“The Log and the Speck”
January 13th, 2008
Luke 6:37-42 - Principle #2 for Happiness in 2008 is “Stop Judging Others.” It seems so simple, and Jesus talks about it enough that you would think that Christians would be the lest judgmental people in the world. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Many Christians feel perfectly empowered to judge other people. Not only is this idea un-biblical and un-Christian, it isn’t very nice…or loving.
“The Log and the Speck”
Luke 6:37-42
1. Today, we are continuing our sermon series “Four Principles for Happiness in 2008.”
A. I want to say something about happiness. I am not talking about the emotion happiness that brings a smile or a laugh to your face.
B. I am talking about something much deeper - happiness as a spiritual state of being, characterized by an underlying sense of hope, expectation, love, and -yes - joy.
C. Happiness - true happiness - is not the goal of a life well lived. It is the by-product of a life well lived.
D. We do not pursue happiness for it’s own sake. We pursue God and as a result, experience happiness.
E. Last week - stop judging yourself.
F. I am sure that it is no surprise then that the second principle for happiness in 2008 is “stop judging others.”
2. Jesus stood on a level place and surveyed the gathered crowd. He began to preach about life in the kingdom of God. He began to share about a new way of experiencing one’s faith. He spoke of a righteousness that exceeded the confines of the law.
A. And people were amazed at his teaching.
B. He talked about things like caring for the poor and forgiving your enemies - radical ideas in his day and in ours.
C. And then he told the people, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
D. “Krinete” = stop judging, stop condemning.
E. You see, people thought that because they followed Jesus, because they were the people of God’s covenant, they were allowed to judge other people.
F. Jesus confronted the tendency of such people to assume a certain amount of privilege based on their relationship with God.
G. Jesus, in one fell swoop, in one bold proclamation, did what no law ever could.
H. He freed his followers from the tyranny of judging other people.
I. He gave us the freedom to love other people just as he did.
J. We are free to pursue a righteous path, not a self-righteous path.
3. Last year, there was a very touching film released called September Dawn that told the true story of what has come to be known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857.
A. At the heart of this brutal act was religious bigotry and judgment of others run horrifyingly amok.
B. Set against a religious conflict is the story of two young people who fall in love with one another despite the Romeo and Juliet-type odds against them.
C. They struggled with their religious differences from the very beginning of their relationship.
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D. “How do you punish sinners?” What a distorted and hurtful way to view one’s religion.
E. And those that follow such a course are truly the blind being led by the blind.
F. Our job as Christians is not to judge sinners, which is hurtful to both them and us.
G. Our job is to invite them to the heavenly banquet.
4. Jesus has set us free from being judged. And he has also set us free from being judgmental.
A. Which brings me back to the “four principles for happiness for 2008.”
B. I want to you to do something for me. Close your eyes. Pick in your mind’s eye the most judgmental person you know.
C. They may be a friend, a family member, a member of the church, a civic leader. Picture that person.
D. Are they joyful? Do you see the happiness of God in their affect?
E. Of course not! Because judging others is not the path to godly happiness.
F. Talk about how this plays out during elections. We are asked to not only choose a candidate that reflects our position; we are challenged to judge the others as unfit human beings.
G. And if the candidates themselves are unfit - then what does that say about the people that support them.
H. And I am saddened beyond all measure to say that it seems to me that Christians - on the left and the right - are probably the guiltiest of this sin than any other group.
5. What a heavy burden I find that to be. I must judge others that don’t agree with my view of the world and the way that it should be.
A. That is like a millstone around a person’s neck, that squeezes the joy of God right out of them.
B. But Jesus has given us an enormous gift. He says, “Do not judge and you will not be judged.”
C. Actually, what he said was “stop judging.”
D. St. Augustine once wrote of this scripture passage, “‘Forgive and you will be forgiven…give and it will be given to you.’ These are the two wings of prayer, on which it flies to God.” I agree.
E. Stop judging. That is not your job. That is not my job.
F. We have been set free from that burden. Because the abundant life to which we have been called is not arrived at by judging others.
G. It is arrived at by loving others into the kingdom of God. Amen.
Sermon delivered 1/13/08 at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church, Anaheim Hills.
