on those who were given to preach and teach God’s Word: pastors, parents, and other teachers. He wants us all to be critical of what we say and do, empowering us with the responsibility to discern what is good and what is not. As we will confess in our Congregation at Prayer this week, we are asking that God’s name be kept holy among us. Do you remember this petition’s explanation from the Small Catechism? If not, pray it this week and be renewed in the faith.
God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!
We would not need to pray that God’s name be kept holy if we could not profane it. That’s why Jesus instructs to pray in this way and why Jesus warns all pastors, parents, and those who teach the faith to examine themselves and accept correction from others. You can’t just slap Jesus name on a sermon, study, prayer, or institution to make it faithful.
He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
You may notice what Jesus leaves out of the words of the false shepherd-sheep. They mention prophesy, exorcism, and miracles but fail to speak of the Word of God. They’ve lost their first love: to sit at Jesus’ feet, listen to Him, and do whatever He says. In the very next verse after our Gospel selection today, Jesus says, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
All who are given to preach and teach are to examine themselves according to God’s Word. Is this what Jesus says? Is this what Jesus has given me to do? And God the Holy Trinity has not left you alone in this task. You have God’s Word readily available for you to read and hear through the varied gifts of media. He gives you His Holy Spirit to convict and convince you of sin (unbelief), righteousness (Christ’s atoning death for sin), and judgment (that the world and its ruler are under Christ’s feet). And He also gives you the comfort, consolation, and encouragement of the brethren, your fellow brothers in Christ. Therefore, every Christian preacher, parent, or teacher sits at Jesus’s feet in Divine Service, receiving correction and instruction so that He may also correct and instruct in Jesus’s Name and in accord with Jesus’s Word.
Jesus also warns you hearers to “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Just as the preacher-teacher is to be critical of what he says and does, you are also given to discern whoever you listen to, claiming to speak in Jesus’s name.
The sheep’s clothing is varied. It could be the title, like Revered, Pastor, or Doctor. But such titles are no guarantee of faithfulness. Or maybe they call themselves Christian or, more specifically, attach a branding like Lutheran, Reformed, Evangelical, or non-denominational. Again, these are surface-level clothing, if you will. Or even a bit deeper, the ravenous wolf will often speak in Jesus’s name, talk about Jesus, and even quote Jesus. But that’s no promise, either, since even Satan and his demons do that.
Jesus quickly switches metaphors from sheep-wolf to tree-fruit. He tells you that titles, branding, and generic Jesus talk are disguises for those who devour sheep. But you can know them to flee and know those to whom Jesus would have you listen by their fruits. Fruits are the natural result of a healthy tree. In this picture, the preacher, parent, or teacher who receives Jesus’s forgiveness, life, and salvation in faith will give evidence of that gift in what they say and do. You can recognize them by the food they deliver. Does He dilute, modify, or manipulate the Word of Jesus or speak it whole, pure, and undiluted? Does He give you Jesus’s blood-bought forgiveness of sins? Does He proclaim Christ crucified and risen for you?
Elsewhere, Jesus describes Himself as preached and taught as bread from heaven, true manna (John 6). He is our meet and drink indeed. Jesus is here today for you, feeding you in liturgy, prayer, preaching, teaching, hymns, songs, and spiritual songs. You are within your vocation when you ask: how does this reading, prayer, hymn, or sermon give me Jesus? Because you need Jesus, He feeds the hungry with good things and the rich He sends empty away. He wants you to be fed and nourished in His Word and the gifts His Word institutes and gives. Thus, He feeds you with Himself to restore and recreate you in His image. This image will be known by what you say and do. He promises to accomplish this work: “By their fruits you will know them.”
No wonder He sets before us this day a feast of rich food, His body and blood in the Holy Supper. Jesus is the true prophet who comes to us clothed in the robes of righteousness, which He also gives us in our Baptism in His name. He is the good tree that bears fruit in every season. He is the one who does the will of Our Father in heaven. He is the one who wins for us a kingdom and gathers us in as royal coheirs of heaven. He is the one who knows us by name, prophesying resurrection and life everlasting, casting out demons with water and the Word, and working wonders among us. By His fruits, you know Him, and He knows you.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School – Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin