There are official Government standards of measurement for weights, lengths, volumes, distances, altitudes, speeds, time, inside and outside diameters, pressures and anything else you can measure. Lacking these standards, we would be left with uncertainty about whether that 2X4 is a 2X4, is 8 feet long. This could lead to all sort of arguments. You want to buy a 36 inch yard of material, but the clerk cuts you a 30 inch piece. You protest, and the clerk says, “By my standard, that’s a yard.” It’s necessary to have a standard by which to measure.
These are arbitrary measurements. If authorities wanted to do it, a yard could be defined as 30 inches, a mile 6,000 feet and pound 14 ounces.
There are different tools for measuring. Odometers measure miles, rulers measure inches, a measuring cup measures ounces, scales measure weight, a stopwatch measures elapsed time and a thermometer measures degrees of heat or cold.
Each of us has our own unique means of measurement, which I will call, “our Bushel,” and the size of which we determine. However big or small that bushel, God will use it to measure to us what we measure out to others. That’s true:
I. IN JUDGING:
A. "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. 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. 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 7:1-6 (NASB). We must not judge, but we must exercise some sort of God guided discernment or we can’t tell who are dogs and swine. But we can get a clue from God’s word:
1. They are scoffers, scorners and stubborn Christ rejecters.
2. They are rebels and perverters, of whom Isaiah said, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20 (NASB).
3. I need to interject a thought.
a. It seems that every time we speak out a against some particular sin, or life-style, we are accused of judging. But if we are quoting God’s verdict, it is not judging, it’s reporting.
b. Let me tell you it is the ones who contradict God’s verdict who are judging – God says, “That is sin!” and they say, “It is not! You are wrong God!” – is that not judging God’s verdict and judging even God Himself?
B. We are to quote God’s judgments, but we are not to make our own judgment because
1. We are not authorized to determine right and wrong; that’s God’s place.
2. We are lacking in wisdom.
3. We are not in possession of all the facts.
4. We are not capable of true objectivity but are often biased. We tend to be more harsh on some than on others.
5. We may be swayed by fear or favor and our judgement be unjust.
6. We have enough sin of our own to deal with.
C. The kind of judgment Jesus refers to here needs clarification.
1. Jesus doesn’t seem to primarily warn against determining someone’s eternal state, damning some to hell and delivering others to Heaven. That is a privilege denied us.
2. I think He means, “Don’t impose your personal set of scruples, or your definition of morality, or your sense of what is permissible or not permissible, on others:
a. You may think it is sin to read the newspaper, especially the comics, on Sunday but you have no right to dump that upon others.
b. You might think eating anything but veggies is wrong, but you can’t decide what others must, or must not, consume. Just remember if God doesn’t want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat??
D. But if we insist on criticizing others by our own standards, remember that we have set the standard by which God will criticize us. Let me illustrate. A man and his wife were on a road trip and had just eaten lunch. When they had driven about 15 miles, the Mrs gasped and said, “Turn around and go back! I left my purse at the restaurant!” The Mr scowled and said, “You forgot your purse?? How dumb can you be? We’ll get there and someone will have emptied it!” And so on and so on all the way back to the restaurant. As Mrs exited the car, Mr called out, “While you’re in there, would you pick up my hat?” Judging her to be stupid for forgetting, he also judged himself as stupid for the same shortcoming.
God will measure to us with our own bushels as we judge others and also
II. IN GIVING:
A. "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." Luke 6:38 (NASB). The return on our giving is measured by the size of our own bushel and we determine how big that is by our giving.
B. The size of each bushel varies from giver to giver because the size of our bushel is determined by:
1. The amount we give willingly – it is reduced by resentful giving and increased by cheerful giving..
2. The amount we keep greedily – contrast the many rich folk giving out of their surplus while the poor widow gave 2 small copper coins, everything she had, keeping none. She established a large bushel.
3. The sacrifice represented. Recall the Macedonian Christians, who though miserably poor, begged Paul to let them give an offering to the poor in Jerusalem, and they gave beyond their means. They earned a huge bushel!
4. The motive for giving. Consider the Pharisees of whom Jesus spoke: “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:2-4 (NASB). The bigger the pride the smaller the bushel.
C. The larger our goodwill, our love, our generosity, our faith, our trust, our willingness and cheer in giving, the larger our bushel.
D. Small giving means small bushels, and we often limit God's provision by our little bushels. Let me illustrate. In Nigeria, a rich man announced that on Monday of the next week, he wanted all the women and girls of the village to gather at his house and to bring baskets to harvest his corn. Some thought. “I don’t want to harvest his corn.” Others said, “I’ll only take 2 or 3 small baskets to make it easier on myself.” Others took several little, middle sized and large baskets to. When the women went to his house, he asked them to go to his field to harvest his field corn. The women and girls went to the field with their baskets. Some brought back a big load, others only a few ears of grain. When all the loads had been brought in, he called the women together and told them that each might keep what she had harvested! There were shouts of joy and thanksgiving, but also sighs of regret. "If only I had known, I would have taken a larger basket," some complained. There were those who had refused to go at all, saying, "I have work enough of my own." These went to the rich man the following morning and begged him to let them go and bring in a load. But he told them quietly, "The time is past; the corn was brought in yesterday." The limit on his provision was the size of each woman's basket. Enlarge your bushel by generous giving.
God will measure to us with our own bushels as we judge people; as we give to other people and
III. IN SHOWING MERCY:
A. Jesus is big on mercy:
1. “There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when He judges you.” James 2:13 (NLT2).
2. “But God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7 (NLT2).
B. When someone has wronged us, and when we have the whip in our hand, and we are just itching to lash out, it is mercy when we refrain for Jesus’ sake and the good of our opponent.
C. The truth is;
1. Mercy is not weak, or insipid, or soft.
2. Mercy is power to destroy held in abeyance.
3. Mercy is withholding justly deserved punishment.
4. Mercy is pity, in a good sense, to those who are weak.
5. Mercy is the motivation to do good those who have wronged us.
D. The more merciful we are to others, the bigger our bushel to receive mercy. Here’s a true example of mercy. James McCutcheon tells the story. Fiorello LaGuardia was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of World War II.
One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward, of the city. LaGuardia dismissed tile judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a bad neighborhood, your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." 'LaGuardia sighed. He turned 'to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions – ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner. And LaGuardia enlarged his bushel.
God will measure to us with our own bushels of judgment, giving, mercy and
IV. IN FORGIVING:
A. Jesus taught us to pray what could be a dangerous prayer when He said to pray, “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” Matthew 6:12 (NLT2).
1. Note; ”forgive us as we forgive – just like we forgive.”
2. Jesus said, "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:14-15 (NASB).
B. Forgiveness
1. Does not require forgetting. Tragic wounds are not forgotten.
2. Does not say, “It’s okay!” Because if it is okay there’s nothing to forgive.
3. Is not based on emotion or feeling like forgiving.
4. Does not mean exposing ourselves to the same offenses over and over.
5. Does not mean immediate trust of those who hurt us.
6. Does not mean reconciling with toxic people.
C. Forgiveness is refusing to seek revenge, to forego retribution, to do good to the offender if possible.
D. A woman nursed a huge grudge against her husband. They had little income but she had scrimped and saved random change to buy some pretty red material for a dress. She finally had enough to buy the material and when she completed the dress, she put it on and was admiring it when her husband came in and was instantly angered thinking she had spent money to purchase a dress they could ill afford. He shouted, “A new dress! How could you be so extravagant when we are so hard up?”
Taking hold of the dress at the collar he tore it wide open, ruining it beyond repair. Her explanations were brushed aside and she seethed inwardly, “I will never forget or forgive that!”
She went to church Sunday and heard the preacher say, “The Bible says, in Mark 11:25, ‘But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.’ Forgiveness is not an option, or a feeling, it is an act of the will. Feelings may come later. But someone here may be thinking, ‘I can never forget, even if I could forgive.’ You are right, you can't forget but remembering God and His forgiveness can and will cushion the memory until the imprint of the offense is gone. And when you forgive you must destroy the reminder of that offense, and remember only to love."
As she listened, tears poured forth and she knew what she must do. She would obey God. The reminder must go. Standing by the fireplace, she whispered, "I forgive you, John." She then picked up the ruined dress and put it in the fire. Her tears splashed on the hearth as she watched the dress burn slowly. True forgiveness destroys the reminder. She felt such joy in her heart that she failed to hear John's footsteps. "Mary, what are you doing?" Trembling with sobs, she said, "I am destroying the reminder."
To herself she said, "This dress is my offering to God." Then John remembered! Pale and shaken he murmured, "Please forgive me." Fifty-eight years later, when John had gone home to the Lord and she missed him terribly, Mary had a dream. Three angels appeared to her and said, "Come, we are going to a celebration." Over the arm of one angel was draped a beautiful red dress.
PRAY / INVITE
This day let us get off the judge’s bench. Let us give and be merciful and forgiving. Let us refrain from nursing anger. Let us be kind, and gentle. Let’s treat others as Jesus would. Pour that into the bushels of others and see what God will our into yours.
