“Discernment”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Monday, October 3, 2022

Luke 6:39-49 (Forward, p. 66) CEV p. 1065

Probably ever since Jesus uttered those famous words in verse 37, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged” (or in today’s version, “Don’t judge others and God won’t judge you”), people have been debating over just what Jesus meant. Many people have taken that to mean that we should never discriminate or judge between one thing or another—or even between persons--or practice discernment. But that is manifestly absurd, and rather impractical. How could we ever make decisions if this was the case?

What is more, is that such advice goes against what is said in the succeeding verses:

-in verse 39, Jesus speaks of the folly of being led by someone who is blind. But isn’t that decision not an act of discernment;

-then in the next verse, He talks about choosing someone as your teacher and learning from that person and becoming like him or her. But isn’t that an act of judgement as well?

-in the famous parable of the speck and the log (verses 41-42), The stated purpose of removing the log from your own eye is so that you can see (to judge) the speck in the other person’s eye well enough to remove it. Surely, here is more discernment.

-and, if this isn’t clear enough, there are Jesus’ words about a tree and its fruit (verses 43-45). Surely, He is suggesting that people should be fruit-inspectors. More judgment, discernment.

-and, even with the two builders (verses 46-49), there are some judgments to be made, some decisions to be made as to which locale is best for building.

So, there is no way, by Jesus’ own words that He is ruling out any passing of judgments, any discernment. In the preceding verses Jesus gives some guiding principles, and then adds one additional one in today’s passage:

-we should never condemn anyone, or ‘write them off’ or dismiss them as unworthy of God’s love or our care and attention;

-we should forgive others, even as God has forgiven us;

-we should use the same measure, the same standard, for judging others as we would want used on ourselves;

-and we should look carefully at ourselves, at our own flaws and prejudices and misconceptions, and our standards of judgment and discernment before passing judgment on other people. We should look at our own ‘baggage’, our own experiences and upbringing, and see how they impact our thinking and our judgments. And, it’s a good idea to do this, to have this thorough self-examination long before we are called to put it to the test.

And, in all this, obviously we need to be guided by the Spirit and by the example and teachings of Jesus. This is where prayer and a devoted and ongoing study of the Scriptures becomes most necessary. Amen.

Forward notes: “A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher” (verse 40)..

“As Boy Scout leaders, one of our objectives was to encourage and help the scouts move from the rank of scout through tenderfoot and second class to first-class scout within a year of their joining the troop. The understanding was that what they would learn and master in that year through hiking, camping, cooking, patrol organization, service projects, troop meetings, courts of honor, and other special events would prepare them to move from students to teachers.

“Seeing these young men gain confidence in their abilities and eventually take on leadership positions in the troop and in their school and other activities was always uplifting. Similarly, as a manager in business, I found my job infinitely more rewarding when I could mentor employees so that they could gain enough mastery to teach others. So, as Jesus would have us understand, the answer to whether we are fully qualified to teach is simple. Yes, I am. Yes, we are.”

Moving Forward: “When have you been a teacher in the faith? When have you been a student?”