2.9.13 2.23.2025 Matthew 7.1-12 Discernment

Start:

     Listen to Immanuel’s words…

Matthew 7:1–12 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 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. 6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

 Entice: The 21st century may pose the greatest challenge ever to keeping  these powerful words of Jesus. The nearly universal, amplified, frantic, feckless, vacuous and cruel attacks each of us see daily on social media should be a reminder that Jesus knows our hearts without hashtags or thumbs-up symbols.

Our seeking of the kingdom will be greatly impacted by how we treat others. If we treat others poorly—in person or online it merely demonstrates that words of Jesus have found no place in our heart and that His Kingdom purpose does not determine our direction.

         At first glance this passage seems quaint and out of place. “Ahh Jesus just wants us to be nice to one another.” Surely that means we can burn, or own, or demean people who disagree with us…Not so much.

         Along with the nice that Jesus counsels there is some tough love. Hypocrites are called out. Vanities are indicted. Cruelties exposed. People are compared to pigs, and dogs, and to be honest, He insinuates that some are stupid.

 Engage: Sadly, we are all self-conscious, judgmental busybodies. We like to peak from behind the curtain and impose standards on others we cannot keep ourselves. So,

Jesus makes us the butt of the Joke.

 Not to make us feel bad, but so that we get the message and get on with the business of Kingdom Seeking.

Expand: If Jesus had been as painfully candid as He is here, without telling a few jokes, if He had raised the bar of expectation this high without the possibility of relief, His ministry would have been over.

 It is because He wants to be taken seriously that Jesus uses humor. Some of these memorable images are exaggerations, specifically intended to elicit an uncomfortable smile or a side-glance and giggle. When we laugh at ourselves, we tend to stop laughing at others. Jokes are easier to remember than poems--no one could ever forget “Mr. Stick in the eye.”  

     Excite: Godly, Kingdom discernment means we try to treat others with the universal grace and mercy God lavishes upon us. Trying to be God means feeding the Pigs the good stuff, and banging-around through life with a telephone pole sticking out of our eye. It may not be SNL stuff, but Jesus knew that we provided great material for transformative humor.

Explore:

Kingdom discernment means learning how to be helpful and useful judges.

Expand: Since we are going to use our judgement Jesus gives some basic guidelines.

Body of Sermon:  We need to judge with

1 Dignity

Matthew 7:1–2 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

1.1 Discipline.

Not a universal prohibition—judgment is hard-wired into image-bearing human person. Jesus wants us to direct and harness this part of our being. By the way, in this passage Jesus makes…I’m being conservative here, 6 distinct judgements. He’s teaching us how to channel something which will not go away.

And the discipline of judging with dignity also means

  1.2 Integrity.

Your discernment is not just about others. How you judge determines how you are judged. We set the standard for ourselves. Only a fool would question the dignity of others who are made in the image of God.

Next, Jesus tells us that we must judge with

2 Clarity.

Matthew 7:3–6 ESV

3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 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. 6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

2.1 Perspective.

We must clarify our vision by removing whatever the log is sticking out of our eye. Racism, classism, sexism, ageism, “growed-up-on the-wrong side of town-ism. 

Now, I think when Jesus was telling this joke people were laughing uncomfortably because they knew that He was talking about them.  That is why Jesus uses this hysterical image. When Jesus tells this story, when I read it, I need to understand that at least for me “I’m always the guy with the log in his eye.”

2.2 Result.

To treat someone spitefully or hatefully or dismissively is throwing pearls before swine, holy things before dogs. When we sharpen our discernment and judge with Kingdom eyes, we will understand that people (all of them) are holy things to God, and we will stop treating them like they are discardable things to be thrown to the dogs or pigs.

Finally, we must engage in judgement

3 Personally

Matthew 7:7–12 ESV

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

  3.1 Receptive.

  3.2 Generous.

  3.3 Inclusive.

Shut Down

     God came to be with us because this is hard. Human history is a testimony to the hardness of this call. Virtually every time a neuron fires in our brain we are making some kind of distinction and passing judgment. From the team we follow, the music we enjoy, our favorite ice cream, to our favorite person to hate, marginalize, or cancel. In this passage Jesus teaches us to laugh so hard that we cry, at our pointless comparisons, graceless follows, and humiliating likes.

     When we laugh at our faults, and weep at our failures, we are ready to seek the Kingdom together. We must help each other. Make sure that holy things are respected. We must get those logs out of our eyes to help those who have them to remove the specks from theirs. We must learn from Jesus how to love everyone with the discerning eye of grace.