What have we learned in the weeks following the mass shooting in Orlando at a night club? The obvious one is that evil is everywhere. There’s not a hiding place from evil anymore. Do you remember back to your childhood days when you could feel free to not lock the door, have the kids, or yourself, play until the cows come home, and when communities knew each other? Remember those days? Unfortunately, those days have long since passed.

But in a world where “an eye for an eye” reigns to be true, we see hated-filled people wanting to strike back at those who caused harm. What’s worse is when Christians say that those at the Pulse night club deserved death, or had it coming to them because they were simply there. Is that what Jesus commands his disciples to say? Do others need condemnation or the Law and Gospel? Condemnation, without grace, is the work of this world.

Our neighbors need us and we need them. Jesus said a variety of things concerning our neighbor- that we ought to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39), that if our neighbor hits us we turn the other cheek (Luke 6:29), and that we are here to offer and show forgiveness (Matthew 16:19, Luke 6:37-42, Matthew 18:15-20, 21-35), even when we may feel that forgiveness is not warranted. Take our lesson from Luke 9 this morning.

We all can relate with James and John, can’t we? Are there not times that we wish that we could call upon the Lord and have it rain down fire from heaven on to those who reject Christ? You see, James and John had, what they saw, as righteous indignation for this particular Samaritan village that rejects Jesus. James and John felt that the Samaritans deserved it.

Remember, the Samaritans are half-Jewish, half-Gentile and say that the place to worship the Lord is not at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, but at Mount Gerizim. Any good Jewish person would believe that Samaritans deserved everything bad that they had coming to them, because they worshipped in the wrong spot, they weren’t good enough to have God’s mercy.

Who else isn’t good enough to have God’s mercy? Gays, Muslims, Murderers, Adulterers, Gossips, people without self-control? Picture the person, or people, in your mind who you feel that do not deserve forgiveness. Do you see them? Now, hear these words from Jesus and Scripture:

“Which of these…proved to be a neighbor? The one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37)

“Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? And Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.’” (Matthew 18:22)

And…

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” …Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:7, 10-11)

These words of Scripture ought to bring light to places of our souls that show that we are no good on our own and left to our own we would deny others of mercy. Those people I asked to picture in your mind. How are you viewing them now? Do they still deserve condemnation? There is always a time and place to call sin a sin. Jesus never said that the unnamed woman was without sin, He was “okay” to call her what she was- a sinner in dire need of God’s grace. Those people who are outcasts of the church, are they not in need of God’s grace? Yes.

Yes, they need God’s grace just the same as we do. Perhaps we need it all the more! Paul writes in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We deserve the wrath that we would wish to impose on others. We deserve the same wrath that James and John wished upon that Samaritan village. But what did Jesus see fit for that village? What does Jesus see fit for us? Mercy, grace, and forgiveness. What precious gifts!

And attached to these precious gifts is peace. Jesus seeks to bring peace to us, among us, and more importantly, between us and our Heavenly Father. Age-old conflicts die hard. Us versus them issues take a long time to resolve. This is the result of sin in this world. Sin is the enemy, the Devil loves to deliver pain, suffering, and death- with the result to strip our faith from us.

But Jesus seeks to deliver hope, love, and peace. He desires to give and increase our faith. Remember, He sends us the Holy Spirit to do just this! As Luther writes in the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.”

Remember the work of this world is works-righteousness at best, condemnation at worse. But in Jesus, His work saves us from the wrath of works, the wrath of condemnation from others and God. In this, Jesus delivers hope. Hope that the world does not know, hope that He is making all things new again. Jesus delivers love, the love of the Father to us, His children, by the blood of Christ. And peace, He gives peace to His disciples, He gives us peace to this vary day. It is a peace not easily understood or earned, but a peace that goes well beyond that. In this peace, Jesus promises to guard us and keep us in this faith.

Now, let this peace of God, “which surpasses all understanding, [guard] your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” our Lord. (Philippians 4:7) Amen.