The Sixth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 5:20-26 “Above the Ladder in the Righteousness of Christ”
July 12, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, we confess that we are poor, wretched sinners, and that there is no good in us; our hearts, flesh and blood being so corrupted by sin that we are never in this life without sinful lusts and desires. Therefore we beseech You, dear Father, forgive us these sins, and let Your Holy Spirit so cleanse our hearts that we may desire and love Your Word, abide by it, and thus by Your grace be forever saved; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 159)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 5th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who gives His good law for you to abide in it, and in failure, reveals to you the righteousness that surpasses all understanding and it is yours forever, dear fellow redeemed:
Climbing up a ladder means you will be up above everyone. There are many high places that can only be reached by a ladder. Whether you are using a ladder to clean the high places in the church, using a ladder to get up onto a roof, or using the “ladder of success” to climb into leadership of a group or organization, it is the climbing that is the difficult part. Even as the song lyrics from the movie, “High School Musical,” to “Bop to the Top,” makes it sound so much easier than what it truly is. There is no dancing when trying to climb a ladder. It can be cut throat, and in the end, you can lose more than what you thought you would gain. Man in his sinful state has been trying to climb the ladder to the side of God. It happens in various ways and there is only one way to climb this ladder. To climb it is to actually not climb it at all and to be lifted above it. A task that we will need help to accomplish. In its accomplishment, we will not only see what we were not able to do, but we see the righteousness of God as ours. A righteousness given to us in mercy and a righteousness that carries us to the heights of heaven.
And it truly is given in mercy for us to reach the heights of heaven for in today’s text, we see how special our righteousness is. Jesus’ enemies, the Pharisees reveal exactly what we see on a daily basis concerning our righteousness. Even when it appears on the surface level we are obeying God in everything, our actions can speak very loudly compared to what we are capable of holding in our hearts. The Pharisees righteousness that Jesus tells us to surpass begins with us seeing how defective it is. They spend their lives showing off to people their outward actions and Jesus goes on to correct them. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38-39). When Jesus is called out that He is rejecting God’s law, Jesus isn’t rejecting it, but rather the Pharisees interpretation of it. He calls them out when He says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves” (Matthew 23:15).
Now the Pharisees are quick with their attacks, but as we see, their attacks won’t stick to Jesus. Where does the Pharisees own righteousness stand? The law they said they followed states, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD (Leviticus 19:17-18). This is what the law says. This is exactly what Jesus repeats to them. Jesus enemies in attacking His Word lay out what they truly think about God and His law. They have disdain for it. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation (John 11:47-48). And this disdain has existed from the beginning and is still out in the world now.
As Jesus makes arguments for God’s law and its defense on how it should be followed to completion, He reveals how there are many laws that are not being followed correctly. Under this same commandment He is teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will soon also say, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). The world sees the thoughts of the Pharisees and agrees. What Jesus is quoting is too hard. In the end, they know it doesn’t stop there. Besides the Fifth Commandment, Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immortality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealously, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these (Galatians 5:19-21a). While the world finds fun in the works of the flesh, the fun can’t continue if God’s Law is to be followed. The declaration is then the same. They don’t need God because their righteousness is enough as the people around them validate their righteousness.
A complete overhaul inside of our heart can be done, all hope isn’t lost. For the Lord has laid a path, a ladder, and as Jesus says in this parable, it is a ladder that begins with an apology. It begins with the understanding of showing love with anyone who has been wronged and making it right with them. This is the righteousness that stops us in our tracks. To gather forgiveness is to approach the Lord in truth, that He is right and we are wrong. That His judgment is just and the judgment of the hell of fire is deserving. For though it can feel like we are free, being a slave to all of these works of the flesh will never be enough. We must accept there are no exceptions. Our righteousness must be more abundant. And even if something we have done must be dealt with in civil courts, the courts cannot judge the heart. Jesus will point out in a parable how many will think that they are safe by being in a church. But even being here in this pew is not the reason for celebration. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it (James 2:10). While we can use our righteousness to hide, Jesus reveals to us that the law hasn’t changed and is still good, climbing over any expectations we may hope to have with our flesh.
To explore God’s law and to look for a resolution to deal with the works of the flesh, the Lord is sought with mercy, knowing that it is His Righteousness that is absolute. A righteousness that yearns to see and hear the changed impenitent heart as Jesus says, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” As the people understood civil court proceedings, this goes far beyond a human court. Jesus takes the law into His hands and explains it spiritually. Anything given must be with the sincerity of faith only. A faith that has witnessed the downside of man’s righteousness and that there is no surpassing the righteousness of the Pharisees to avoid the hell of fire. Since this is the case, rushing to be right with a fellow man can only happen with God cleansing these human hearts. And these cleansed hearts of God will follow with joy His true two commands. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
Through the work and love of God, you see all that He does for you with this change. It is a change that takes failure on the chin. It is a change that is patient, slow to anger, and abounding in love to all who interact with you. It is a changed heart that sees the ladder to climb to God and instead of making the attempt and repenting if the attempt was made, the heart puts all of its faith and trust in the One who cleansed it. Through His cleansing, He lifts you up to His blessed side. A place where in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). He has the right to hold on to you for the penny. Instead of holding on to you for the last penny, the payment of blood shed on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins was made. And having dealt with all the earth’s temptations, sins, and shame, all of this being yours, He takes His perfect righteousness which surpasses all understanding, and to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:5). Justification and faith counted as your righteousness because of His changed heart in you to believe in what He has done. The God Man who pleaded for your forgiveness, for His enemies forgiveness, and gave up His life to boost you over the ladder to the side of God.
From His side, you see the urgency. “Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” The world sees the light shining out of your changed heart. A light that glows in patience to try and avoid the problems of the text as St. Paul writes, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). This is the love the world is searching for and it is a love they at times try to reject, but it will not succeed. For the Good News of the cross truly brings people hope as they see they are not on their own. Jesus has crushed the ladder and has taken it away. He reveals the gap between you and God and He bridges it together. There is a fire for evil. But for the righteousness of Christ that clothes you, it is a paradise in His kingdom forever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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