Judge Not

MUB

8-15-04

MATT 7;1-5

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

LET ME SAY TWO NAMES TO YOU AND YOU TELL ME WHAT THEY HAVE IN

COMMON. SCOTT PETERSON, KOBE BRYANT. THEY HAVE BOTH BEEN ACCUSED OF COMMITTING CRIMES. BOTH WILL GO THRU THE PROCESS OF A TRIAL. THEY ARE FRONT AND CENTER ON THE NEWS. EVERYONE, PROBABLY MOST OF US, HAVE AN OPINION, THEY ARE EITHER GUILTY AS SIN, OR THEY ARE INNOCENT. OUR LEGAL SYSTEM, SAYS, THEY WILL BE TRIED, AND JUDGMENT WILL BE METED OUT. AFTER THAT, EVERYONE WILL HAVE AN OPINION ON WHETHER OR NOT THAT DECISION WAS CORRECT.

LET ME DO A QUICKY SURVEY WITH YOU. HOW MANY OF YOU PASSED JUDGMENT, TODAY, YESTERDAY, LAST WEEK?

IN OUR TEXT, JESUS SPEAKS TO THIS SUBJECT OF "JUDGING". I WOULD SUGGEST, THAT OFTEN THIS PASSAGE IS WIDELY MISUNDERSTOOD, AND EVEN MORE OFTEN, IT IS QUOTED OUT OF ITS CONTEXT. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THIS SUBJECT OF JUDGING, LET US TURN TO THE SCRIPTURE.

FIRST, WE NEED TO DEFINE JUDGE. THE GREEK WORD WAS KRINO, IT MEANS;

SEPARATE, SELECT, CHOOSE, HENCE, TO DETERMINE, AND SO TO JUDGE. TO PRONOUNCE JUDGMENT. OR TO ASSUME THE OFFICE OF JUDGE.

LET ME GO BACK TO OUR QUICKY SURVEY. DID YOU JUDGE? YES, OF COURSE YOU DID, YOU MADE A CHOICE, IN FACT YOU PROBABLY MADE SEVERAL CHOICES; GET OUT OF BED, WHAT TO EAT, CLOTHES TO WEAR. UNLESS OF COURSE YOU ARE COLOR BLIND, THEN YOU LET YOUR WIFE PICK OUT YOUR CLOTHES, OR IN MY CASE, ANNE PICKS MY TIE, SO THAT IT MATCHES.

WE JUDGE EVERY SINGLE DAY. WE ALSO JUDGE PEOPLE, PROBABLY EVERY DAY. HAVE YOU DONE THIS; I WILL SHOP THERE BECAUSE I LIKE THE WAY THEY TREAT ME. OR, I WILL GO TO SO AND SO FOR MY HAIRCUT, B/C I LIKE THE WAY SHE DOES IT BETTER. I WILL GO THRU THIS CHECK OUT LINE B/C SHE CHECKS FASTER.

JESUS SAID, DO NOT JUDGE, OR YOU WILL BE JUDGED. HOW YOU JUDGE OTHERS IS HOW YOU WILL BE JUDGED IN RETURN, MEASURE FOR MEASURE.

THE CONCEPT HERE IS JUDGMENT IN THE SENSE OF CONDEMNATION. ALSO INCLUDED IS PREJUDICE OR PRE-JUDGING. I ONCE HEARD A YOUTH PASTOR TALKING ABOUT HIS PARENTS AND THEIR ATTITUDES. THEY HATED BLACKS AND MEXICANS, MEXICANS B/C THEY WERE LAZY, AND BLACKS B/C THEY STOLE THINGS. WELL THIS YOUTH PASTOR BEFRIENDED BOTH A BLACK AND A MEXICAN WHILE IN COLLEGE, AND BROUGHT BOTH HOME WITH HIM TO VISIT.

WHEN THEY PUT A PERSON TO THE RACE, THE PARENTS ATTITUDE CHANGED.

ONE OF THE KEY INGREDIENTS IN PREJUDICE IS; AN ATTITUDE THAT SAYS; I AM BETTER THAN YOU.

JESUS FOLLOWS UP ON THE IDEA OF JUDGING, BY SAYING, WHY DO YOU LOOK AT THE SPECK IN YOUR BROTHERS EYE WHEN YOU HAVE A LOG IN YOUR OWN EYE. JESUS USES SOME HUMOR TO MAKE THIS POINT. LOOK AT THE PERSON SETTING NEXT TO YOU AND IMAGINE A 2 BY 4 STICKING OUT FROM THEIR EYE SOCKET. ALL OF US, HAS AT SOME TIME IN OUR LIFE HAD SOMETHING LIKE SAWDUST IN OUR EYE, IT HURTS. IT CAUSES GREAT PAIN, MAKES YOUR EYES LOOK ALL BLOODSHOT, AND IT CAN BE SO SMALL THAT YOU CANT HARDLY EVEN SEE IT. SAWDUST IN MY EYE CAUSED ME TO NOT GET A SUMMER JOB YEARS AGO. THAT LITTLE GRAIN, CAUSED SOME MAJOR IRRITATION.

BUT THINK FOR A MOMENT HOW WE LOOK AT SIN IN OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES.

OH BOY, THAT IS TERRIBLE, THAT PERSON MUST REALLY BE A SINNER, MUST REALLY BE A HEATHEN, LOOK AT THAT SIN. ALL THE WHILE WE HAVE OUR OWN PERSONAL SIN, THAT WE SHOULD DEAL WITH, BUT WE CANT, OR RATHER, WONT SEE IT. THERE IS SOMETHING I CALL, LOOK IN THE MIRROR. WE ALL NEED TO DO THIS. IT IS SELF EXAMINATION. JESUS IS SAYING TO US, CLEAN UP YOUR OWN BACKYARD BEFORE YOU WORRY ABOUT THE NEIGHBORS.

ONE OF SATANS GREATEST TRICKS IS TO GET CHRISTIANS ALL WORKED UP OVER ISSUES THAT ARENT IMPORTANT. I GOT A CALL THE OTHER DAY, ASKING US TO JOIN THE CROP WALK, IT’S A FUND RAISER. IT’S A GOOD PROGRAM, WORTHWHILE. I SAID NO. WE ARE DOING A PROGRAM CALLED 40 DAYS OF PURPOSE, THAT IS OUR FOCUS, THAT IS WHAT GETS OUR TIME AND ATTENTION.