“GOD'S ONE VEIL, OUR MANY VEILS”
SERMON TEXT: MATTHEW 7: 1-5:
1. Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2. For you will be treated as you treat others.The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. 3. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4. How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye, when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5. Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
The word judge in this passage of text means to distinguish, to try, to condemn, to punish, to make conclusions, to condemn, to damn, to sentence, or to call in question. Throughout life, whether intentional or not, we all have used these negative attitudes toward others. These attitudes create a veil that prevents others from getting to the presence of God. We become the stumbling block, the road block, or the hindrances to others. In the Old Testament, you had to go through the priest to get to God's Holy presence. There was a veil that separated you from God's Holy presence. You could not go past the veil. Matthew 27:51 says: “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.” The ripping of the veil signified that Christ, by his death, opened a way to God. We have an open way through Christ to the throne of grace, or mercy-seat now, and to the throne of glory hereafter. On the Cross, Jesus ripped the veil apart. No matter what you have done, who you done it to, where you did it, why you did it, or when you did it, our how bad you did it, you can approach the Cross without the hindrance of the veil. All are invited now to draw near to God with boldness and approach Him with confidence by faith in Jesus. A door was thrown open, and a way of life set before the whole world.
Through the Cross, God ripped up the one veil. It is gone. It will never come back. However, a new kind of veil has emerged. The veil to distinguish yourself from others. The veil to try, declare guilty, condemn, sentence, and punish others. We have replaced the Righteous Judge--God as the judge, jury, and executioner of others. We make judgmental conclusions about others. We condemn others. We damn others. We call into question others. Remember the story in the book of Acts of the beggar at the temple (The Church) gate. All of those “so called church folks” walked right by the beggar going into the church and coming out of the church. In Luke Chapter 18, Jesus tells the story of the prayer of a Pharisee and a tax collector. Listen to the judgmental attitude of the Pharisee: “ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” Jesus had mercy on the poor tax collector and condemned the high minded Pharisee.
The text teaches us to clean up the dirt around our own heart and mind before we try to clean others. Jesus teaches us to get the log out of our own eye before we try to get the splinter out of the other person's eye. Jesus calls us a hypocrite. We must judge ourselves, and judge our own acts, but not judge others. We must not judge rashly, nor pass judgment upon our brother without any ground. We must not search for the worst in people. There is some bad in the very good folk and some good in the very bad folk. Jesus is rebuking us for judging our brethren for small faults, while we allow ourselves to be snarled by big faults. Some sins are as motes, while others are as beams; some as a gnat, others as a camel. Not that there is any sin little; if it be a mote, or splinter, it is in the eye; if a gnat, it is in the throat; both are painful and dangerous, and we cannot be easy or well till they are gotten out. Sin is sin! Wrong is wrong! God frowns on all sin—the motes and the beams. Both create a veil that separates us from God.
True Godly love teaches us not to judge the speck in our brother's eye. True repentance and Godly sorrow will teach us to recognize the log in our own eye. It is as strange that a man can be in a sinful, miserable condition, and not be aware of it, as that a man should have a beam in his eye, and not consider it; but the veil blinds their minds to judge the speck in others eye. Our veils makes us enjoy seeking other people’s sins but at the same time we have no desire to help them.
A man went to church one Sunday and began to eyeball other members. He shouted: “Boy, the preacher is hitting all of y’all on the head. Preach reverend!, he shouted. Straighten all them devils out.” He felt so good going to church to straighten others out, but failed to seem himself in the message.
The attitude of this man is like the story of a farmer whose crops had come in. He invited all of the townspeople to come and get as much vegetables as they wanted. Well, one farmer felt like certain people who he cast judgments on did not deserve the food. Because of his attitude towards the people, he devised a plan to keep certain people from getting to the crops. So he decided to dig a big ditch so the people down this road could not get to the crops. He started digging. Dug through the morning. Dug through the afternoon. Dug through the evening. His judgmental rage towards these people would not let him stop digging. He had to keep them away at all costs. Well, he became satisfied that he had dug a ditch so deep that no one would get to the crops. But he realized that he had a big problem. He dug the ditch so deep that he himself could not get out of it. That is the point of this lesson: we can try to judge and dig ditches to get others to fall into and not realize that while we are digging (judging) a ditch for others, we were digging a ditch for ourselves.
It is no longer about the veil, but is all about the Cross. It is the Cross that helps us daily to cleanse our heart, mind, and spirit of the veils that so easy entangle us. It is the Cross that helps us to do away with a critical spirit and a condemning attitude. It is the Cross that helps us to pass judgment on ourselves and not pass judgment on others. It is the Cross that helps us not to find fault and tear down others, but to find fault in ourself, build ourself up and try to build up others. It is the Cross that makes us eyeball ourselves and not others. It is the Cross that helps us to point the finger at ourself and not at others. For when you point one finger at someone else, you have three fingers pointing back at you. Try it. It is the Cross the helps us to rip our veils apart and have God in our heart. It is the Cross that helps us to see ourselves as God sees us. It is the Cross that helps us daily to ask God for wisdom to see the log in our eye and stop asking God to see the splinter in others eye. It is the Cross that helps us to stop focusing on others faults and helps us to stop seeking to tear others down. It is the Cross that helps us to purge ourselves of these negative and destructive attitudes.
I am reminded of the hymn titled: “There is room at the Cross for You.” Listen to the words of this hymn:
(1) The cross upon which Jesus died
Is a shelter in which we can hide
And its grace so free is sufficient for me
And deep is its fountain as wide as the sea.
Chorus:
There's room at the cross for you
There's room at the cross for you
Though millions have come, there's still room for one
Yes there's room at the cross for you.
(2) Though millions have found him a friend
And have turned from the sins they have sinned
The Savior still waits to open the gates
And welcome a sinner before it's too late.
Chorus:
(3) The hand of my Savior is strong
And the love of my Savior is long
Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in gain,
The blood flows from Calvary to cleanse every stain.
Chorus:
Our prayer is to ask the Lord to help us to see others through the Cross and not through our veils.
