Commanded to Compassion

Dodie Gadient, a schoolteacher for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon rounding a curve on I-5 near Sacramento in rush-hour traffic, a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping.

"Leaning up against the trailer, she prayed, 'Please God, send me an angel . . . preferably one with mechanical experience.' Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard and tattooed arms. With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off and, without even glancing at Dodie, went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of the disabled Chevy, and whisked the whole 56-foot rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump.

The intimidated schoolteacher was too dumbfounded to talk. Especially when she read the paralyzing words on the back of his leather jacket: 'Hell's Angels -- California'. As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, "Thanks so much," and carry on a brief conversation. Noticing her surprise at the whole ordeal, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, "Don't judge a book by its cover. You may not know who you're talking to." With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave, he was gone as fast as he had appeared.

From the newsletter OUR AMERICA. (http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/j/judging.htm)

Matthew 7:1–6 NIV

1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Matthew 7:1–6 The Message

1 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. 2 That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. 3 It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. 4 Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? 5 It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. 6 “Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.

Our culture seems to vacillate between the idea that no one but God can judge us for our life choices and the seeming entitlement we feel to judge the life choices of others. It’s an odd place to be in, where we are constantly screaming about how we don’t want to be judged while simultaneously spending much of our leisure time (think: reality TV shows) judging others. This is not a new phenomenon by any account. It seems to be the reason Jesus preaches on judgment in Matthew 7. And while Jesus has harsh words about judging others for the very things we refuse to acknowledge in ourselves, we sometimes find ourselves confused about what these words actually mean. Does it mean there is no standard? No discipline? Anything goes?

But maybe we are thinking about it all wrong. Maybe Jesus’s call for us to measure others by the measure we want to be judged isn’t a call to be harsher or to just throw up our hands and say anything goes. Perhaps it is a call to look at others, and ourselves, through a lens of grace. Maybe the fastest way to remove the plank is to stop looking for the speck of dust and to look on others, and ourselves, with the grace of God instead.

Not an Isolated Command

It is helpful and important to read verse 1 in conjunction with verse 2, which clarifies what verse 1 means.

Verse 2 says that you will get back what you give out. This context is important because it is not saying that we will not receive judgment but that we will be judged with the same measure of harshness that we use toward others. Verse 2 turns verse 1 into a command that urges us toward compassion and grace: Be on guard because you will be judged to the same degree you are judging those around you.

What Measure Are We Using?

It appears from the text the measure being used for judgment by Jesus’s peers is on a microscopic scale. Because the standard is so high, they are noticing and nitpicking the sawdust in others’ eyes. Sawdust is pretty imperceptible to a common observer, so in order to see it, you would have to be looking pretty closely for it.

There’s also the consideration of the implication of what it means that even “a speck of dust” is being judged. Everybody gets something in their eye now and then. Usually a quick swipe or a blink resolves the issue. Jesus’s words here seem to imply that even our ordinary humanity—which leaves us vulnerable to sometimes getting dust in our eyes—is seen as condemnable in this culture. For the people of God, who understand themselves as created in God’s image and meant to reflect that image to others, this would certainly be a problematic standard to uphold.

There is also the obvious issue of hypocrisy in that those who are making the harsh judgment about the speck of dust are not holding themselves to the same standard because they have a log in their own eye—something that is much harder and much more important to remove than a speck of dust.

Finally, we must consider distortion. Having a log in one’s eye would certainly distort one’s vision. How could someone with that big of a vision impediment be trusted to make any fair or accurate judgments about what they see?

Commanded to Compassion, Not to Judgment

Some interpret these verses as allowing judgment once the log is removed. But consider that removing the log from one’s own eye might resolve the issue entirely. A log could so completely distort one’s vision that, once it is removed, it becomes clear that the speck was never even there in the first place.

Sometimes, when we put in the work to remove the log (often helped along by others journeying with us), we gain empathy and compassion that better position us to help others with their specks. But helping someone from a place of compassion and grace is entirely different than harshly judging someone.

Consider the example of racial justice. We may be blinded by what is in our own eye, and not even realize it. Someone who has worked to remove the log from their own eye may be earnestly and prayerfully trying to help us with our speck so that we can see more clearly. It’s important that we view these efforts not as judgment but as the compassionate, gracious help we need. The process might still be painful—it never feels good to have something stuck in our eye, and the process of dislodging it often causes more pain before we find relief.

Speaking truth is not the equivalent of judgment. This is an important distinction that often gets lost. Our conviction about our blind spots is an opportunity for us to grow. We must seek out truth tellers and learn to distinguish them from harsh judges. Truth tellers, unlike harsh judges, seek the well-being of those they are trying to correct, whereas harsh judges often have no interest in sustained, meaningful relationship.

Judgment seeks to destroy and divide. Earnest care and compassion seek the well-being of the other person. We should be wary of those who point out faults for their own benefit, who seek to be praised for their correction of others, or who wish to say, “I told you so.” These are judges, not truth tellers.iv. Likewise, we should embrace and be grateful for the truth tellers who humble themselves, take care of their own sin, and journey to help others from of a place of genuine humility. We can identify them by the ways they embody the fruit of the Spirit.c. Those who seek the destruction of others are like the dogs and pigs in verse 6. They seek only to attack and destroy.

Removing the Plank from Our Own Eyes

Lent is a time of self-reflection, of fasting, and of repentance. Its purpose is to reveal to us the places we have fallen short of what God has called us to so that we might remove the things that hinder us and move deeper in our relationship with Christ. This is a season of removing planks.

Removing a plank requires acknowledging that there is a plank. One of the challenges in this text is that the person with the plank is so busy looking for specks in the eyes of others that they don’t seem to recognize their own plank. We have to acknowledge that we often fail to recognize our own faults and sins— especially when we are busy pointing out the faults in others.

Removing a plank requires surrender. It wouldn’t take a long conversation with a nurse or doctor to learn that removing something from a flailing person would be impossible. In order to have the object that is impairing us removed, we must surrender to having it removed in the first place. Surrendering to the work of the Spirit may require surrendering to accountability, listening to and learning from others, becoming comfortable with our own discomfort, therapy, spiritual disciplines, or any other ways the Spirit reveals to us that we need work.

When we become people who have done the work to remove the plank from our own eyes, then we in turn can become the compassionate people who seek to remove the splinters and specks of dust from the eyes of others because then it is no longer about judgment, but about grace and healing.

When we shift the focus away from the speck that is in everyone else’s eye to the plank in our own, we dis-cover how far we have to go to live to the standards God has set for us. But most importantly, we are reminded of the immense grace of God.

C.S. Lewis wrote about this in Mere Christianity. He said, "One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons—marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning."

This season of Lent is a time to repent, reflect, and grow, but it should also be a reminder to us of the faithful-ness and grace of God. God does not leave us in our mess but stoops in humility to draw near to us in the midst of it. God is gracious to forgive us, and the Spirit is present to help us grow and transform into Christlikeness.

If the measure God is using to judge us is one of grace, how much more should we extend that grace to those around us? May we remember the grace Christ has extended to us, and extend it to others in turn. May grace ultimately be our measure as we seek to see all come to a place of healing and wholeness.

COMMUNION

RITUAL

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND SUPPLICATION:

Holy God,

We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.

By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

EXPLAIN ELEMENTS

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

CONCLUDING PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND COMMITMENT

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.