Excuse Me, But You Have a Piece Of
Broccoli in Your Teeth
Matthew 7 NKJV
Have you ever sat at the dinner table with someone having that enjoyable conversation, and you notice they have something in their teeth, I have and I have found it becomes difficult to concentrate on the conversation until the person either realizes there is something undesirable showing or I have to interrupt the conversation and simply say, “Excuse Me, But You Have a Piece Of
Broccoli in Your Teeth.” I can think a few times that I was the one told I had something caught in-between my teeth. It’s a bit embarrassing but you simply say, “Oh, thank you for telling me”; and you attempt to fix the problem, you ask is it gone, and then resume the conversation.
But what if the person who points out the broccoli is someone who eats with their mouth open? You know you want to retort back snidely, “Well I wish you’d eat with your mouth closed!”
That is a little different scenario from what Jesus said in the 7th chapter of Matthew which has far greater consequences. There he asks us a question we need to know the answer to. It is a life principle that dives deep under the skin, penetrating to the bone and morrow of the spiritual realm, to which we wage our war against sin and corruption on all levels of life, society, culture, religion, character and morality.
It is a challenge; a line Jesus drew in the sand if we, His Church and His Children, are to effectively influence the world we are called to minister to; if we are to have any hope of fixing the mess we are in.
America is in much need of revival, the world is in need of revival. I am in need of revival; the church is in need of revival! Not a few days set on the calendar when we have a visiting preacher come share some fiery messages, but a heart changed for the purpose of winning lost people and a church that is serious about teaching the ‘Observe All things I have taught you.” part of the Great Commission with an effectiveness that can only come for those who have gotten honest with themselves and dealt with the sin that hinders the witness God has called us to give.
See, what hinders this work the church is commissioned to do more than any other is that we have broccoli in our teeth. Or Jesus said it better this way:
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
I want to apply this text in at least three ways for us tonight. First for the individual; second for the church, and lastly look at the importance of it to the world we see in turmoil.
In the few verses I skipped there is a verse which might have been one of the first verses we memorized as children in Sunday school. 12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
We know this as the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them to do to you.
We want to be told if there is something embarrassing about our appearance; food in our teeth, a bra strap showing, a sipper down, hair out of place. Etc. and most of us are willing to tell a friend if something is embarrassingly out of place before they would be seen in or by the public. But Jesus is dealing here with something of must greater importance than ascetics or impressions.
He is talking about not just knowing the difference between right and wrong but doing what is right because; seeing the right and seeing the wrong and choosing the right is what matters if we are to be effective in helping anyone else and working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
For the individual Jesus expounds on this teaching about getting the speck out of the eye so that you can help someone else see as you do. We in the church have as our goal to help the community to see more clearly.
Years ago I went to Brazil on a mission trip. The day before I left I was working on building a deck out our back door. Somehow I got a piece of sawdust in my eye and had to leave the project until I returned home a few weeks later. You ever get something in your eye you know how it can stop what you’re doing until you get it removed.
Anyway I arrived in Brazil after a long plane flight with my eye still irritated. Apparently I had scratched my eye and it was inflamed. I had some of the others on the mission group with me look in my eye for a stray speck but they couldn’t see anything.
That first afternoon that we arrived in the city of Victoria on the east coast and we had a few hours to walk around; I had one purpose in mind, I wanted to find a pharmacy where I could get something for my eye.
Brazilians speak Portuguese. I knew I would have a challenge communicating what I needed for my eye but I went up to the pharmacy counter anyway and asked in slow English if he could point out something I could use in my eye to clear it up.
The pharmacist didn’t speak a word of English and was clueless as to what I was asking for, even though I was pointing to my eye to show him how irritated it was; but there was a lady waiting in line behind me who spoke up, not saying anything in English but spoke to the pharmacist something in Portuguese which he understood; I have no clue what she actually said, but he gave me some save for my eye. I don’t know if she understood my English, saw my irritated eye or was hearing in tongues but The lady apparently understood enough of what I needed that she was able to communicate my need to the guy behind the counter. I thanked them both but didn’t get an answer in English from either of them. I used the save and by the next morning my eye was better. Amen. God does little miracles for us all the time.
But could you imagine how difficult it would have been to be in a place so far from home and not able to see clearly.
Individually, we need to see clearly if we are going to be of any real help to anyone else.
Sometimes we don’t know we have anything in our teeth but the speck in the eye is another matter. A speck in the eye can’t be ignored. You know it is there. You are asking for help so you go up to the counter and the guy doesn’t speak your language. Or worse yet, he has a plank sticking out of his eye.
The image draws a ridiculous word picture for us. If you ever wondered if Jesus had a since of humor, well he did, and he does. Just imagine someone trying to get a speck of dust out of your eye while they’re poking you in the nose with the plank coming out of theirs.
I can imagine those disciples gathered around his feet giving a little chuckle at Jesus’ description given here. But a speck in the eye can be serious. Not to be laughed at. Now a speck is one thing but a plank is quite another.
The question Jesus asked us, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
I couldn’t imagine going to an eye doctor who is blind. How could he examine my eyes?
Now at this point we need to ask who is Jesus speaking about and to find that answer we need only to look at the last word in this chapter which is what? Scribes. Who were they? Well for one they were those who were supposed to know all the laws, all the rules and how to follow them. But apparently they knew them but didn’t do them. They were to be the teachers of the children of Israel and Jesus says: 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 “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 good things to those who ask Him! 12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
We can be like the scribes and know the rules but don’t do the rules. That can be true of individual Christians and we might think, “well as long as no one else knows our secret it doesn’t hurt anyone.” But listen you keep that speck or plank in your eye long enough and you’re going to go blind to everything else.
If you looking for the truth God will give you the truth and not some sham of an excuse for you sin or a cover up. He will offer you what you need the most which is forgiveness, grace and mercy and a way to overcome your sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen..
How do you get the speck out of your eye? You might be able to remove it yourself if it just right there on the surface but more than likely you’re going to need help. People we need each other just as we need the Father.
Just looking at you, I won’t be able to tell if you have a speck in your eye or not but you’ll know it’s there, it isn’t like a piece of broccoli on your teeth or a crooked tie.
A few weeks ago we had a visitor at church and after the service he was one the first to begin to leave the church on his way to visit the museum, but he stopped first and reached out and adjusted my tie. It was that morning Cathy wasn’t here and he said he couldn’t help but notice that my tie was crocked over so he straightened it for me. I apologized for not looking in the mirror before getting in the pulpit and we both chuckled. Friends will tell you if something isn’t right.
A tie is one matter but when I get a speck in my eye I’m going to need your help. I believe the Father in Heaven works a lot that way. When you get a speck in your eye you’re going to need my help. So look at how Jesus begins this lesson.
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
I remember someone coming to me about a sin problem they were dealing with, they were deeply troubled about the sin and the effect it could have on them if it was ever found out. I asked if they had ever addressed this with anyone else and they said how they had talked to a former pastor and that he was pretty unforgiving and couldn’t understand why he was having these problems.
Listen, We can get too into ourselves like these scribes and set in the holy chair for too long without attempting to understand what the guy next door is suffering, the temptations he’s dealing with, we can set our self up as judge, jury and executioner and Jesus says’ you better watch your step in how you judge the other guy because how you judge the other guy will be how you will be judged in the end.
It is never my intention to give excuse for sin, I must call sin for what it is but as much as I ask my God for His mercy, that is what I have to offer to anyone who seeks my council in dealing with sin in their life. There is a verse here that also says we are not to cast our pearls before the swine. Sometimes our truth no matter how good it is will not be accepted and we shouldn’t be surprised. And if we can discern the issue enough to understand how it is going to be received we might not even bother with setting it before them. It will probably be received with indignation and rebuttal. When it is, walk away.
Never-the-less there is the way out of Sin. The grace and mercy is the reason to overcome sin. The Holy Spirit Power will help us overcome sin and even protect us from and keep us from the sin. The temptation may continue to be there for years but the fruit of the temptation does not need to bear because the Power of the Holy Spirit who is in us is greater that he who is in the world.
As individuals we need to keep our eyes open and dirt free so we can be ready to help that brother of sister caught in some sins without being judgmental and self-righteous.
Now for the church. The church today has to a great extent lost its effectiveness. I am seeing large segments of the church today that can no longer call sin, sin. It is a disease, a life style, a choice, and mistake, but not sin.
How is it that the church has gotten so far from what the bible defines as sin? How is it that the church can no longer help anyone get victory over their sin? Well I see a church with a plank in its eye. Condoning gay marriage; gay priest, we have people living together out of wedlock and ignore it, there are as many young people in the church that experiment with drugs as out of the church. Sin is as rampant in the church as out of it.
Then we wonder why our society is in such shambles.
How can the church become more effective? We get the plank out of our eye so we can see more clearly how to remove the speck from the other man’s eye. We have a good message, we have the answer to what the world needs, we have what the world wants but when the world sees the church condoning sin it just looks away and says they don’t have anything I need.
I don’t know but that America’s greatest enemy is the wayward church. Now we can come out from the wayward church and preach the truth, and keep ourselves as circumspect as possible but we have a great big mess out there who say they too are the church and we aren’t telling it like it is. They are not the church.
The church went through a reformation back in what the 15th century??? We need another cleansing which will come only if we return back to the whole word of God.
If I am going to be effective as a church leader, and as a church member I have to keep the specks and planks clear from obstructing my vision. If a plank remains in the eye of the church too long it will go blind to everything. That is what I see happening in much of the church in the world today.
Lastly the importance of clear sight.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Jesus gives some very dire warnings to the church and individual Christians in these words. We might fool ourselves but we won’t fool Jesus. If you have some sin in your life, it isn’t something you ought to be ignoring or pretending that it doesn’t really matter. Heaven and hell is at stake.
Now don’t give up and give in to sin. You know the over comer and He provides the way. Jesus warned in isn’t easy. Narrow is the way. The way is tough but it is worth it. You are not in this struggle alone, you need and I need an inspector; be it a wife, a friend, a faithful church and most importantly our Heavenly Father that will work in us giving us the whole word of truth without compromise or delusion.
I look at Islam and wonder why we can’t have a greater effect of converting them to Christianity? When they see hypocrisy in the church they spurn us, call us the mighty Satan. Jesus says He never knew us.
It is real sad and detrimental when our sin is finally found out. In the middle of the presidential campaign it was revealed that Trump had said some pretty dirty stuff about women. He couldn’t deny it because it was caught on a recording. That was probably my lowest point in the campaign when that news broke and I thought the conservative movement had lost any chance of gaining back the White House. Finally, the then candidate Donald Trump came out with a statement, he said he had said these things in private and he should not have said them, he said they were shameful. And he was embarrassed, and that he had apologized to his family, especially his wife and now he came before the American people to say he was sorry.
Don’t wait for your sin to hit the evening news before you fall down on your knees and ask for your heavenly Father’s forgiveness. If we are to be effective as a witness for our Lord and Savior we need the speck and or plank out of our eyes.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
