Perhaps no verse has been quoted by those outside the church to those inside the church more than our passage today: “Judge not lest you be judged.” Do Jesus’ words mean that we are never to make judgements in this life? Do we have no right or responsibility to judge rapists, child-abusers, and those guilty of greedy violence? In this sermon I want us to look at Jesus’ teachings on judging others. Notice that I have included the accounts of Matthew and Luke because we need both to understand Jesus’ teaching. Matthew tells us something Luke does not, and Luke tells us something Matthew does not. So, what was Jesus saying in this much quoted but little understood passage?
I. Jesus was a keen observer of human behavior. He noticed that there were those people who were quick to criticize, eager to judge, and happy to find fault with others. What he also noticed was that these people seldom made any contribution to the welfare and healing of humanity. They are so busy judging and finding fault that they have no energy or time to be a positive force in the world, to be a blessing and cultivators of joy.
In Luke’s Gospel Jesus said there is an approach to life which emphasizes understanding, forgiveness, and sharing. And it was his observation that those people who approached life with the intent of blessing instead of judging were saturated to the point of overflowing with joy and fulfillment. Health practitioner Jeff Rockwell has observed in his patients what he calls “Symptoms of Inner Peace.” Among these symptoms he includes:
-loss of interest in judging other people
-loss of interest in conflict
-loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
Jesus observed that there are some people whose basic approach to life is one of judging and condemning others. He noticed that there were others whose basic approach was in blessing and forgiving others and sharing their joy in the Lord. And in his mind, there was no doubt as to which lifestyle was more God-like and fulfilling.
II. Secondly, Jesus aligned himself with the prophets in believing that definitive judgment should be left to God. Only God can see, hear, and understand everything. Only God knows the motives of the heart. Only God feels the pain and conflict, the confusion and struggles within the individual. When Susan and I were in seminary, we were members of an inner-city church. The wife of the pastor of this small church increasingly became more and more bitter and judgmental. Her husband and the whole congregation struggled with this unfortunate and alienating tendency. This woman underwent many tests including MRIs and brain-scans. No physical explanation for her behavior could be found. After months of frustration and a lot of judging, surgery revealed that this unfortunate person had a brain tumor which had wrapped around one of the blood vessels in her brain. That’s why the MRIs and brain-scans missed the cause of her personality change. It was something she couldn’t help. Surgery gave her some extra time on this earth, and we all became more understanding and compassionate toward this woman who, until recently, had been such a sweet and loving person. But I cannot help but wonder how she would have been remembered by her husband and the church if we had never learned the cause of her suffering and tragic change in personality. We did not know or understand prior to the discovery of her brain tumor. How many times in life have we made assumptions and judged others with partial or incorrect knowledge?
I mentioned child-abusers in the introduction of this sermon. I have often heard people—even loving people in the church—say something like, “The people I have no compassion for and who should be severely punished are child-abusers. I simply don’t understand how an adult could abuse a child!” Should we disregard the evidence that some (not all) adults who abuse children were abused themselves as children? Do we know what goes on in the heart of those who suffer tortured inner lives? Are we so sure we would be any different if we had been reared in abusive homes? Only God knows everything about everyone. We at best have partial, incomplete, biased knowledge. And Jesus, who was so sensitive to the struggles of the sinners and outcasts of his day, would remind us of our limited understanding not only of others but even of ourselves. Too often the person I understand the least is myself as I fail in so many ways to choose the way of love and compassion in a hurting world.
III. But having said all that, is Jesus really telling us that we should never judge? Isn’t it true that we judge everyday as we seek to live in a positive and loving way? We decide not to lie and cheat in our businesses. Isn’t this a judgment on those who do lie and cheat? We decide not to murder, rape, steal, and abuse our children? Is that not a judgment on those who engage in these devastating activities? We choose not to participate in racist behavior. Is not that a judgment on those who embrace bigotry and prejudice? We pursue ways of curtailing injustice in our society by doing what is necessary to stop oppressors from hurting others. Is this not a judgment of those who practice oppression and injustice? In our kind of world, to decide to live a good and healing life requires judgments on our part. We must reject certain ways of living as sinful and destructive. And in the process, directly or indirectly, we are passing judgment on others. And if we read Jesus’ words carefully, I think we can see that Jesus knew that. He was not so much telling us never to judge others as he was telling us to make sure we are careful and circumspect in those judgments. And Jesus makes this suggestion to prepare us for the judgments we must make in life. He suggests that we take a long, honest, and loving look at ourselves. Before we speak a single word or conjure a single thought of judgment against others, let’s make sure our own lives are clean and pure. Jesus said, “How dare you point to the speck of sawdust in your neighbor’s eye when you have a two-by-four sticking out of your own eye!” In other words, look carefully at yourself before you dare to judge others.
So many studies indicate that at the heart of racism, sexism, prejudice, homophobia, intolerance, and bigotry is the phenomenon of scapegoating. We project onto others our own sense of failure, inadequacy, guilt, and insecurity. We can’t face the demons within us so we project them onto others. If we can believe that someone is more evil, inferior, and less of a human than we are, then we feel that our social or ethical position has been elevated. I grew up among whites whose every other word was the “n” word but who could not read or write, could not keep a job, and whose family situation was tragic beyond repair. But by discounting someone else, they could feel better about themselves. In the same way, all the sexists, homophobes, and bigots I have ever known had within them feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and guilt they were eager to project onto others. Jesus challenges this scapegoating and challenges us to look deeply into our own hearts. And if we do so, every one of us will probably find far more than we can ever handle without troubling ourselves with the faults of others.
Of course, such an honest appraisal of our hearts will prove our need for God’s grace. At some point in our lives, we all will realize that what we need is not justice but mercy, not fairness but forgiveness. And the good news is that God is happy, even eager to offer us such grace. That is what the gospel is all about. And once we have looked into our hearts with honesty and truthfulness, and once we have received God’s mercy, and forgiveness, then we are able to offer compassionate judgments of others. We see them and their sin not as something so alien to us and our character. We might even see ourselves in their evil and failures. And as a result, we will see more clearly how to turn them from sin to righteousness, from failure to transformation, from confusion to peace.
It is impossible to live a good life without making judgments. And in our kind of world where so many suffer from the greed and tyranny of others, not to make those judgments would be irresponsible and cowardly. But as we make the judgments required by life, let us remember Jesus’ guidelines.
1) Let us spend more time and energy understanding, forgiving and sharing with others than we ever do judging and finding fault. There is no merit in being right in our judgments. There is only merit in living a life which bears the fruits of the spirit, the chief of which is always love.
2) In our judgments let us remember that we have only partial knowledge. Only God knows everything about everyone. And so, our judgments at best can be only partial, feeble attempts to live by the truth.
3) And let us never pass judgment on another human being without first looking honestly into our own hearts. If we do that, we will discover our own need for God’s mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. Healed by such grace, we will be better able to see the speck in our brothers and sister’s eye and will know what path to offer them for their (and our own) healing and salvation.
Communion
At this table where grace is piled upon grace, we realize our need to be judged by such grace and not justice, by compassion and not fairness. At the foot of the cross and before these sacred symbols, we all stand on level ground as we each hold on to the unconditional love of our God.
Commission
Our world does not need uncritical lovers, for the stakes are too high for useless and mushy sentiments. And neither does our world need unloving critics, for people are too weary for criticism which offers no hope or redemption. What the world needs is critical lovers and loving critics who have allowed God’s grace to open their eyes and their hearts. May we all arise from this Table with such integrity and such love.
Matthew 7:1-5 (NRSV)
Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s[a] eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor,[b] ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s[c] eye.
Luke 6:37-38
Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; [38] give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.
