“The same standard for everyone?”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, May 3, 2024

Matthew 7: 1-12 (Forward, p. 5) CEV p. 989

One of the commercial practices constantly frowned upon over the centuries, and often forbidden by law, is the practice of using differing scales or yardsticks or measuring devices. For instance, perpetrators might use one scale for those they were selling to and a differing one for those they were buying from, usually, of course, making such an adjustment as would benefit them. And so, such persons were often penalized by law.

As logical and fair sounding as this might sound, this principle is far too often not practiced when it comes to interpersonal relationships. We apply one standard, one underlying principle, to other people and a different one to ourselves. This is what Jesus refers to in today’s passage from the Sermon on the Mount.

He comments on this in a variety of ways:

“If you decide not to condemn, write off, others, then God will do the

same for you” (implying the opposite, of course, as well).

“God will be on hard on you as you are on others”.

“He will treat you exactly as you treat others”.

He goes on then with the Parable of the Speck and the Log, which doesn’t say that you can’t cast a critical eye on the other, or hold that person up to scrutiny, but that you need to look at yourself first—especially at your own ability to see clearly and accurately—which is often not the case at all. It suggests that we should make ourselves acutely aware of our own biases and agendas and experiences, for these things greatly ‘colour’ our perception and our judgments about others and their actions.

And, regarding how we treat others in terms of gift giving and generosity, Jesus gives us two ‘words’ of advice. Firstly, to be like our heavenly Father, who gives His blessings regardless of merit (see Matthew 5:45). And, secondly, to treat others as we want them to treat us.

So, there is to be no double standard here, no differing standards. And yet, we do this all the time. We say to ourselves, as a way of convincing ourselves or justifying our behaviour, ‘but oh, my situation is different, I’m not in the ‘same boat’, so this doesn’t apply to me.’ But then we fail to recognize that this in no way justifies unequal treatment. Their ‘boat’ may be different, almost decidedly so, but it doesn’t justify us treating them differently. In fact, their differences may be even more reason to treat them fairly and equally, to treat them with love and respect. After all, isn’t that exactly what we’d hope for from them? Of course it is, then, let us do likewise. Amen.

Forward notes: “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened”

(verse 8).

“When I was a chaplain resident at a children’s hospital, some of my most difficult cases involved the efficacy of prayer. I remember one family who had a child with a bad prognosis, and the parents were adamant that prayer would save their child, despite what the doctors were saying. While remaining open to the possibility of God’s miraculous power, I also wanted to prepare the family for the possibility that what they were asking for in their prayers might not come to fruition.

“Today’s reading from Matthew might lead us to believe that there is a one-to-one correspondence between what we ask for in prayer and what we receive, and far too many people’s faith has been challenged when this does not occur. We cannot control the outcomes of our prayers, but I believe that in naming what we desire, God hears and responds to us. Better still, when we seek out God and ask for God’s presence in our lives, that prayer is always answered.”

Moving Forward: “When has an unanswered prayer been a blessing?”