Improving our Vision
Matthew 7:1-5 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For 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? 4 How 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? 5 You 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.
Intro: A reporter was once searching for a story about the laziness that existed throughout the South, when he saw a man in his field, sitting in a chair and hoeing his weeds. This had to be the ultimate in laziness. So he rushed back to his car to start his story when he looked back a second time and what he saw changed his entire outlook. He saw that the pants legs on the farmer hung down loose -- the man had no legs. So what seemed at first to be a story of laziness turned into a story of great courage.
-Isn’t it funny how we often judge others by their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intentions? Bertrand Russell summed up this hypocrisy when he said, ("I am firm. You are obstinate. He’s pig-headed.) (I have reconsidered. You have changed your mind. He’s gone back on his word.")
-A mother had a son and daughter both of whom were married. When she was describing her son and daughter in law she said, "The daughter got such a wonderful husband. He lets her sleep late, insists on her going to the beauty parlor, will not let her cook, and takes her out to dinner every night."
She then said, "But I’m not so happy for my son. He married a girl who is lazy, sleeps late every morning, spends her time in the beauty parlor, will not cook and makes him take her out all the time."
-Someone wrote, “Why is it that my dirt is never as dirty as your dirt, from my perspective? My sin never seems as sinful as the sin of others either.”
-As we discuss the issue of judging others, we will be dealing primarily with the critical judgment of others. It is evaluating someone for the purpose of fault finding, rather than constructive criticism. Here is the main idea of the message today.
Prop: When we lay aside a critical spirit, our vision becomes clearer helping us see God’s plan for us and those around us.
TS: Let’s take a look at some thoughts Jesus gave regarding judging when He taught the people in what is known as the sermon on the mount.
I. Judging comes back to haunt you (Matthew 7:1)
1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
-When Jesus said, “Do not judge,” He wasn’t saying we should never assess or size up people, but rather that we should not have a harsh, judgmental spirit. Theologian John Stott said it like this: "Jesus does not tell us to cease to be men (by suspending our critical powers which help to distinguish us from animals) but to renounce the presumptuous ambition to be God (by setting ourselves up as judges)." That’s what drives this overly critical attitude: a belief that I can see as God sees. I can see your heart and your motives. I can see the way you’re thinking. I know all the things that have led you to this point in your life. Jesus wants to eliminate that kind of judging from those who follow Him.
-We should not judge: (William McDonald)
1. people’s motives - cannot know why they do what they do, we can’t see inside
2. service of another believer - to His own Master he stands or falls
3. conscientious scruples about things that are morally neutral
4. outward appearances - what’s in the heart is what counts
5. harshly, critically - “a habitual fault-finder is a poor advertisement for the Christian faith” -One of Aesop’s Fables may help us with the difference between being critical and being discerning: A Lion, unable from old age and infirmities to provide himself with food by force, resolved to do so by savvy or wit. He returned to his den, and lying down there, pretended to be sick, taking care that his sickness should be publicly known. The beasts expressed their sorrow, and came one by one to his den, where the Lion devoured them.
After many of the beasts had thus disappeared, the Fox discovered the trick and presenting himself to the Lion, stood on the outside of the cave, at a respectful distance, and asked him how he was.
"I am very sick," replied the Lion, "but why do you stand without? Pray enter within to talk with me." "No, thank you," said the Fox. "I notice that there are many prints of feet entering your cave, but I see no trace of any returning." Smart fox. He was very discerning.
-The Lone Ranger and Tonto stopped in the desert for the night. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.
Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, "Kemo Sabe, look towards sky, what you see?"
The Lone Ranger replies, "I see millions of stars." "What that tell you?" asked Tonto. The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, "Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, it’s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What’s it tell you, Tonto?"
Tonto is silent for a moment, then says, "Kemo Sabe, you dumber than box of rocks! It means someone stole tent."
Discernment? Judgment? You decide.
-So how does a critical attitude come back to haunt you? Here’s one way.
-A man wanted to impress his friends w/ his eye for art as they went to an art gallery together / he forgot his glasses, was nearsighted, and couldn’t hardly see his hand in front of his face / figured he could wing it w/ any abstract comments and observations he wanted to make / approached a frame and began criticizing: ‘why would anyone want to paint something so hideously ugly? I mean, it’s a true rendering of the object, but why waste time w/ painting such a disgusting subject?’ / everyone was laughing by this time as his wife whispered into his ear, ‘John, it’s a mirror!’
-Steven Covey tells in, 7 Habits for Highly Effective People, the story of a man who riding an a bus and was greatly disturbed at a young boy who was running up and down the isle of the bus screaming and laughing at the top of his lungs, while the young boys dad just sat idly by. The man could not believe that someone would be so rude and inconsiderate, of the other people around him. He then began to notice other unflattering things about the man. His hair was unkempt so he was probably homeless, and his eyes were bloodshot so he had to be an alcoholic. Finally not able to take anymore of the child this man went and approached the dad and demanded that he get control of his young son.
The dad seeming to be shaken from a trance apologized to the man and told him that the Boys mom, his wife had just died at the hospital after struggling all night and he was trying to think of a way to break the news to the boy.
-Chuck Swindoll gives several reasons why we shouldn’t judge other people. 1. Because we don’t know all the facts. One time he was preaching at a Christian camp. On the first day, a man approached him and said how much he was looking forward to hearing Dr. Swindoll speak in person for the first time.
That evening Swindoll noticed the man sitting near the front. But only a few minutes into the message the man was sound asleep. Swindoll thought to himself “Maybe the man’s tired. After a long day’s drive, he can’t help himself.” But the same thing happened for the next few nights. Pastor Swindoll was getting exasperated: “If this guy really wants to hear me preach, why does he keep falling asleep?”
On the last night the man’s wife came up and apologized for her husband’s inattention to the messages. She explained that he had recently been diagnosed as having terminal cancer and the medication he was taking to ease the pain made him extremely sleepy. But it was one of his life-long dreams to hear Dr. Swindoll speak before he died, and now he had fulfilled that goal.
A second reason why we should not judge is 2. Because it’s putting ourselves in the place of God! 3. The same standard of judgment we use with others is the standard of judgment that God will use with us!
-TS: That is what we’ll talk about in our next main point.
II. Judging returns with the same intensity it was delivered (Matthew 7:2)
2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
-Some people call this the law of reciprocity (usually only those who can pronounce it). If you’ve ever used a boomerang that worked, you know exactly what Jesus was getting at here – Right back at ya’ buddy!
-According to the teaching of some rabbis in Jesus’ time, God had two measures that He used to judge people. One was a measure of justice and the other was a measure of mercy. Which measure do you want God to use with you? Then you should use that same measure with others.
-The measure that Jesus spoke of was commonly used in the marketplace to measure out grain. It is unclear to me whether it was weight or volume that was measured, but the point remains the same. If you are overly generous with criticism but miserly with praise and encouragement then you are missing the grace of God.
-The Mishnah contains almost identical words to what Jesus said in Matthew 7:2: “With what measure a man metes it shall be measured to him again....” (Sotah 1:7). However, it also says, “...when thou judgest any man incline the balance in his favour” (Aboth 1:6).
-So if you enjoy taking a hard line with others, please realize that you are inviting the same treatment for yourself from God and from others. That doesn’t mean that we should not have strong convictions and stand for what is right. However, the force of your conviction is only as great as the depth of your compassion. A critical spirit can destroy the grace of God that is at work in you and it can wound the hearts of those around you.
-So judge what is right and wrong, but don’t allow your passion for truth (which is good) eclipse your ability to love those who are caught in the web of sin or feel caught in the middle somewhere. Let’s look at another problem with being overly critical.
III. Judging blinds us to our own condition (Matthew 7:3-4)
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? 4 How 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?
-I think Jesus was being kind of a funny guy here. His listeners may have experienced a little bit of shock, then laughter as they visualized His words. I like how this scene was portrayed in the Matthew videos. Let’s take a look at it. [Show Matt. 7:1-5]
-Being critical of others has a blinding effect on us regarding ourselves. When the religious leaders brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in adultery, here is how He responded: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7). They all left after considering their own hearts.
-Sometimes in our zeal to be right, we throw rocks at people with our words. But like the Pharisees, we ignore the condition of our own hearts.
-Jesus is saying, “Open your eyes. Stop evaluating everybody else and take a look at yourself.” That brings us to the final point today.
IV. Judging begins with me (Matthew 7:5)
5 You 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.
-Peter Marshall wrote this prayer: "Dear Lord, When I am wrong, make me easy to change; When I am right, make me easy to live with."
-Plank Removal 101- How do we change? How do we take the plank out?
-Without making up some kind of formula, let me just say that it will take at least two things: humility and repentance.
-Notice that Jesus never said not to help remove the speck from the other brother’s eye. He said, “First, you get things right with God. Then your vision will be clear enough (and your heart will be clean enough) for you to help your brother.
-So where does that leave us today? I think the best advice I can give comes from Psalm 139. Psalm 139:23-24 23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” God always welcomes those who are humble enough to ask Him for help on His terms. He wants us to come clean with Him and make things right. We have nothing at all to brag about. God has brought us to where we are. We owe it all to Him. So instead of bring critical of others, let’s help them connect with God and find the hope and healing they need.
Conclusion: F.B. Meyer once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are three things we do not know:
First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin.
Second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her.
Thirdly we also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.
-Conviction and compassion – it’s not a binary concept of one or the other. It is both strength of conviction and depth of compassion that will enable us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world that God has called us to be.
-Maybe you need to act on what you’ve heard today. Maybe the first thing you need to do is humble yourself before God and repent for having a critical spirit. Then talk to the Lord about plank removal. Pray the prayer of Psalm 139 and ask God to do help you see yourself the way He does. Ask Him for His help. He is willing because He wants you to live in the flow of His grace. He wants you to be healthy and to have good vision – so you can see Him for Who He is and so you can see people the way He does – through eyes of compassion and grace with a view towards total redemption.
