TRUE AUTHORITY


When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

(Matthew 7: 28-29 – NAS)


In the counter-culture era of the 1960s and ‘70s, the phrase “Question Authority” took root and flourished. It covered everything from flat out rebellion for the sake of rebellion to the sifting and judging of the worthiness of anyone who stepped forward as an authority on any subject (“Prove it!” being the usual response). The very contrariness of the “question authority” attitude actually engendered a degree of respect for those who had achieved an expert level of competence in many arenas. The amount of study, research, and investigation into the sciences the feed oceanography gave explorer Jacques Cousteau the mantle of Authority. He had without a doubt earned the title. The years of training that made for an astronaut – training as a pilot, as an engineer (as many of them were in addition to being flyers), of the preparations of their bodies to face the demands of space-flight – all earned the astronauts respect as Authorities in that field, even from those who were not in favor of the military. The act of questioning Authority, in the end, was the testing of whether or not the so-called Authority was worthy of respect.

But somewhere along the way, the by-word of “Question Authority” fell out of use. These days, on every side, we find people putting themselves forward as authorities on this subject or that matter, and until gross errors clash with reality, nobody really questions such declarations. And even then, if the person (such as a political pundit) has a popular following, the fact that the so-called Authority is patently not an expert, nor even accurately knowledgeable about a point, has ceased to matter. The followers continue following regardless.

The result is a bizarre mixture of blind acceptance of anyone setting up as an “Authority” with a great indifference toward the accuracy of what that person puts forward.

That is one aspect of dealing with “Authority” that we face in our lives these days.

Another aspect of dealing with “Authority” comes from our uncertainty of our own knowledge. During my graduate studies, as I trained to be a literary scholar, I came to appreciate the work of previous scholars in special areas of study. The work of certain scholars has stood the test of time, in that their insights into a specific body of literature have remained unequaled. They have come to be considered Authorities. A newer scholar will measure his or her own work against such previous Authorities as well as against the actual texts under consideration, but rarely will the newer scholar presumptuously assume the mantle of “Authority” by his or her own choosing. Scholars are a cautious lot, by and large.

It is that scholarly caution that the scribes who taught the people in Jesus day exercised. They did not presume to teach from “their own authority.” Instead, they would cite either the text itself, “As it says in the First Book of Moses,” or they would reference the wisdom and interpretation of a previous scholar “For as the ancient scribe Gonebefore has taught us....”

This is what the people of Jesus’ time were used to. They were used to their teachers presenting knowledge, particularly knowledge of God, with these layers of expertise between the listener and the knowledge. They were used to hearing the knowledge imparted with the presumption that it took years of study to gain even these insights they were about to learn. They were used to the formal acknowledgement of the temple structure or the heritage of passing teaching from Master to Student in giving weight and authority to the voice of a particular teacher.

But Jesus was not like that, and He shocked them by His boldness. Jesus came to them “out of nowhere” (for Nazareth was an insignificant village in Galilee), with no apparent credentials (no calling card that said “I studied with Important-teacher”). No one knew where He had studied or with whom. Yet He understood scripture better than their usual teachers. He could quote, from memory, passages from scripture that would address any point in hand. And He could do these things without hours of preparation (other than in prayer), on any occasion, whether people were formally gathered together for His teaching or whether it was a conversation in passing on the street.

From the viewpoint of His listeners, He was a most unusual teacher, for He did not try and convince them that He was an authority by citing all His years of study and a heritage of Master-to-Student learning. Nor did He speak in flashy and flamboyant ways, overwhelming the listeners with His personality so that they never put His words to the test.

Instead, He spoke to them directly, delivering His message with immediacy. Additionally, He put it to His listeners in simple, basic terms, not hedged round with the “protections” of citing Moses and all the teachers who have studied the words of Moses and have reached a consensus that this interpretation is what was meant and what we should do. Instead, He flatly says “This is what you are to do, this is why, for these things will bring you closer to the Lord God.” Period. End of story. Take it or leave it.

I had finished reading the Sermon on the Mount on that summer afternoon back in my youth. It had been a mild and pleasingly quiet time. I considered what I had read and the vistas it opened up for me. Since I had been educated in the scientific mindset, which brought a healthy degree of skepticism to matters leading one to question and evaluate things, I weighed what I had read.

If one followed the instructions in the Sermon on the Mount, what sort of person would result? Would such a person be of worth, even if God were not part of the picture? Looked at objectively, the person Jesus is calling us to be would certainly be a kind, attentive person to be around: that was good. But what would all that “trusting God even in dire circumstances” look like?

The Person of the Beatitudes and Sermon would certainly look as if they were blindly, perhaps even unreasonably, optimistic when they had little cause to be so. I quickly realized that others have no way of seeing the assurances of God that an individual receives, and so that individual was going to be challenged and argued with, possibly even by fellow believers.

But there is a reason “He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” And that reason is that Jesus is the Final Authority. As the Christ, being one with God the Father, it is He that can best tell us how to draw near to God, how to be the Children of God.

I had “questioned authority” and found the Person to be an expert worthy of listening to, someone whose knowledge was valid and consistent and true. I had weighed the nature of the teaching and found it worthy of attempting. I was not going to find a better teacher on how to be the person God designed me to be than Jesus here in the Sermon on the Mount.

I closed my Bible and thought about it. This was my standard, then. This was to be the measure I would gage my life by. This would be my “operating manual.”

We are frail and prone to wavering. Our emotions over-run us and push us off the sure path. We forget instructions, or we pay attention to only part of them. As Jesus says, the Lord knows our secret hearts, He knows our thoughts and prayers and needs long before we articulate them. And yet He loves us. So through all the tests I face, I hold to the Love of the Lord. As a caring Father, the Creator of the Universe gives attention to my petty needs and anxieties, and waits for me to let go of those and simply trust Him. That’s a struggle. But on the other side of the struggle, Jesus waits, expecting me, and every other believer, to stand beside Him in the kingdom of God, holding the power of heaven in our hands to share out with others. Isn’t that worth trying for? I think so.

CHOOSING A FOUNDATION

 
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell ... and great was its fall.”  
(Matthew 7: 24-27 – NAS)


Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with the analogy of two men who have built houses; one built on the solid foundation of rock, while the other built his house on sand. And He indicates that those who hear His words and act on them are the ones who choose to build on the solid foundation.

Some months before I moved to Los Angeles, a science magazine had done an article on the nature of earthquakes in the Los Angeles area. It was not just about the number of fault lines that ran through the region. It included a discussion of the difference the type of ground made in how buildings endured the effects of the shaking. The article explained the combinations of ground surfaces in the area: the hills and mountains were, by and large, bedrock. These areas are generally stable, even during quakes, in that unless the foundation was on top an actual fault (large or small), although the structure might shake or sway, the foundation was more likely to remain sound. In the flatter areas of the basin, however, the ground was sedimentary, the settling of particles eroded and then deposited in the flats. When the flatter regions experienced earthquakes, the shaking sets all the sand particles vibrating. They shift and move as if they had become saturated with water. It’s called liquefaction. It is more detrimental to foundations, because the sifting may not be consistent underneath a foundation. The foundation can break under the weight of the structure standing on it and the changed conditions of the ground upon which it was laid.

This article fascinated me. And as I made my plans for my move, I studied which areas were on bedrock and which were regions of sedimentary basins. I ended up choosing to live in an area in the hills. The building I live in has endured quakes and shakes, and the motion of the swaying has occasionally introduced cracks in the wall. But thankfully, it has endured well all these years I have lived here.

For me, the analogy of the houses built on rock or sand has had an everyday practical meaning. It has meant something very exact and consequential to the matter of keeping a roof over my head.

But Jesus is talking about far more than practical geological studies before housing construction.

Jesus is speaking to the choices we make in how we ground our lives, what we choose as the foundation for our decisions and behaviors. In particular, He wants us to pay attention to what we are basing our actions upon.

He has just spent considerable time giving us instruction on how to truly be the Children of God. He has explained the attitudes and behaviors that belong to those who earnestly follow Him. And now He tells us that if we have heard and put into practice what He has explained, we shall stand secure. By becoming the person described positively in the Sermon, we will be able to withstand the rains, floods and shaking winds of life, because we are grounded on God.

What foundation could give us greater security than that?

None that I know of.

Why then do we find it so difficult to hold to these guidelines?

Sandy places are appealing. They are generally flat, wide open. This expansion of space invites us to settle in easily.

On the television show Survivor, groups of people (usually two groups) are placed on the beach areas of an island, and they are expected to make their own camps. They often have to construct their shelters themselves, using very few tools. The difficulty of the task is such that frequently (especially in the earliest seasons) a “tribe” would select an area that was wide open and flat. They would overlook the fact that the site was wide open and flat because it was the open end of a dry wash, even though the flow marks of past water streams could easily be seen in the patterns of the sand. So, of course, when rainstorms came, many of these campsites suffered disasters of various sorts.

The “house” had been built on sand. There was not a reliable foundation.

Working with bedrock is not always easy. Neither is trying to stick to the guidelines that Jesus has given us. We become so focused on taking care of the responsibilities the world puts on us, that we give short attention to the things Jesus has told us are most important – how we interact with God Himself and how we care for those around us. We slide into a mindset that puts being a person of the Beatitudes second to earning the money for our rent and food. We let our anxieties lead us into willful servitude to the Master named Money.

If we choose to be servants of the Almighty God, we gain a powerful Master, yes. But we also gain a Heavenly Father, who loves us dearly, watches over us, protects us and provides for us – so long as we trust Him. The rewards of being God’s Children require us to believe that He sees so much more of what we need now and what we will need in the future than we can imagine for ourselves. The life Jesus has described asks us to let go of our anxieties about maintaining the basics of life, so that we are ready to do our jobs as servants of the Lord. God is the Good Master and Loving Father.

Is it easy?

Of course not. “If it were easy, everybody would be doing it!”

In the months I have spent working my way through the Sermon on the Mount, I have been living hand-to-mouth. My expenses have been met by such a variety of means that it astonishes me. And yet, they have been met, by the grace of God. Even so, at this moment, the next round of bill-paying has bred the mice of anxiety and the little rodents scurry around nibbling away at my calm and trust. No, being the person Jesus has described in the Sermon is not easy. Every day is a challenge. But the Lord has proven His faithfulness, time and again.

This, then, is the solid rock foundation to build your house upon, this Sermon, exemplified in the person of Jesus. Against winds and floods it will stand true.

This, then, is the measure of my life, the standard I choose to build with, the materials I make my floors and walls from.

THE MISTAKEN ONES


Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me, on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'
(Matthew 7: 21-23 – NAS)


Step by step, Jesus has given cautionary warnings to those who were (and are) listening to His Sermon here. He has described the attitudes and actions that will distinguish His true followers, who will be counted the Children of God. He has warned them that false prophets and teachers will come among them, and given them guidelines as to how to determine whether or not such people are indeed true followers of Christ. He uses the metaphor of “good fruit” twice over to make it clear – good fruit versus no fruit, and good fruit versus bad fruit. And in this passage here, He now expands the warning to include all who say they follow Him, but do not strive to fully follow His instructions.

He flatly says that not everyone who calls upon Him will be recognized by Him as His true followers. And He seems rather uncompromising about this. Using His name to cast out demons, using His name to prophesy, using His name to work miracles, none of those impress Him, if the rest of that person’s life does not match up with the life Jesus has been describing in the Sermon.

It has always interested me that Jesus does not say that these “special works” did not happen, nor even that it was bad that they happened. It seems to me that it indicates two things: first, that the name of Jesus is indeed powerful, no matter who wields it; and second, that although good can be done by a false follower, if there is a failure to even try to be the person described in the Beatitudes and the rest, Jesus will not recognize the person as one of His own.

I sometimes wonder if that first aspect, the power of Jesus’ name in and of itself, becomes something that we use to deceive ourselves about how diligently we are at being the people He describes in the Beatitudes. If He only grants power to His name occasionally, does that not make Him fickle and inconsistent? It would, if He did indeed do that. But the Christ is not fickle or inconsistent. What a waste we make of the name of Jesus!

Imagine that any invocation of the name of Jesus caused a bubble or balloon of golden light to appear on the spot, something perhaps no more than three inches in diameter. This bubble is the manifestation of the power of the Lord’s name, and He has sent it to the person calling out so that it can be used for whatever purpose that person had at hand. And He sends such a bubble every time His name is invoked. What, then, would we see in the world around us?

We would see thousands and thousands of these bubbles hovering around certain people, present but never put to use. For when the power is put to use, the bubble is broken over the object, and that glorious light flows all over the object and sinks into it. We call upon Jesus for healing, for instance, and that bubble of glory bursts over the sick person and pours itself into the being of the sick person. We call for a blessing upon someone and that bubble of heavenly light breaks open over the recipient’s head and showers down upon the person being blessed.

But, many times people call upon Jesus, and then never declare a task that can be performed by the glory of God. We call down curses, begging God to destroy another one of His own children. Why would He do that? And so the power waits for a task it can perform. Many times, people invoke the name of Jesus for no purpose at all. They might as well be calling their cat, for all the sense of purpose they have.

If this is indeed the nature of the power of Jesus name, then it is no surprise that if anyone called upon His name to cast out demons, to prophesy, or to perform miracles, something is going to happen. But if the person prophesies in the name of Jesus, but because he wants to be famous and have attention, how is this fitting the portrait of the person of the Beatitudes?

We let our pride take over some times, even as believers. “I have the gift of prophecy,” I have heard someone say. But in what way, I often wonder, for I usually do not see it. The speaker may have an ability to extrapolate and thus predict the behavior of others, but that of itself is not prophecy. We get caught up in the specialness we feel when for a certain occasion we manifest a gift of the Holy Spirit.

“Not everyone who says, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What a shower of cold water that is!

Why does Jesus turn so suddenly stern here? After so many passages of reminding us of the loving attention of God the Father, example after example of the actions of God’s love, Jesus slams on the brakes, making us stop and pay serious attention. Why?

Why does He do this? Because, from beginning to end of the Sermon on the Mount, He is talking about matters of great power, amazing power. He is talking about very serious issues, and the tremendous inheritance that is put into the hands of His followers. And He knows full well how easily we are distracted, how easily we turn to treating such things lightly because the power is invisible and we cannot see it with our earthly eyes. He knows how easily we can overlook His instructions in the smaller events of our lives. Thus He rightly warns that many will in fact “practice lawlessness.”

So, then, where do we stand?

I know that I do not want to come to Judgment Day and find that the Lord is saying “I don’t know you” to me. It is that feeling that makes me pay attention to the “small stuff.” Do I call upon Jesus to do Big Things in order to make a splash in the eyes of others? Or am I trying to be the person described in the Beatitudes – humble, gentle, forgiving, merciful? Time and again, Jesus has said that Splashes are their own reward, and do not have any eternal status. They are not “treasures stored in heaven.”

It would seem, then, that if we truly want to enter into the kingdom of heaven, our calling card probably should not proclaim “demon casting, prophecies, and miracles.” Oh, those could be on our resumes, but that is not what Jesus is looking for as the basic description of who we are as His followers. Those acts alone are not our ticket into the kingdom. That is something worth remembering.

GOOD FRUIT


So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.
(Matthew 7: 17-20 – NAS)


Jesus, in warning His followers about the possibility of false prophets and teachers, used the analogy of comparing people – the prophets and teachers especially – to fruit-bearing trees. His initial comparison was between plants that bear fruit (such as grapes and figs) and plants that do not (particularly thorns and thistles). He now fine-tunes the comparison between good and bad teachers to one of good fruit trees and those that bear bad fruit.

In modern life, as consumers of fruit, we have become very far removed from the trees that bear the fruit we eat. A person could go their whole life now without seeing a single plant that feeds him or her. Thus, the issue of whether a plant is delivering good fruit or bad fruit is very distant from our awareness. We only see the good fruit in the grocery store.

There could be many causes for a plant or tree to bear bad fruit. The root system could be constricted and thus not delivering nutrients to the plant. Or the root system could be eaten away by animals, with similar results. A disease may have invaded the plant, or a parasite or bug of some sort which steals away the life of the plant. Or it may be that by simple genetics, a particular plant produces a less pleasant, more sour type of fruit.

As Jesus observes, and His listeners in that day would have readily understood, trees and plants that produced fruit that was “bad,” whether diseased or simply unpalatable, were destroyed. They were cut down. They were often pulled up by the roots, so that no remnant of the bad plant would remain to produce fruit of any sort again. And they were burned, in order to keep any stray cutting from taking root. Farming and tending trees is a pragmatic business and does not allow for sentiment. That which is perpetually unsatisfactory must be removed, lest whatever the cause of its “bad fruit” spread to other plants, either by disease, infestation, or genetics.

The initial analogy was applied to teachers and prophets who might come among His followers. Jesus tells us that we will know the quality of the teacher by the quality of the fruit he produces. The simple logic of farming, of maintaining the plants that feed us, provides a guideline for judging those who would lead and teach us. What is the quality of the fruit they have produced?

Does this teacher or prophet provide nourishing fruit, or is what he provides merely pulp and bulky substance? Is the fruit sweet and satisfying or is it sour and unpleasant to taste? This is not to say that everything a teacher or prophet says has to be sweetness and light and unchallenging. The “bitter herbs” of cooking carry sharper flavors that in turn enhance the flavor of the main food substance they are cooked with. Those bitter herbs are a far cry from substances that are badly spoiled or even poisonous to us. The dividing line remains the same: there is that which nourishes us and there is that which our bodies reject. We spew out the bad, but take in the good.

So. We will know the good teachers and prophets from the bad by the fruit they produce.

And what might that be?

The modern age has raised the craft of persuasion to the level of an art (though whether or not it is a fine art can definitely be debated). On all sides we see advertisements that try to convince us that this soap or that shoe or the next beverage is the very best thing in the universe and we must have it in order to have a good, happy life. And often enough the product will be of sufficient quality to be worth our spending money for it. Such things, of course, do not of themselves provide that good, happy life we desire, but they may be tools that can help us along the way.

If we can persuade each other about objects and products, how much more so can we do it with our teaching and personalities?

“Oh, he’s so pleasant to be around that of course his teaching must be good! Right?” And so, people listen, absorb, and start to adjust their behaviors to whatever that teaching might be, never weighing just what the fruit of the teaching actually is.

Let us remember that the object of our lives is to be the people described in the Beatitudes: people who are outwardly directed to those around us, caring, attentive, humble. We have been told to not put our own interests first, but rather to serve the Lord first and foremost, and that as a consequence all our needs will be attended to by our heavenly Father.

What might we hear from the False Prophets and Teachers?

Such a one might declare that he and he alone knows the time of the end of the world and the day of the Lord’s return: therefore, give all to him and follow him, and you will be the select who rise to glory!

Ridiculous? But we have seen, and that recently, such a scenario, where those who did not heed scripture (for Jesus himself said that no one would know the hour of his coming again, except God the Father only). They gave all to the false prophet, and when things did not come to pass as the man declared, those followers lost all. They lost not just the money and belongings they had given away, but also trust, faith, love – all those qualities that enrich our interactions, damaged by the experience.

Or what of those teachers that tell you to focus all your energies on yourself, telling you that you should make choices the benefit you first and foremost – for it’s only after you have achieved your goal of glory that you can do anything for others. Right?

Whole organizations have grown up based on such a message. In the worldly context, many of them even thrive, because the human creature is by nature selfish. We believe that we do have to take care of ourselves first. It is a primal, primitive reaction to our broken, fallen world.

But Jesus reminds us that that is not what God has designed. The Lord created beauty, and He still desires us to achieve that. As our Father, He is the one that watches out for us and provides for us. If we put our trust in that truth, then we have no need to listen to the teachers who preach, at the core, that ultimate selfishness is the greatest human achievement. Since we, as followers of Jesus, already know that we are greatly loved and are provided for in all our needs, we are free to extend that care and love to others.

Jesus began the analogy by applying it to false prophets and teachers. But inevitably, we cannot escape the implication that He also wants us to apply it to ourselves. He has called us to be His followers, which means teaching others His Way as well as living it ourselves. We, then, must also look to the fruit we ourselves produce.

What is your fruit like? What is mine like? Are we bringing forth sweet, juicy apples, or are they the sourest, most inedible crabapples in existence?

BE WARY

 
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 
(Matthew 7: 15-16 – NAS)


Jesus warns His followers against falling in with false prophets and teachers.

Why is that?

It happens whenever groups of people gather together in a shared interest. There are those who are attracted to power, which may take the form of simply liking to manipulate groups of other people. If someone has such a liking, they are drawn to already formed groups and worm their way into the group, putting on the protective coloring of the group. The False One may have no real interest in whatever subject or cause has drawn the group together, but they can talk it up quite well. They have “put on sheep’s clothing.” They work their way through the flock, becoming familiar, until they can take the position of bellwether.

The bellwether of a flock of sheep is the one sheep the others will follow as the flock moves through the countryside. Often shepherds will put a bell on this animal, for if they can lead that sheep where they want to go, the rest of the flock will follow. Because sheep are very near-sighted, they rely on their trustworthy fellows very heavily.

Putting on “sheep’s clothing” is not so difficult as it might sound. The wool of sheep can grow fast and heavy, and it provides excellent insulation during the cold of winters. When Spring comes, the sheep owners shear off the heavy fleece coat. By cutting close to the skin of the sheep, the wool comes off in a heavy, tangled mat.

If one wished to sneak in among sheep, one could lift this mat of tangled wool and wear it like a cloak over head and shoulders and crawl among the animals. The scent of the wool and the familiar appearance would keep the other sheep from being alarmed. In the ancient world, this was one of the ways thieves would attempt to steal from poorly guarded flocks.

These details would have been familiar to Jesus’ followers, for they lived close to the basics of raising sheep and protecting them (shepherding metaphors are very frequent in scripture). The specifics are less familiar to us because most of us live so distantly from the sources of the objects in our lives. We vaguely use the phrase “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” and although we grasp the idea of the predator how has snuck in among the prey, we don’t think about the details beyond that.

Jesus warns us to be wary, then. He knew that the power-hungry would sneak in among the body of His followers (especially after He was gone), and would try to mislead them or even destroy them. He wanted to be sure that the faithful understood the need to pay close attention to each who moved about with them.

Happily, He gives us guidelines to determine whether that wooly mass traveling next to us really is one of the flock.

Jesus shifts His metaphors from shepherding to the growing of crops for those guidelines. He tells us that we will know the difference between the true follower and the false one on the basis of the type of fruit that is produced by the individual.

Actually, if we look closer at the metaphor, Jesus does more than just indicate the type of fruit. He uses comparisons between fruit bearing plants (grape vines and fig trees) and plants that notoriously bear nothing resembling an edible fruit at all (thorns and thistles).

If we think about what Jesus says here, we have the means to test the validity of those who come among believers and try to gather up a cloak of leadership among us. We can look to the fruit of their efforts and evaluate (judge) the nature of those fruits: do they nourish those around them, like grapes and figs, bringing sweetness to the hungry, or are they sticky and prickly and always pricking the exposed skin of everyone with whom they come in contact?

Too often we let ourselves become too diffident about evaluating those around us who are supposedly “part of the flock.” We caution ourselves by citing only half of Jesus warning about making judgments (“Judge not lest you be judged”) and do not remember that His warning about that is just about being clear as to what standards we are using in making our judgments. So we avoid testing our fellow sheep, and the one who has “put on sheep’s clothing” continues to linger with us.

We can even get to the point where we accept the thorns and thistles as proper. Shouldn't it be challenging to be a follower of Christ? After all, He did warn us that we would be persecuted. We can’t expect everything to be soft and easy, can we?

But Jesus has told us that we are to expect fruit from each other. Remember the type of person that would be shaped by the standards of the Beatitudes? Gentle, humble, merciful, peacemaking, always seeing the righteousness of God. These are beautiful qualities that touch our souls when we are near them. And even in this passage, Jesus compares the fruits of the righteous and true followers to grapes and figs. These are simple fruits, that carry their own sweetness in them. The “fruit” of the true follower of Christ will give us sweet nourishment, even in small amounts, like a single grape or fig.

Is everything that is discomforting a sign that there is a false prophet or teacher among us?

No. Scrubbing the skin clean of dirt often is a stinging experience. But when the encrustation is washed away, our skin tingles. We feel the pleasure of freshness and cleanliness.

But the pain of scratches from thorns and thistles, that is something different. The skin is broken and blood is drawn. There is no pleasure in the encounter, nor in its consequences, for such scratches and cuts can become infected, bringing even greater discomfort.

We need to be wary of those who come among us. Jesus has warned us that some invaders will come with hunger, with a desire to feed on us. We need to test the fruit such people produce for us. Not in big flashy ways, but rather in the small, simple fruits. When we put out our hand for the small things in interaction with each other, do we receive a grape or a fig, or do we find a thorn or thistle being pressed into our palm?

Pay attention. Especially if the other person wants to lead you somewhere unknown. Is that person really a member of the flock, or is the fleecy cover thrown over something more dangerous?

Be wary, and look to the fruit.

THE NARROW WAY


Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
(Matthew 7: 13-14 – NAS)


“If it were easy, everybody would be doing it!”

How often do we say that about activities, especially activities that we appreciate when they are well done? A deeply moving singer, a fleet-footed runner, a mesmerizing storyteller – we see their achievements and wish that we could do likewise. But we also recognize at the same time that it took more than talent to reach that achievement: it took long hours of work and practice and study.

So why are we really surprised that Jesus tells us the same thing about the challenge of living as the Children of God? Perhaps deep down we feel that if God really loved us, He would not make it so difficult to live the life He designs for us. The closer we get to God, shouldn’t it be easier to live as His people?

But that isn’t the case. Sticking to His design takes a lot of work on our part, every day.

Not long ago, in the trailers for one of the Harry Potter movies, the wizard Dumbledore gives advice to Harry about facing and fighting evil. He tells Harry that the choices he will face are between “what is right and what is easy” (emphasis mine). We had expected the usual phrasing of “right and wrong,” but the storytellers jolted us with the actual choice we face.

Jesus begins by telling us that the gate is wide and the way broad – oh, doesn’t that sound appealing after a long, tiring trip? But then He pulls the comfort rug out from under us by adding that that path is the way to destruction.

Wait, what?

So there we stand, outside the city walls of our destination, within sight of our goals. And now He tells us that that wide, open archway, and the wide, glittering street that seems to run straight into the heart of the city, the easiest way toward our goal ... He tells us that way only leads to destruction. We still have some work to do.

We have to go find the narrow way into the city. We have to go look for a small gate and a narrow way, if we really want to reach the life that God has to give us.

If the broad path leads to destruction, why do so many people go down it? What is the appeal? Don’t they know where it goes?

Probably not.

They go down the broad way because it seems to be the easiest route to the center of the city, to the life that the Lord gives His followers, all those good things that Jesus had been talking about. But think about any stretch of road that is filled with shops and restaurants and theaters and other distractions. Think about the Strip in Las Vegas or the “Crossroads of the World”, Times Square in New York City. Even though they are only “ways” to other places in reality, they have become “destinations” by offering a dazzling array of distractions. What is it that they really offer? Do they offer a real destination? Remember, our goal is to find the source of True Life, the throne of God Almighty and our true home. And that isn’t to be found on the Vegas Strip or in Times Square.

So, Jesus tells us to turn aside and look for a much smaller gate, and the narrow way that lies beyond it. It is that street, He indicates, that will lead us straight to God, without distraction or deviation.

It is so very easy to be swept along on the broad way into the city. So many other people have traveled it that the surface is smoothed out. The flow of traffic keeps everything moving forward, so that we hardly even need to think about where we are going. The current will take us there, right to our destination ... won’t it?

No. It’s likely that broad thoroughfare will dead-end in some square at the backside of the Court of God, where the white walls shine, but have no opening. And getting out of that square, to find the street that leads to the front door of God’s palace will require going back out the way we came in, in order to search for the small gate. Back out, against the flow and press of everyone around us, past all those same distractions that glittered and enticed us as we came in.

G.K. Chesterton once said (and I’m quoting from memory, so I may not have the quotation exact, sorry) that “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and not tried.”

If things come too easily for us, perhaps we should stop and double-check which street we are on. It is wise to be wary. This isn’t to say that God does not ease our pathway when we truly are seeking His face. It’s just that if we are getting lots of bells and whistles and bright lights as we go along, it’s possible that we are on the wrong street. The pathway that leads to God and true life is narrow, straight and uncluttered. It may be a steep climb uphill, but up ahead of us we can see the open front door of the Courts of God and the welcoming light that always pours out of it. And that light is warmer and more welcoming than the flashing displays of the Strip or Times Square.

WALKING GOLD


In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
(Matthew 7: 12 – NAS)


Jesus has just been talking about how ordinary people want to give good things to their children, using that as an analogy for how much God wants to give us good things. He makes that point that even “the evil” know how to do this for their children. In this verse, He extends that knowledge further out, inviting us to change our behavior not just toward our children but toward everyone we come in contact with.

“Treat people the same way you want them to treat you.”

The Golden Rule.

Other faiths tend to put it in the negative approach: do not do to others that which you would not want them to do to you. But that is a passive response to our fellow humans, and Jesus calls us to a positive, active engagement with those around us. Do onto others as you would have them do to you.

How well do we follow this?

Some of us manage to do it fairly well and rather consistently. The rest of us struggle along in fits and starts.

We do well enough treating our family and friends as we want them to treat us. We may even do the same with our co-workers, earning their appreciation for the respect we extend to them. But the less personal our relationship is with someone the less attention we pay to this instruction from the Lord.

Why do we find it so hard to be gracious to everyone we meet? Is it that we feel we might be bled of our strength if we give the unknown person we casually pass by a greater extent of courtesy? What is it that we fear we lose in being kind to strangers?

I’ve recently taken part in conversations discussing the etiquette of tipping. How much should one tip? Should one tip even if the service has been bad? There even seem to be practices of punitive tipping, where the patron will dock the servitor a certain amount, leaving the total of the tip at less than standard. Because, as someone pointed out, the tip is a gratuity, something given beyond obligation for service. The thing that disappointed me in this discussion was that most participants were applying this even to the service they would get in a common restaurant, where it is likely the wait-staff are not making high wages and genuinely need the extra that comes to them in tips. The judgmental mindset feels justified in declaring that if the service was bad, it is therefore legitimate to give the servitor a poor tip.

And those were believers saying that, people who claim to be followers of Christ.

“Do onto others as you would have them do to you.”

How easily we avoid that commandment when it comes to the small encounters of our lives! The waiters, the cashiers in stores, the other people in the grocery line, the other drivers on the freeway – they don’t know us, they’ll never see us again, we barely see them in the encounter, so why should the Golden Rule apply in such situations? Who’s to know?

The Lord.

The Lord knows.

If we know as individuals that the Almighty God considers us precious, that we are heirs to His kingdom, should we not cultivate the gracious manners of royalty?

But more than that, look around. Every face you see belongs to someone that is equally precious to God. Every person you see is so valuable to God that they may as well be Walking Gold.

The Golden Rule is not about doing something so that you can get something back – although that is a consequence. It is about recognizing the value of everyone around you. But we are stubborn, selfish creatures by nature, and the Lord knows this. So He instructs us in terms we can grasp: if you want to be treated as the Golden Creature that He has made you to be, you need to treat everyone else with that same respect – because it is true! They are those Golden Creatures in God’s eyes.

The Lord knows that I’m no saint. I try to follow the guidelines that He has given us, especially those in the Sermon on the Mount. But I don’t always succeed in remembering them. I can be as petty as the next person, as resentful and hostile to offenses against my dignity, brittle about things that make me anxious. Yet I find that the more I try to abide by this verse, the easier it becomes.

The simplest method is simply to pay attention to the people around me. We all hate to be ignored, to be treated as if we were part of the furniture. So I try to at least acknowledge the existence of the person I am passing by. The gift of a little courtesy costs me nothing but a minor effort, and yet gives the recipient that refreshing awareness that they have been seen and appreciated at least for that fleeting moment.

“In everything, treat people the same way you want them to treat you.”

How do you want to be treated in your interactions with others? I myself would rather receive attention, courtesy, generosity and appreciation. So that is what I try to give to others. Yet every day, I still see people – followers of Christ – treat the incidental people they encounter in life with indifference, inattention and dismissal. We all have our levels of self-protection and not engaging with unknown passers-by is one way we maintain our shields. And we are not all on the same level of spiritual development. I can be wise in one area that a friend is not, and yet still be an utter fool in an area that my friend handles with grace and elegance.

But we have to begin somewhere, when it comes to playing the part of being one of the Children of the Most High. If we assume that anyone we might encounter is also such a being, it is easier for us to treat them as one of the Walking Gold. For is that not how we want to be treated?

STONES AND SNAKES


Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! 
(Matthew 7: 9-11 – NAS)

 
Jesus follows His straightforward declaration of “Ask, seek, and knock” with this reminder that the person we ask things of is God Almighty, our heavenly Father. He uses the analogy of human parenting to convey how attentive God is to our needs and requests.

He is, of course, speaking of normal parents, the vast majority of parents, for we know that there are examples of parents who do indeed give their children “stones and snakes” when the offspring have asked for bread and fish. That is the tragedy of being human, especially when that person has moved far away from God. But most people, even those who otherwise treat their fellow humans badly, try to do what is best for their children.

So if otherwise dubious specimens of humanity can “do right” by their children, why do we doubt that God our Father would not do right by us?

And yet, when we go through times of difficulty - when we do not feel that we are getting answers to our asking, finding what we are seeking, or having doors opened when we knock – we often question whether God is paying attention or even cares about the challenges we face.

Jesus knows how impatient we get with our circumstances, particularly when they are difficult to deal with. He knows that we beg and plead with God that He intervene and improve our situation. So many of the Psalms, in fact, do just that, begging for God to step in and relieve the psalmist from distress.

He also wants us to remember that we, as His followers, are heirs to the kingdom of heaven. We are not forgotten orphans who have no expectation of receiving anything from anybody. We are heirs to the household, beloved children of a living Father, who knows everything in our lives. Remember: this is the Father who knows our secret desires and prayers, who provides for the birds of the air and lilies of the field and for His children who are dear to His heart. Do we really have cause to claim that He is inattentive or is refusing to give us what we need?

Yet, the fact remains that many believers go through distressing times of trial. Their lives get cut down to the bone, with many things that seem necessary and important stripped away. At such times, the faithful cling to a verse like Psalm 37: 25 in desperation, like a life line. The verse says, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.” The believer who goes through such trials really does cling to the hope that surely the Lord will not let them be cast out into the streets or go hungry. And yet, when times of trial stretch on and on, those of us facing such difficult experiences end up wondering if God really is paying attention.

Jesus reassures us that God does know our needs and will indeed fulfill them. The Lord will not give us stones when we need bread, and He will not give us snakes when we need fish.

Then why do we not get those things we ask for?

There have been many times when I’ve been made to realize that what I think I need and what God thinks I need are two different things. It surprised me at times the things that God is willing to let go by unattended. What could be more important than meeting my financial obligations, for instance? These are debts I accrued in good faith, with every intention of paying them promptly. But when circumstances occur that make that impossible, why does God not step in to address them? Could it be that there might be something more important to Him than whether or not I pay off my debt immediately?

What is more important to God then? What is He seeing in my life that needs addressing more than my worldly concerns?

A time of trial involves a stripping away of things we have let get between us and our heavenly Father. How many layers of things have we put between us and our intimate relationship with God? Do we let our financial obligations distract us from that relationship? What about our every-day jobs? Do they become more important to us than spending time with God? Even our family can become a buffer zone between us and the Lord, as we put them first in our lives – perhaps even making little idols of them, that we worship more in our hearts than we do the Creator of the Universe.

What we think is necessary is not always what God thinks is necessary.

In that case, we need to examine the experiences He does send our way, to discover what it is in them that He thinks we need. Often it is as simple as our need to let go of trying to control everything. Can we not trust the Creator of the Universe lay out the path for us? Is He really likely to steer us badly? If we feel that we are not receiving what we need, is it really because we believe that God is not providing for us? Do we take the time to stop and examine what we are receiving in each circumstance?

When circumstances are rough on us, we really don’t want to sit down and “count it all joy.” When we’re wondering where the next amount of grocery money will come from, we’re not really keen to review the consequences of our tighter budget. But perhaps God is working on something through those circumstances. Perhaps by taking away spending money for frivolous things, the Lord is teaching us to break old eating habits which are not healthy for us. Perhaps in peeling away our entertainment indulgences, He is showing us how much we let distract us from the work He has planned for us.

We are not demeaned slaves of God. We are not forgotten beggars on the road to the kingdom. As followers of Jesus, we are heirs of the Lord Almighty. Into our hands, He has placed the authority of heaven. Yes, the Lord is our master and we are called to serve Him. But He is also our loving Father, who cares for us more deeply that the silly birds and flowers who are incapable of intimacy with Him.

Circumstances may bring us to the edge of a seeming Cliff of Disaster. We may stand at that edge, constantly fearing that we will fall over it and disappear into the abyss. But God holds us in His hands. Jesus has told us time and again, the Lord is trustworthy, the Lord loves us as dearly as any parent loves his children. Just as He will not give us stones when we ask for the needed daily bread, He does not give us desolation when we need life. We just need to stop letting our expectations and desires cloud our vision. We need to see just what the Lord has given us: it might be plain sustaining bread when we were looking for feasts. But He does not give us stones to eat.

ASK, SEEK, KNOCK


Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
(Matthew 7: 7-8 – NAS)


This seems so simple and straightforward. And surprisingly wonderful. Jesus says this is true, so surely it must be.

Why then do we find it so hard to “make it work” in our lives? We feel that we have been asking and asking for something, and nothing has happened. We seek for something and don’t find it. We knock on metaphorical doors and never find a sign of life. How can it be as simple as Jesus says it is?

When we ask things of God our Father, what is it that we have in mind? What do we ask for? And how are we doing the asking?


I ask that God provide for my living expenses, for my rent and my food. Jesus says that what we ask for we will be given. What I trip over is that what God gives to me never appears in the form I’m expecting of it. When I ask God to provide for me, in the back of my mind I’m actually thinking of wanting some regular income so I don’t even have to think about how I will paying the rent this month. But that isn’t what I asked of God. Why then am I surprised when God’s providence comes from some unexpected direction?


It would seem then, that on the one hand, we ask in too vague a manner, leaving God at a loss as to how to address our request. What did we really want to ask for?

I think we often fear to be too specific because we want to “leave God room” to do the unexpected. But in doing that, we end up muffling what our request is. Or, we try to be humble about what we are asking, and so we do not ask for what is really on our hearts but rather for some pale, feeble version of our desire.

Let us remember that we are speaking to a Divine Father who in fact already knows what is in our hearts. What is He thinking when He hears our watered down requests instead of our heart’s desires? He knows we don’t really want what we’ve asked for, we want something bigger, better. And so He waits for us to speak from our real desire, to ask for what we really want.

The same dynamic comes into play when we seek after things. How earnestly are we seeking? Do we even know what we want to find at the end of our questing? Will we recognize it when we come to it?

And knocking on doors? Are we really doing that, or are we just tapping on the door once in passing? Do we really want to enter in through the door? And are we actually even knocking at a door? I’ve long taken a sarcastic perspective on “knocking on doors,” because, as I like to say, I wonder if we are even always knocking on a door. Perhaps the “door” isn’t opening because what we are knocking on is a wall, and the door itself is standing wide open just a few paces away. But because we are stubborn creatures, we continue knocking on the surface in front of us.

So I do think that our perspectives and honesty do affect how well God can answer us when we ask, seek and knock. I think some of these conditions do matter in how we interact with the Lord when we come before Him.

And yet, the simplicity of Jesus’ statement remains. He does not elaborate. He does not put conditions on the actions. The declaration stands there boldly, un-garnished, uncluttered, direct.

Ask, and it shall be given to you.

Seek, and you shall find.

Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Everyone who asks will receive.

He who seeks, will find.

To those who knock, the door will be opened.

Jesus really wants to get these points across, so He says each of them twice.

Does our doubt and unbelief get in the way of following through on these promises? I think it does. We don’t believe it could be this simple. Jesus will remind us about the context in the next set of verses, once again telling us that we are dealing with a loving Father.

Ask, seek, knock.

Are we honest enough to ask for what we really desire? Are we clear enough on our goals that we know exactly what we are seeking? Are we bold enough to knock on the door once we find it?

We are the Children of the Lord. If we are earnestly trying to be His people, what do we fear when faced with this loving opportunity for interaction that He gives us?

Be bold and approach the Father: ask, seek, knock.

WHAT IS HOLY?


Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. 
(Matthew 7: 6 – NAS)


How often do we reference “pearls before swine” these days? Quite a lot, but mostly in a dismissive way. It gets used by someone in sympathy with another who is attempting to reach an audience. When the intended audience doesn’t respond, the speaker dismisses the target audience and “consoles” the friend at the same time by saying, “Pearls before swine,” meaning that the audience isn’t worthy of the attention given them.

We use the phrase as a judgment against those who are ignorant or unperceptive, who fail to recognize value in good work. But that is not what Jesus is focusing on here, and we would be better served to pay attention to Him. 

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine....”

Jesus asks us to look closely at what has been placed in our hands, and to value those things properly.  

Pearls were of great value in Jesus’ time, because they were difficult to come by and their remarkable beauty made them very desirable. Pearls are not crystals like most other gemstones. That distinction, and the process by which they are made, gives pearls a reputation of high worth. These are not mere pebbles that we treat as objects of beauty: they are undeniably  beautiful objects. Pearls do not get mistaken for lesser things (though lesser things can attempt to imitate them). 

Now that we’re clear about pearls, let us remember how Jesus began this verse. “Do not give what is holy to dogs.”  

Holiness goes far beyond monetary value. Holiness is about the striving for perfection. It is about those things that have been dedicated to the very best, even consecrated to the service of God.  

Jesus tells us not to give such things to dogs or swine.  

He is not condemning the dogs or swine for being dogs or swine. Pigs were considered unclean animals in Jesus’ culture. It didn’t have to do with a condition of being covered with dirt, but rather that they had not been sanctified by the Lord. Pigs were frequently kept because they would eat garbage. Many dogs also were not considered to be of much worth. But they are what they are. 

Jesus, however, is not dismissing them as being unworthy. To the people He was speaking to, that much was already understood. Instead, Jesus was reminding us to pay attention to our own conduct. 

Do we scatter our pearls anywhere and everywhere, in hopes that someone out there will value them? Do we give away everything to the first creature that comes up to us and plops itself down ready to take anything we will give to it? If we do indeed do those things, what does that say about how we value what has been given into our hands? 

Of course, Jesus is not just talking about physical objects, whether things we have acquired or things we have made. He is also speaking about the “pearls of wisdom” that the Lord has given us in scripture, and in what Jesus has been teaching. How do we treat these things?  

How often are Bible verses scattered about in discussions, just to “make a point”? How often have believers used scripture to browbeat others? We justify that behavior – when we think about it – by relying on the fact that it is God's Word. “It will not come back void,” we tell ourselves. But have we treated it as holy? Have we treated it as if it had the beauty and pricelessness of a wonderful pearl? 

We do not. 

We often treat God’s Word as if all that wisdom and relationship were simply sticks to beat others with, tools for getting “our way.” 

Let us remember that this verse is in the middle of a long teaching wherein Jesus is trying to make a bunch of blockheads (namely, us) understand the conduct that He desires to find in His followers. This is not about telling us not to waste our efforts on the unworthy (although He does caution us as to how the Unworthy might respond to things). Instead, it is about how we treat what we are given. 

The Word of the Lord is like a strand of perfectly matched pearls. Are you going to throw away that strand on a street corner and hope that whoever finds it will value it? Are you going to pull the strand apart and toss each pearl into a crowd of passers-by, and hope that each one lands in the hands of someone who knows what it is? 

Who in their right mind would do that? 

Yet, that is how we treat the Lord’s words. 

Just how much do we value what the Lord has given to us? Do we toss scripture at outsiders and think that we have done enough in sharing the Good News? Do we expect them to behave like dogs and just lap everything up, taking it all in without understanding? What does it say about US that we treat the Word of the Lord this way? 

Holiness is about the ultimate of perfection. We say that God is holy. But how often do we think of what that means? 

The shining heart of all existence is the presence of God. The fire of the Most Holy is such that imperfection cannot come near to Him (unless Jesus stands protection for that which is imperfect). The nature of this holiness is inherent in all scripture. 

But we don’t treat it that way. We treat scripture as “mere words,” and so we toss them around every which way. Is it any surprise that nonbelievers trample them under their feet and then turn and run at us, ready to tear us to pieces? Have we in anyway way treated the scripture as something precious and valuable? Don’t we come across to others as simply using tools (and particularly unlovely tools, at that!)? 

Scripture and the relationship that we can have with God by understanding scripture... these are the things that are holy. These are the pearls of great price. These are what we should treat as being so precious they are gems in a crown. 

Let us all be careful about what we start casually tossing out to those passing by us, those that are around us. Let us remember what is holy.

SPECKS AND LOGS


Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 
(Matthew 7: 3-5 – NAS)


When we look at these verses in the Sermon on the Mount, we often treat them as a group in themselves, about the importance of self-examination before we engage with others. But we ought to remember that they come hard on the heels of what Jesus says about making judgments and how the standards we use to measure the actions of others are the ones that will be applied to us. After He warns us of that fact, He immediately turns to “taking a speck out of your brother’s eye.” 

To me, this is a sign that Jesus knows full well that we have strong impulses to judge others, especially those close to us. What a mercy it is to realize that the Lord understands our nature and inclination to evaluate the behavior of others. However, He gives us important guidelines to follow before we indulge in our all-too-human impulse to judge and criticize others. 

He begins by asking why it is that we look at the small things that are wrong, or are obscuring, in the way those close to us look at things. 

It has always struck me as interesting that although many of the things Jesus talks about in the Sermon are about our actions, these verses are about our perception, how we look at the world and each other. So much of being a witness for Christ depends on our ability to see and understand how others see the world, so that we can “turn their eyes upon Jesus.” We want to change their perspective and bring them to look on the world the way that believers do. And in these verses, it is clear that Jesus knows that perspective and perception are important to the beginning of persuasion. 

But instead of giving us instructions on how to change the perception of others, Jesus tells us to make sure that our own perception is clear and unobstructed. 

Now, isn’t that a sudden red-light warning? 

Not only does Jesus warn us about making sure that we are seeing clearly first, He flat out tells us that we are likely to have even bigger problems with our perception than the person we are trying to “help.” He says we try to clear away specks in other people’s eyes when we have logs in our own. (This was another thing that appealed to the teen-aged me way back when: Jesus could use humorous sarcasm to drive home His point! How wonderfully human! The sardonic love He uses to make His point had a strong appeal to me then – as it still does.) 

What is truly interesting in these verses is that Jesus does not indicate that we are wrong to desire to correct and help others in improving their perception of the world. It is even implied that this is indeed something we should do. But more than that point is the implication that Jesus knew full well that He was asking all these things of very imperfect followers. It would seem that He takes it as a matter of course that we are messed up. He seems to understand that we do not always take time to do self-evaluation and self-judgment. He doesn’t even really condemn us for being in that state! Instead, He just reminds us that we are imperfect, with “logs in our eyes,” and he recommends that we take care of our own immediate problems with perception before we try correcting the outlook of others.

It is so very easy for us to fall into self-righteousness when we set out to “improve” or “correct” others. After all, we’re Followers of Christ, are we not? We are His beloveds, called to the kingdom of heaven, the children of God the Father.  

Aren’t we so special?! 

We’re going to use all the authority give to us as followers of Jesus and we’re going to correct the perceptions of the non-believers. We’re going to clear those specks out of their eyes! 

But Jesus warns us that we have logs in our own eyes. Which raises the question of just how well it is that we even see those we think we are about to help? We’re about to tell them what is wrong with how they are looking at the world, but we’re going to do it with this large obstruction in our own field of vision. Not only that, because it is a log that is stuck in our own eye, that person we think we’re about to help can see it, and knows that we can’t even see him! 

Do we ever think about what it is like to be on the receiving end of our well-intentioned “corrections”? Do we ever convey that we do indeed see the person we are talking with, whose perceptions we are trying to change? Sadly, I do not think that we do, which may be one reason we so often do not persuade our “brothers” to change their perceptions.

How then do we get the log out of our eyes? We look back to those things with which Jesus began the Sermon, the people He calls us to be: people who know we need God’s righteousness, people who are kind and gentle, who show mercy to others, who strive to build peace between those in contention with each other, people who strive for every quality indicated in the Beatitudes. Those words are the mirror we need to use to remove the log in our eyes. And this is necessary – for it is entirely possible that the speck we think we see in someone else’s eye is only the reflection of the log in our own.

 MAKING JUDGMENTS



Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 
(Matthew 7: 1-2 – NAS)


For me, ever since that summer day long ago when I sat myself down to really read through the Sermon on the Mount on my own, these two verses have been at the heart of putting the Sermon into all my actions and choices. It seemed then, in the earnestness and zeal of my youth, that the Sermon on the Mount was pretty much the “Code of Behavior” for the followers of Jesus. In these chapters, the Lord lays out pretty clearly the basics of what our conduct should look like, and why that conduct is important. 

But more than that, the two verses taken together solved a problem for me. 

So many people quote only Matthew 7: 1, when it comes to the matter of making judgments. And usually, they call up this verse when they are chastising someone else for being too judgmental and (in their eyes) intolerant. Not only that, there is the implied belief that any judgment from Authority (from God Himself, perhaps) would be negative. The imagery of Judgment Day appears in our minds, with the alarming image of the rejected souls being driven from God’s presence and cast into the outer darkness. Nobody wants to end up in that group, if they can help it. There also seems to be the feeling, in those who quote only the first verse, that if one makes no judgments at all any judgment would fall upon them. 

It’s as if we say, “If I don’t move, nobody will see me.” 

We’re not invisible. We’re not motionless. And we cannot go through the day without making judgments and evaluations of everything around us. 

We judge the quality of the service we get from the wait-staff in a restaurant. We judge our fellow drivers on the streets and freeways as to how safely and considerately they are driving. We judge the skill and speed of the cashier when we’re standing in a long line at the grocery store. We judge the way others dress. We judge how well the customer service representative on the phone line understands our concerns and problems. We judge everything around us. We cannot stop judging people. 

So, it’s silly when people just quote the first verse as if it is some argument stopper. What is the point in telling someone else, “Judge not lest you be judged?” The only reason anyone trots that out to say to another person is because the first person has judged the second person’s “judgmentalism” to be intolerant or inappropriate. 

Instead, let us focus on the second verse, which gives us the “why” of the warning in verse 1. 

“For in the way you judge, you will be judged, and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” 

Well, hello, Mirror! 

Jesus makes it plain that self-righteousness is inappropriate for His followers. He lays it out, right there. If His disciples are going to go around making judgments about the behaviors of others, they had better be prepared to have their own actions evaluated by the same standard. 

“Oh, well, that’s okay, then,” we blithely said. “I can live with that.” 

Oh, really? Are we really that certain about it? 

It is certainly the conclusion that my young self came to, way back then. I realized that the Sermon on the Mount set some pretty high standards for the quality of behavior. And I knew that I was not likely to always measure up to them. And yet, there was a satisfaction in knowing I could point to the Sermon and say to anyone who was criticizing my behavior, “That is the standard you may judge me by. I know I frequently fall short of it, but that is what you can use to evaluate my actions.” 

I admit, when I question the choices I see my fellow believers making, I do so on the basis of how well or badly they are matching the expectations that Jesus lays out in His Sermon. How merciful are they? Are they making peace? Are they making their relationship with the Lord private (“secret”) or are they standing on street corners making a circus out of it? Is a thirst for righteousness driving their actions or are they pursuing self-justification? 

I do think we are expected to hold each other accountable. But we are accountable to Jesus, for He is our final Judge. And here in the Sermon He gives us the standard of behavior that He will be looking for in our lives.  

And for me, that is the other factor in how I evaluate the actions of my fellow believers. Even though I feel that I can judge their actions against how well they are meeting the standards put forward in the Sermon on the Mount (since I privately call it The Operating Manual for a Christian), I only carefully raise the question about what they are doing. “I do not think this action is how we are called to handle this situation.” 

Nobody responds well to being told “You are wrong. You are going about this in the wrong way.” We resist that, because it feels like an attack. We can’t help that, it’s human nature. So I try and stick with the approach of saying “This is what Jesus expects of us. How closely do you think this action or choice or behavior follows what Jesus has said?” 

As I said, these two verses taken together solved a problem for me, way back then. The problem was that I knewI had a very judgmental nature. I couldn’t help it. At times, I had been a very stern-thinking child, even if I had not shown it. And yet on every side from “church people,” I kept hearing “Do not judge, or you will be judged.” It was often shortened quite simply to “Don’t judge others.” And I didn’t know how to do that. I couldn’t stop making judgments of others. I definitely felt that this penchant for making judgments was the way God had made me. And if God made me to be judgmental, why would He then turn around a lay down this decree that His followers were not to make judgments? It didn’t make any sense to me. 

Then came that wonderful sunny day, when I discovered that people were only paying attention to half of the point. There was a because that went with the “order.” Don’t make judgments randomly, haphazardly, on whims, or without some sort of guideline, because whatever method or measure you use in that judgment, that is how your own actions will be evaluated. 

Now that I could live with! 

It makes me far more cautious about leveling judgments. I want to be certain that I understand what the other person is going through, what they are basing their actions upon, because those things can affect their choices. And that caution causes me to bring the Beatitudes into my evaluations – being merciful, being kind, making peace, seeking God’s righteousness in the situation, all these things temper how I look at the actions of others. What standard are they using for their lives, and how well do they think they are measuring up to it? I don’t expect everyone to be living by the standard I use for myself (although I am content to presume that a fellow Christian ought to be sticking to the standards of the Sermon on the Mount). But I find it useful to learn what standards they use to evaluate things, since that is the “language” they use to give value to things and actions. 

This, the Sermon on the Mount, then, is the measure dealt to me. And I find it good, though I do not always “measure up.”