“The Mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ”
Jude 20-25

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Christ the King Sunday–Last Sunday of the Church Year—November 25, 2018

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

You’ve probably heard it said that we should, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.”  Today’s Epistle Reading from Jude gives us the Biblical basis for that attitude, and he tells us exactly how we are to, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.”

First of all, we must all confess that we all fall into the category of sinner.  Paul says in Romans, “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? No, not at all! We have already made the charge that . . . all alike are under sin.  As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”  In Galatians he puts it this way: “Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin.”

So, before telling us how we should deal with others, Jude first of all addresses us, urging us to true faith: “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” 

Jude is a very short book, just one page long in most Bibles.  So, he very briefly sums up the Gospel, with the words, “You wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”  The Greek word for “mercy” also means “clemency.” God is like a kindly judge, who shows you clemency and does not impose punishment upon you, because his own Son already took all your punishment upon himself. 

That is the “most holy faith” that Jude, first of all, urges you to have:  Trusting for mercy and eternal life in your Lord Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice for you.  That is the essence of the Gospel, that’s what our “most holy faith” is really all about.  As Paul says in Galatians, “The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me.”  And in 1st Timothy, “He gave himself as a ransom for all men.”  And in Titus, “Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave himself for us to redeem us.”  And in Ephesians, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God.”

“But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” 

Having first laid out how we ourselves are to have faith in Christ and trust in his mercy, Jude now proceeds to explain how we, in turn, are to show mercy to others.  “Be merciful to those who doubt.”  These are fellow Christians who are misguided in some way.  They have doubts or diverge in some manner from the true faith of the Bible.  Yet, they are sincere and want to come to a knowledge of the truth.  They are like the man who fell at Jesus’ feet and cried out, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

In the book of Acts, when Apollos comes to Ephesus, we are told, “He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.  He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately—though he knew only the baptism of John.” 

Although he was a Christian, who trusted in Jesus and proclaimed him to be the Savior, Apollos had never heard of Jesus’ command to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  The early Christian missionary couple Pricilla and Aquila set the example for us of how to deal gently with fellow Christians, who have doubts or in some way diverge from the true faith.  Acts continues, “When Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos, they invited him to their home and explained the way of God to him more adequately.”

What Paul tells Timothy about pastors applies to all Christians: “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone . . .  Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.”

“Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them.”  This next category are again fellow Christians, but who have wandered farther from the faith, and are in perilous danger of the fire of hell. We “snatch them from the fire” by proclaiming to them God’s Law, warning them and calling them to repentance.  James puts it this way: “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death.”  But, as Paul says in 2nd Thessalonians, “Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” 

“Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” This final category is where we get the phrase, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” 

Have you ever visited someone in the hospital who is under special quarantine for fear of infection?  They have disposable gowns, gloves, and masks at the door that you must put on and then throw away when you leave.  That’s the imagery Jude uses for SIN.  It is like clothing that has been infected: “Hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

When people read those words in ancient times they immediately thought of leprosy, a disease which was common back then, thankfully rare today.  Jude’s illustration made sense to them, because everyone in ancient times knew that even the clothing infected with leprosy must be strictly avoided, for fear that you catch the disease yourself. 

“To others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”   It’s very, very important to note that Jude does NOT say that we hate the sinner, but rather the sin, represented by “the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”  Jesus actually said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  Paul says in Galatians, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.”

“To others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”  We do NOT the person wearing “the clothing stained by corrupted flesh,” we do not hate the sinner, but the sin.  So, Jude says that we are to “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.”  To flagrant, unrepentant sinners, to those who despise and reject the faith, even to those who persecute and mistreat us, we are to show kindness and compassion and love and mercy. 

However, Jude says it is “mercy, mixed with fear.”  Fear in the sense of reverence for God, revering him above all, so that we ourselves are not drawn in to their sin. As Paul says Romans, “Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.”

That is the danger facing the Church today, that we condemn ourselves by what we approve.  For, the world is pressuring Christians and the Church as a whole to give in, and to give up what the world to be considers old-fashioned, outdated doctrines and morality.  If we “Hate the sin, but love the sinner,” that’s not good enough for the world. The world demands that we also surrender our principles, that we acquiesce to the ways of the world, that we accept and love not just the sinner, but also the sin itself. 

Unfortunately, many denominations and churches and clergy have fallen into this trap.  Paul puts it this way in Romans: “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them.”  In a misguided attempt to prove to the world how loving they are, some have compromised the doctrines and morals of the faith. 

Paul says in 2nd Corinthians: “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”  Paul describes us as “ambassadors” because an ambassador does not speak for himself, does not deliver his own opinions, but speaks on behalf of the person or government who sent him, and delivers only the message he has been given.

A lot of the trouble we’re in in the Middle East today goes back to an ambassador delivering the wrong message.  At a meeting on July 25, 1990 between Saddam Hussein and American ambassador April Glaspie, he wanted to know whether the United States would intervene if he invaded Kuwait.  She should have warned him that we would intervene. That was the message committed to her by our government and the first President Bush, whom she served.  It’s never been made clear whether she purposely gave the wrong message, because she personally disagreed with the American position, or it was a misunderstanding due to mistranslation.  But, at least she was not clear on this important question, she seemed to say on behalf of the United States and President Bush that we would not intervene.  Thinking they had the green light, two weeks later Iraq invaded Kuwait, leading to the first Gulf War, and really all the wars that have followed throughout the Middle East for nearly 30 years—all because an ambassador did not deliver faithfully the message committed to her. 

“He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” As Christ’s ambassadors, we do not have authority to change the message.  We must faithfully speak, lovingly but clearly, the Word he has given us.  As Paul tells Timothy: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

“If you continue in my Word,” Jesus says, “you are truly my disciples.”  Our Lord has not given to us, or to any church, or denomination, or clergy, or theologians, or church leaders, the power or authority to change the truth of his Word.  Because that’s what it is: HIS Word.

Paul says in Ephesians that we should not be, “Tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men,” but instead, as Christ’s ambassadors, we are called to “speaking the truth, in love.”  That’s the key.  As the saying goes, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.”  “Speaking the truth, in love.”