A Sermon on Matthew 7:15-23 for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

When I was in college, one of the gen ed courses I had to take was biology. Biology came in two parts. There was the classroom lecture in the morning and then bio lab in the afternoon. The lecture was kinda boring, but the lab was actually pretty fun, that’s when you got hands-on experience and did science experiments and stuff like that. One of the bio lab courses we did was tree identification. We went out to a local park and there were 10 or 12 trees along the path with these little numbered plaques on them. And we were given a book which would guide us through different steps to tell what kind of tree we were looking at.

It seemed easy enough. All of the questions in the book were either/or. Does the tree have needles or leaves? Are the leaves simple or compound? But the deeper you got, the more difficult it became. The leaf on the tree wouldn’t look quite like the simple illustrations they gave you. And if you didn’t know what you were looking for or were mistaken about what you saw, you’d be led down the wrong path and end up really confused and have to backtrack to figure out where you went wrong. If you’re not familiar with trees, if you don’t know what you’re supposed to be looking for, if you’re not paying close attention, it’s easy to be led astray.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus tells us how to identify false prophets, how to tell between a good tree and a bad tree. The process He outlines seems pretty easy, but you have to know what you’re looking for or else you can be led astray. In Jesus’ tree identification guide, He tells us to look at the fruits and shows us how to distinguish bad fruit from good fruit.

So this section comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus opened it with the Beatitudes, these beautiful Gospel blessings, and then taught us all sorts of things: how to pray, how to view possessions and people. Now, for the conclusion, He’s leading us out into the world and warning us about the dangers that we will face. “Beware of false prophets.”

What Jesus is saying here seems pretty self-evident. “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Yeah, okay. It seems easy. But it’s not quite that simple. Because Jesus tells us that they will “come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” 

So there’s this challenge. We need to distinguish between the good fruit and the sheep’s clothing. When we’re examining a preacher or a teacher, we need to be careful. Because the bad ones will look like the good ones! And it’s hard to tell them apart! We can’t make a quick judgment call and say, “Yeah, that’s some good fruit,” because maybe we’re not looking at the fruit, maybe we’re being fooled by the sheep’s clothing. So how do we know what we’re not supposed to be fooled by? How do we know what fruit we’re supposed to be looking for?

Here’s where we can easily be led astray. Maybe you (will drive past/drove past) a different church (on your way home/on your way here) and their parking lot (is/was) jam packed. “Well, they gotta be doing something right. Maybe we can learn from them.” Is that the fruit we’re supposed to be looking for?

Maybe you’re listening to someone tell you about all the cool stuff that’s going on at their church, from different ministries to serving the community, and it just seems a lot more active than we are. Is that the fruit we’re supposed to be looking for?

Maybe you have a friend who isn’t Lutheran, but they’re still a really good Christian. They’re kind and genuine. Is that the fruit we’re supposed to be looking for?

Jesus helps clarify the criteria He gives us in His second illustration. On the Last Day, there will be those who say to Him, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” Notice how Jesus responds. He doesn’t deny that they’ve cast out demons or done wonders. False prophets can and will have successful and active ministries! They’re going to be loving and genuine and kind. But all those things are part of the sheep’s clothing. Because Jesus denies that those great things were done in His name. “I never knew you; depart from Me.”

We’re not supposed to measure a prophet or a teacher by their success or their outward deeds, that’s not what we’re supposed to be looking for. So what is the fruit of a prophet? Well, it’s their prophecy.

We are to judge teachers by their teaching, by the content of their message. That is their fruit! No matter how enticing or attractive they might seem, anyone who teaches false doctrine is a false prophet.

Now, that doesn’t mean that your Methodist friend isn’t a good person or a real Christian. That doesn’t mean that your neighbor who’s a pastor somewhere else is this scheming wolf just putting on a show. But the test isn’t sincerity. The test shows the danger of false doctrine.

Jesus tells us at the end of this Gospel, “to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:20). Every doctrine is important, all doctrine is important. To the extent that anyone preaches what is false as though it is God’s Word they are a false prophet.

It’s easy to be jealous of other churches for any number of reasons, but that’s not what we’re supposed to be looking for. That’s not what Jesus cares about. He tells us what matters: the fruit, the message.

Why is the content of the teaching so important? Why does doctrine matter? Because it’s all about Jesus. Doctrine isn’t this abstract thing with no real bearing on the world. But all of it brings us back to Jesus. Jesus cares about this so much because what you teach is what you’re saying about Him. And who Jesus is and what He has done is the most important thing.

Jesus isn’t just a good moral teacher or an inspirational figure. He is true God and true man. True God so He could live a perfect life and true man so He could do it in our place. Who Jesus is matters, because that’s who He had to be to save us.

Jesus wasn’t just a victim to imperial power. But He willingly gave Himself into death to suffer the punishment that was waiting for you and for me. What Jesus did matters, Christ and Him crucified is the very heart of our faith.

Jesus isn’t a distant, impersonal figure. But He comes to us, gives us the forgiveness He won for us on the cross through His Word, through Baptism, through the Lord’s Supper. Word and Sacraments matter, because that is how Christ comes to us today.

And all this is only received by faith. You don’t have to make your decision for God, that’s not on you. It’s all a gift because it only depends on God and His love and His grace.

Now, fortunately, most Christians are on the same page with at least most of what I’ve outlined. But you remove or distort any one of those things and it all falls apart. Even seemingly minor doctrines have effects and consequences because it’s all linked back to who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and how that is conveyed to us.

I’ve heard it said that no one goes to church for the right reasons, at least, not for the first time. The first time someone goes to a new church, they might be attracted by the ministry offerings or their relationship with other people there, which aren’t bad things, but that’s not the good fruit.

It’s easy to be jealous of the sheep’s clothing of other churches or congregations. And that’s not to say that an active ministry or being kind and genuine are bad things. It’s just not how we know whether the tree is good or bad.

There are thornbushes and thistles that are strong, healthy plants that bloom beautifully and seem to be doing great things, but they’re not bearing any fruit, not teaching the right things about Jesus.

On the other hand, a grape vine isn’t much to look at, it’s a bunch of twigs. And a fig tree is mostly leaves, there’s no beautiful blossoms. But they produce fruit because they’re good trees.

Maybe you look at our congregation and see a tree that’s in rough shape, not as big or as healthy as it used to be. But it’s still a good tree because it bears good fruit. Jesus isn’t talking about the condition of the tree, but its quality, its nature. Even a small, weak tree can be a good tree and bear good fruit. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

My hope and my prayer is that no matter how you got here the first time, you’re staying for the right reasons. Because we say what the Bible says, we teach what Jesus teaches. That’s the good fruit. That’s what Jesus is looking for. And hat’s what we will always do, no matter what. Because all of it is about Jesus.

The only reason I got a good grade on my bio lab tree identification project was because I had a science major in my group and he had actually done that project before. If it was just me, I would have misidentified a whole bunch of those trees, I didn’t really know what to look for. So, too, when we’re looking at churches and preachers and prophets, we need to know what we’re looking for, what Jesus tells us to look for. Not the sheep’s clothing, not the good stuff on the outside that makes them seem like they’re doing the right thing, but the fruit, what they’re teaching and how that lines up with what Jesus says. You can be confident that you are in the right place, that we’re doing what we’re supposed to, because we have that good fruit, because we teach everything about who Jesus is, what He has done, and how He gives that to us. Amen.

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