Midweek - Ask, Seek, Knock (Matthew 7)
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Show video “Labels We Carry”
How many of us have ever felt labeled? How did it make you feel?
Now, How many of us have ever labeled someone?
Tonight I want to think about, “How often have you got in the way of the gospel message because you judged people to not be worthy of the gospel message.”
Because of a Facebook post where you made someone feel out of place for not fitting into your mold.
Because you were talking about that person at work for being different.
Just said mean things because of your insecurities.
In our clip, we see the ultimate teaching of Jesus Sermon On The Mount we are to Love God and Love Others.
Tonight, I am going to give you upfront, What I want You to Know… Here it goes...
We love God, by showing love to others. This means approaching people with a pure heart, offering them empathy not judgment, giving them freedom to accept or reject God’s love and calling for their life.
Let’s begin...
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“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? 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? 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.
“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.
So, we are going to break this down into three sections:
The teaching.
The Example.
The Warning.
The Teaching.
The Teaching.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Two things, I want to point out here.
The first thing is this teaching is not telling us not to discern or seek to help people to understand the truth or the sin in their life..
Let’s look at some scriptures:
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,
So, we can see that is scripture does not contradict itself, then we are commanded in various passages that we should intervene in the lives of those brothers and sisters who are sinning or heading down a path that can hurt them or people outside who we are trying to share the gospel with. But that doing it must be done with a measure of love. It begins with asking the question, Am I being judgmental or am I seeking to help?
Look at the second part of this teaching.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
I don’t know about you but I got enough baggage of my own that I will bring before God. I don’t need any other reason for Him to judge me harshly and that is what Jesus is saying here. Don’t judge others with bad intentions, because those same standards of judgment will be used against you on judgment day.
The Example
The Example
“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?
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?
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.
Jesus is pointing out our propensity to put others lower than ourselves, I would argue to serve our own self interest.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye.
Well, Jesus they made me angry and I have been looking for payback.
Well, Jesus, I struggle with that same sin and it makes me feel better to call it out in them.
Well, Jesus, that is what you told me to do, I am supposed to force people to be what you want them to be.
Jesus answer in this example. (Pick up the 2x4) “get the plank out of your eye first”
Now this is not an excuse to not help others. Scripture is clear we are to encourage and at times admonish one another. He is not telling us here that unless you are perfect, you cannot help people with their issues or sins. But he is saying, come to the situation with the right intentions.
We think of this plank as only being our sins, and to some extent it is, but this plank is also my intentions.
Why am I wanting to correct this behaviour in my brother or sister. Is it to help them or is it to make me feel better or hide my guilt. If you do not have their best in mind, you will not approach it with the right frame of mind. You will not be seeking to help them in love.
Remember, I will say it again, the book of Matthew has as its core tenant, “Loving God, Loving others.”
We should be people who are practicing empathy, not judgment.
I stumbled across this video a few years ago by Brene Brown that I think captures the thoughts of Matthew 7 by helping us understand the difference between empathy and sympathy. Let’s watch it:
Show Brene Brown Video:
Connection, that is what this teaching is about it is creating connections with others that allow you to walk with them through their sin and pain to help them in their faith walk.
See, we seek to help them by coming alongside of people in their moment of weakness and by showing them love and sharing with them Jesus, with right intentions, the hope is that they will see the error in their ways and come back or if they have not accepted Jesus, they will move closer to Him.
But what happens when someone doesn’t want to listen. What if they do not want to change? They want to flaunt their sin and their choice to not move toward loving God and loving others.
This is the warning.
The Warning.
The Warning.
“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.
Who are dogs or swine in Jesus teachings? Typically they are used to represent people who reject the gospel or Jesus teachings.
What are the pearls? Something valuable of course. What is valuable to Jesus? The Gospel. People who follow Him. Obedience to the Father.
So, Jesus is saying if you try and help people by presenting this the gospel or you try and help them in their sin and they do not listen to you. Then walk away before they tear you to pieces.
Now does this flesh out in scripture.
What does Jesus tell the disciples in Matthew 10 to do when you go into the town and present the gospel to people and they will not listen?
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.
What about someone you confront with their sin, but they will not listen?
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
What does Paul tell Corinth to do about the step son who is sleeping with His step mom and will not repent?
So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
Yes. The concept of trying to help, but when someone refuses help, walking away is Biblical. It is the loving thing to do, because the hope is one day they will be open to coming to Jesus. But, if we continue to push, it can have negative consequences.
So, we will end with what I want you to know:
We love God, by showing love to others. This means approaching people with a pure heart, offering them empathy not judgment, giving them freedom to accept or reject God’s love and calling for their life.
What I want you to do is get in groups and discuss what this means in your life and our life as a church:
In what ways have you found yourself being judgmental of others? What was your motivation to be judgmental?
If you were judged today by the grace you show to others how much grace would you be given?
What planks do you need to remove?
When do you know it is time to talk away?