“Getting off on the wrong foot”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Matthew 7:1-12 (Forward, p. 66) CEV p. 989
Sadly—I really do hate to say this—but it is surprisingly easy to ‘get off on the wrong foot’ when it comes to interpreting and understanding the Holy Scriptures. This happens far too easily when one has an ‘axe to grind’, that is a predetermined point to make, or when one has been ‘conditioned’ to understand it in a particular way, or when one doesn’t know the background or understand the context or take the background or context into consideration.
This very thing often happens with today’s passage. People have come to me and rerated me, in rather sharp or scolding tones, ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged’, quoting verse 1 from the old King James’ Version of the Bible. Interestingly, modern translations render this as ‘condemn not’, which denotes a very large difference. Judging, making judgment calls, or discriminating are a far cry from condemning. Judging is something that we do every day, probably moment by moment, as a part of life. Often it has only to do with something pretty minor or unimportant, and even when applied to people is often pretty temporary or inconsequential. However, condemning, ‘writing someone off’, is an entirely different matter. It can well have lasting and serious effects on the person’s life.
However, even with this less serious matter of judging, Jesus offers some very useful and important cautions. Firstly, He tells us that God will be just as hard on us as we are on others (verse 2a). Indeed, the measure that we use for them, the standard we apply, will be used on us as well. “He will treat you exactly as you treat them” (verse 2b).
But then, Jesus takes this conversation in yet another direction, namely with a caution as to how we judge in the first place. Here He shares the famous parable of the speck and the log (mote and beam, in the older versions). The person in question spots the minute speck in his or her. companion’s eye but fails to notice the immense log in his own eye. Crazy, man. How can this person even see clearly enough to help that other person remove his or her speck? Ridiculous. Interestingly, Jesus never tells the ‘helper’ to quit in his efforts, but only to remove his own log first. Then, as Jesus says, ‘you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye’ (verse 5b). In a word, Jesus is not outlawing judging at all, not
in the least. However, He is warning us about the things in our lives, our motives perhaps, or past experiences, or beliefs, or presumptions, that hinder us from seeing clearly. He is exhorting us to identify and correct these things first, before trying to ‘clean up’ someone else’s life. (I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a full-time job.)
Even so, with Jesus’ words about giving the things that belong to God to dogs or throwing pearls before swine, He is underlining that it is still very important to make sure judgment calls about the things of God and those who would not respect or appreciate them but merely abuse and reject them.
Capping off this entire section, Jesus reminds us of God’s very nature, a nature that is overwhelmingly characterized by His gracious gifts to us who ask. Comparing God to earthly parents with their children, He says “Your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask” (verse 11). Then, almost in response to this, Jesus says, “Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets are all about” (verse 12). What a way to end this whole discussion on judging. It certainly does give us pause for thought and stop us from ‘getting off on the wrong foot’ when it comes to judging. Amen.
Forward notes: “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the odor will be opened for you” (verse 7).
“I preached on the Loke version of this passage in July 2022. After church began, two visitors entered the sanctuary.
“After the service, one of the visitors told me how the sermon resonated with her. She had just had a conversation with her father, who told her to ask God for what she wanted—and to go after opportunities that presented themselves. I had preached on a similar theme.
“Our omniscient God knows what we want or need without us saying a word. But our prayer life must be an active communication. God wants to hear the desires of our hearts and the dreams of our souls. Sometimes the answer to our prayer might not be what we want or expect, and sometimes it might seem like God puts an obstacle (like a closed door) in our path. We must discover what might be behind that closed door. An unexpected opportunity may be waiting.”
Moving Forward: “When was the last time you talked with God and expressed your heart’s desire? Set aside time for prayer today.”