Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Jesus does something in this sermon that we've been walking through here at this juncture of the sermon that I feel like most preachers want to do at the 2/3 mark of their sermon, but never really. We never really have the courage to do it.
[00:00:22] But he just comes out and says something that needs to be said.
[00:00:31] He has gone through a lot of life's situations and difficulties. He has. He has talked about what it looks like when you're slapped or when you're taken advantage of. He has talked about what it looks like to treat other people like humans and not like objects. He has consistently asked us to not get credit for the spiritual works of our life. When we pray, when we fast, when we give.
[00:01:00] He has told us over and over again that we might not win here and to live a certain way.
[00:01:15] And anybody that's ever been to church, which is, I'm guessing all of you, since you know, you're here, Anybody that's ever been knows how difficult it is in a sermon, particularly one that says, hey, there's a way you're supposed to be living. There's a way, there's an attitude with which you are supposed to go into the world.
[00:01:46] And especially if that attitude is difficult, loving your neighbor like God has loved us is difficult.
[00:01:57] It's difficult.
[00:01:59] It's great. It's super easy in theory.
[00:02:03] Turning the other cheek is pretty easy in theory. But then once the cheek has to be offered, we often respond with a fist.
[00:02:16] It's a difficult way to live. Jesus is proposing. And whenever the instruction is difficult, it is so tempting to just think about all the people who need this.
[00:02:34] You know, people, if you met them. Good thing I'm not people.
[00:02:40] All the others that if. You know who could have used this sermon, anyone but me, my neighbor, that person sitting across the church. That's just not people. That person who said that thing to me that one time in sixth grade, and I've never thought about it, like, never quit thinking about it since.
[00:03:08] Just over and over again. There's people that pop in our mind, and they are the ones who need the thing.
[00:03:19] Any sort of marriage seminar. Have you been to one of these where you show up and you're like, all right, we're going to improve the marriage today.
[00:03:30] And almost only often, only they. You leave a marriage seminar and you know exactly what your spouse is supposed to be doing.
[00:03:46] You drive to the marriage seminar full of hope. Our marriage is going to get better. We're going to. We're going to be closer after this. This is going to give us some tips and tricks about how to do the thing that's so difficult to do.
[00:04:03] You sit there and the whole time you're thinking, well, they don't do that.
[00:04:09] And then you leave knowing full well what's supposed to be done to and for you be aware fully of and you right in the middle of sermons about marriage, about giving, about attitude. Right in the middle. There needs to be this time where we say, hey, by the way, focus. If you're judging right now, you're missing the point.
[00:04:42] If you're looking outward at the, you're right, the world does need this.
[00:04:50] No, it doesn't. I mean, sure it does.
[00:04:54] But how about you take a second. I take a second and apply it to me first.
[00:05:05] Right in the middle of this sermon. I mean, he said, he said that you're seeking the wrong kingdom.
[00:05:12] Over and over again Jesus has said, do not worry, do not have faith in the promise of God. Stuff that's difficult to do.
[00:05:23] We're going to take a beat here and he's just going to say, you know what? Do not judge lest you be judged.
[00:05:35] That is such a left turn here in the sermon, but it's appropriate. We can put that scripture on the board. Matthew 7:1, do not judge, lest ye be judged.
[00:05:49] I know up there it says so that you may not be judged. I really like the word lest and I try to fit it into most conversations.
[00:06:03] Sometimes my King James slips out.
[00:06:07] Do not be judged. Do not judge so that you will not be judged. This is how it works because judgment is a game of ping pong.
[00:06:18] You never just throw judgment at people and go, oh, they got it.
[00:06:24] They felt that, didn't they?
[00:06:27] All the hearts and minds changed by Facebook posts.
[00:06:33] Just out there doing the work of the Lord.
[00:06:37] I'm glad you figured it out and you've posted it. Now all of us can just revel in your warmth and wisdom.
[00:06:46] It's so funny. Like we think, oh, if I say a thing, people will listen. Maybe probably not.
[00:06:56] All the people that like what you said will walk by and go, oh yeah, that's about all. You get this thumbs up and they'll move on with their day.
[00:07:14] That is not helpful.
[00:07:18] No one judges and has a strong opinion about what they should be doing over there. And then the people over there hear that and overhear it and go, you know what I should be. What happens is I judge and they judge.
[00:07:35] Do you know why?
[00:07:38] This is not declaring that there's nothing worth judgment.
[00:07:43] This is not declaring that the people over there don't have it messed up. They do. Everybody does.
[00:07:52] But it's that last part that we miss.
[00:07:55] The humility that comes with. I don't have this figured out either is where Jesus wants us to start in our interactions with people.
[00:08:08] This is just going to become a cycle of judgment.
[00:08:13] You're just going to be running around the house chasing each other.
[00:08:19] Every house I grew up in had a circle.
[00:08:27] I don't know if you. Some of you might have instinctively known what that is. And that means you had siblings your age.
[00:08:33] A circle is where one room leads into another, into another, and then to another and back again.
[00:08:40] There's no. So we grew up in a house that had one through the living room into the kitchen, into the hallway, into the entryway, and back into the living room. And then we moved. Growing up, we moved to a house that, again, we had. It had a living room and we upgraded to a den with a. With a formal dining room and a breakfast. And so we would run through that.
[00:09:07] And that one was tricky because there was carpet, carpet tile.
[00:09:11] And so you had to be careful with socks on that you didn't get confident on the carpet.
[00:09:18] And we would chase each other around the circle.
[00:09:23] My brother and I. My brother's here today. Don't look at him.
[00:09:28] We would chase each other around the circle, and he's always been a touch faster than me and at times quite a bit faster than me. And we would. But you just. You chase each other and you just forget who was chasing whom.
[00:09:45] Like, wait a second, who's it here?
[00:09:50] And so. But it's just a waste of time. Now, it can be fun, but it's a waste of time. So, too, is judgment. It. Surely it can be fun at times, especially if judgment is commiserating, where you're just sitting around being like, I'm that person.
[00:10:11] That's not helpful either, is it?
[00:10:14] It's just a waste of time and waste of energy.
[00:10:17] Don't judge. Don't start this cycle of judgment where I judge and lest you be judged.
[00:10:25] Verse 2 says, for the judgment you make, with the judgment you make, you will be judged. Okay, I don't like to pull this out too much, but particularly here, there is not an English translation that conveys what's going on in the Greek here because it is so repetitive.
[00:10:52] So if we were to translate it straight from the Greek and not like, make it make more sense. We would say, for the judgment with which you judge, you would be judged, and the measurements you measure, you will be measured. Like, it's a Real repetitive phrasing. There's three judgment statements right there in a row. Three judgment words. Judgment you make, you will be judged. The judgments you judge, you'll be judged. And the measurements you measure will be measured one after the other.
[00:11:23] This is a form of word play. It's a. It's a way in which he's. He's kind of like, this is playful because this is a touchy subject. Jesus is getting into what others think about others.
[00:11:40] And so we can see he's starting. You can almost hear him smiling as he goes through this. It's a very serious thing, but a lot of times very serious things have to be taken on playfully so that the people hear them properly, because he's going to get into hyperbole in a second.
[00:12:02] And that's what first century people thought was hilarious. If you said something hyperbolic, whoo, what a hoot. They said hyperbole and puns. So when Jesus says something like, it's easier for rich for a camel to get through the eye of a needle.
[00:12:26] That's absurd, but you don't know it. There's a pun in there too, Kamal and Gamal.
[00:12:36] And so right in the middle of that, Jesus is saying something like, it is a hard truth. But he's trying to be playful with them just to let them know it's not this angry teaching from Jesus. And sometimes you can tell that in the language and in the style.
[00:12:54] Hey, don't judge or you'll be judged.
[00:13:00] For the judgment with which you judge, you will be judged. And the measurements with which you measure, you will be measured.
[00:13:07] Oh, that makes sense.
[00:13:10] And then he uses two analogies and hyperboles to double down on this point.
[00:13:18] Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye but do not notice the log or the plank in your own?
[00:13:26] Okay, time out. Just picture it.
[00:13:30] This is such a hyperbolic statement that you can't even imagine just someone with a plank. We'll just say an 8 foot 2 by 4. We'll just. Let's just picture that one that's so. It's so lodged in your eye that it turns when you turn.
[00:13:49] Your depth perception's off. You can't even see peripheral vision. It's a plank, guys. A plank in your eye and you're looking around, people are ducking. When you turn around, they say, good grief, here comes plank boy.
[00:14:13] And you turn and they have to duck. And isn't it hilarious for plank boy to look across the marketplace and say, hey, I see a speck.
[00:14:33] Everyone turns and looks at plank boy and they say, plank boy, you barely see anything.
[00:14:44] He goes, no, it's a speck. I see a speck.
[00:14:50] Why do you do that?
[00:14:55] Some of you are going to go home and call your spouse plank boy or plank girl, however it suits.
[00:15:08] And I'm encouraging you not to not do that.
[00:15:15] But we need to be reminded how crazy it is whenever we just. We have our own stuff.
[00:15:26] We've got so much of our own stuff that we need to work on.
[00:15:31] So much that we need. It's going to take our lifetime to take the sermon that Jesus preached and pick it up and lay it, make sure it sticks on our heart.
[00:15:43] Because I don't know about you, I found the words of Jesus. I have a hard time adhering them to my heart, so they just fall off. Sometimes whenever I'm in traffic or at a football game, I have to pick them up and press them on over and over again.
[00:16:00] It has been a lifelong work of mine to find some sort of semblance to Jesus and his teaching in my own life.
[00:16:11] That's taken a while.
[00:16:14] You know, it's a lot easier adhering it to others.
[00:16:20] And Jesus here is saying, don't get caught up. You've got a lot to do, Plank boy.
[00:16:28] Don't get caught up in the speck. You say. You notice. You notice the. Have you not noticed the log in your own eye?
[00:16:36] Or how can you say to your neighbor, here, let me take that speck out of your own eye?
[00:16:42] Well, the log is in your own eye.
[00:16:45] One, it's absurd to notice. Two, to try to help.
[00:16:55] With a judgmental attitude, you will not help a soul.
[00:17:04] Are you with me church on this? With a judgmental attitude, you will not help a soul. You are not qualified or capable to do any good work in the world when your heart is judgmental.
[00:17:24] When you don't notice the log in your own eye, you can't help.
[00:17:33] You hypocrite.
[00:17:36] Probably be best translated here. You actor, you pretender, the one who wears a mask.
[00:17:47] First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. Now, what's interesting here is we oftentimes jump to this second one. It's like, all right, how do I get the log out of my eye so I can start working on other people?
[00:18:09] I'm going to quit being a log person so I can point out the specs in other people's eyes.
[00:18:14] That's not what he says.
[00:18:20] Our goal. Then after we Work on ourselves is not to notice. He skips over the notice part.
[00:18:30] You know, earlier he says, how do you notice the speck? How is it that you notice the speck in your brother's eye?
[00:18:37] We are to help.
[00:18:41] We are to help.
[00:18:44] Once we work on ourselves, there's a.
[00:18:48] We'll notice it. Like, yeah, I can see where someone would get something in their eye.
[00:18:53] I'm not mad that there's something in their eye, but I'm a servant who helps with their life, with their vision.
[00:19:07] So he says, the measure with which you measure, you'll be measured.
[00:19:14] The judgments with which you judge, you will be judged.
[00:19:17] Don't walk around with a speck in your eye.
[00:19:21] Then he has this rather sarcastic line of, like, your holy judgments. Why are you giving this to swine?
[00:19:32] Do not give what is holy to dogs. Do not throw your pearls before swine.
[00:19:40] There's a lot of the scripture's weird, and scholars love weird scriptures.
[00:19:50] There's a lot of debate about this.
[00:19:53] I think to fit in with the text, with the language Jesus is using up until this point, it makes sense that he here is saying pearls sarcastically, like, you're what you have. This has been often used to say, do not give communion to people who don't deserve it. That's.
[00:20:15] Nope.
[00:20:20] It's an odd turn. If this is this proverb here that Jesus uses, some sort of, like, declaration about communion or holy thing. Like, this here is like, you're giving judgments with a speck in your eye. You think what you're casting to the pigs of the earth is pearls.
[00:20:44] This may be the first one of the first hundred things I do when the kingdom of God comes is try to get the tone with which Jesus said this in my ears, because I'm interested.
[00:20:58] But I do think, I think it's most likely that there is this. There's this playfulness of specs and logs, there's this playfulness of wording, and then there's a playfulness of, oh, you've got these words of wisdom to give the world.
[00:21:18] You throw these pearls before a swan and they will trample them underfoot and turn and maul you. To me, this lines up perfectly with, if you judge, they will judge.
[00:21:30] If you give these, your judgments to the world, like, it's like they're worth something, they're going to come back at you with full force.
[00:21:41] To me, that's one of the only interpretations of this that lines up with what's actually being said in the sermon.
[00:21:49] I've been wrong before, probably earlier. This Sermon. And I may be wrong about that, but the point of this passage here holds true that what you offer to the world, you think it's, you think it's formed, you think it's, it's beautiful to offer. Like, I've got words of wisdom. You know, back in my day, we tied the left shoe before the right. Look, we get so in. That's not really something I've heard.
[00:22:21] We had, we. We put a trunk or treat post online. We said, we're going to have a trunk or treat here at the church. We had ads just hopefully anybody in this area would see it online and go. And we had so many people say, hey, where is this place? What time will it start? All of it's on the ad. But we're happy to answer all of that too. We've been doing church announcements long enough to know that people don't read the thing.
[00:22:52] It's in the bulletin.
[00:22:55] But we answered all of them, said, oh, it's a 5210 Holocaust Drive 3 to 5. You're welcome to come. There will be free food. We told everybody everything, but we had an occasional comment that was like. We had one guy that was like, this is a worship of the devil. I was like, okay.
[00:23:18] But you know what my instinct was whenever someone did that?
[00:23:23] Was to be like, well, your grammar's awful.
[00:23:29] Just pearls like swine turning and trampling the judger.
[00:23:34] It just is what it is. Like, it's our instinct when someone's like, you walk funny. I'm like, well, your face is weird. You know, we're just, we have an instinct to turn it on other people.
[00:23:47] And because Jesus told us that starts a cycle. When we judge, they judge back. When we toss our pearls to the swine, they need our pearls. They'll trample them underfoot and turn and attack us.
[00:24:03] We think we've got it all figured out. We've got a log in our eye and we're trying to pull specks out of other people's eyes. We think we've got it together, but all we're doing is starting a cycle of judgment from people who are unqualified to judge.
[00:24:19] All we are doing is starting that. We know we're starting that. Jesus told us we're doing it.
[00:24:26] So if we judge the world, the world judges us.
[00:24:30] Like, how can they? Well, Jesus told us this would happen.
[00:24:34] Having that spirit encourages that spirit. Having that outlook on the world encourages the outlook on the world. When God looks at the world, the world he loves. Yes, a world in error. A world who is struggling, a world in chaos, a world of violence. We are not what God hoped we would be.
[00:24:59] But God still looks on us, knows our story fully, loves us deeply, forgives our brokenness completely, and deals with death fully.
[00:25:19] Like the perfect God, the perfect man.
[00:25:27] In Jesus, we find just a flawless life. The one who could judge, forgave, the one who could condemn, sacrificed himself and loved us.
[00:25:48] The one who was able to be a know it all.
[00:25:56] He came and sought after us and told us, I think smiling, don't judge that just judges back on you.
[00:26:10] Don't look for specks with a log in your own eye. Don't be a hypocrite like that.
[00:26:17] Instead, he's going to say, as we see next week, seek a kingdom, look for the way that creates peace instead of a cycle of judgment.
[00:26:42] I've got all sorts of people in my life who are not what they need to be.
[00:26:53] But I also know also I'm one of them. Can. Would you say that like I put a flag in the ground there? I'm one of them. I'm not what I need to be.
[00:27:04] But I also know that they are fully and dramatically and powerfully affected by the life that they have lived up until now and that they didn't wake up this morning and go, you know what?
[00:27:21] Today I will struggle with.
[00:27:25] It's been decades in the making and they finally arrived and here they are. And I've got to decide whether I'm going to see them as Satan sees them, as an accuser, or I see them as God sees them as loved, forgiven, worthy of sacrifice.
[00:27:53] I've got to decide that one creates one way, creates a cycle of judgment and brokenness that will not be stopped until it is interrupted by the way of Jesus, a way of forgiveness and love.
[00:28:12] Do not judge lest you be judged.
[00:28:16] As the Praise Team comes up, I want you to think about the way in which you live your life in this Jesus way. Is it mental?
[00:28:29] Is the Bible for you a magnifying glass through which to see the world to which to judge the world? Or do you look in it and see and reflect upon what you should be?
[00:28:44] Whatever is the case, you're going to have moments where you just are judgment, judgmental and harsh.
[00:28:55] And today we pray that the Holy Spirit rids us of that cycle of judgment and rescues us to a place of love and peace where I'm not having to evaluate the people in my life, but I'm just at peace because I get to be with them and love them right where they sit.
[00:29:22] God says that's the way the world changes because he sent His Son to do that for us. And he's sending his kingdom into the world to do that for them.
[00:29:34] So whatever you need this morning, whether you want to come talk to me about giving your life to Jesus, or you want to meet someone at the back, one of our prayer team members, they can pray with you right then and there. Whatever you need this morning, please, please take that step.
[00:29:49] Please take that step as we stand and as we sing.
[00:29:55] If you curse me, then I will bless.
