Won't You Be My Neighbor-See Your Neighbor
Is it important how we view our neighbor? Jesus thinks it is.
When I arrived in the sanctuary and saw the scripture, the first thought that came to mind was, "Oh, it's 'Judge Not' today. Let's see where this goes." I will give you the scripture now so you'll be in roughly the same mindset as I was when Pastor Kristen Lee's message began. Here it is.
1 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2 "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3 "Why do you look at 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,' and behold, the log is 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.
Matthew 7:1–5 (NASB95)
Normally, my attention is drawn to the pieces people avoid, leave out, or stop before. Those parts tend to be "in the way you judge, you will be judged" and "your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." Yes, those two parts are of the same verse but tend to be divided and left out for different reasons. Most people using this passage focus on the "Do not judge" portion and stay right there. That's what I expected, but that's not what I got.
On this occasion, though, my attention was drawn to the words "mote" and "beam" from the King James Version. The NASB translates them as "speck" and "log." The point is that the mote or speck is a fleck of sawdust floating in the air, very tiny, very miniscule. You almost can't see a speck/mote unless it drifts through a beam of sunlight at just the right angle. Otherwise, this particle is practically unnoticeable. However, the point is that a mote or speck is still a piece of wood that got put up in the air by the carpenter when he was working a piece of wood.
On the other hand, a beam or a log is a very large piece of wood. Typically, and especially with a log, this was a rough-cut piece of timber waiting to be worked and shaped into stock that was more useful for some other purpose. But, it was a large piece of wood that took a great deal of effort to move around, sometimes two people, before it would be worked on. In some cases, one person could manage it, but it was very obvious and very prominent, and no one missed it in the workshop. Jesus intentionally used these two words to set off that very imagery in His listener's heads. Why?
Because we tend to nitpick other people's faults and go to great lengths to make excuses for our own, we also do that to people we admire and support. It is a fault almost as egregious as the one we are either pointing out or overlooking. Depending on how militant we are in avoiding our own faults, it can be a greater affront than the fault ever could be. Regardless, it is certainly off-putting for those who see it happen and should be avoided.
All that was not in the message. Pastor Lee opened with the history of National Public Radio, NPR. Her point was to make it to Mister Rogers. Fred Rogers will be a theme in this sermon series, which you should have guessed based on the series title from his fantastic show. If you're interested in NPR's history, you can find the wiki HERE.
The NPR history was pertinent and important because of their funding battle under Nixon. Senator John Pastore chaired the Senate sub-committee holding hearings on whether or not NPR would receive $20 million of funding in the US budget. This was from May 1, 1969. I'll link the video. It is just under seven minutes long and well worth the watch.
Pastor Lee's point was that Fred Rogers put out a vision for demonstrating to children that "Feelings are mentionable and manageable" and that if he could present kids with a "Meaningful expression of care," things would move in the right direction as regards mental health for children, at least as much as he was able to affect it himself. He recites a song titled What Do You Do With the Mad that You Feel? I encourage you to watch the seven-minute video for that part alone toward the end.
It was at this point she read the scripture for the sermon. She linked today's passages to the third pillar of Judaism, which she said was acts of kindness. You can find a single article that defines the three pillars HERE. I want to stop a moment and talk about this. Make sure you click through and read the fifth paragraph in that article that summarizes the three pillars.
To sum up, here, 1-Torah or God's Law, which the article calls a covenant. 2-The land meaning God's Promised Land to His people (which explains quite a bit about why Israel is willing to defend their country so vehemently.) 3-the idea of a "Priestly People" and in light of how Pastor Lee presented it, I take to mean behaving differently from other people in accordance with Torah. By that, I mean following God's Law, His Ways, and His Word. But how does that line up with Pastor Lee's idea of doing deeds of "kindness?"
Pastor Lee's point was that this is Jesus' point in the Matthew scripture of today, and it was a commandment to God's people in the Old Testament or Torah. But what is that commandment? It is one we have heard many, many times.
15'You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
16'You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.
17'You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.
18'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:15–18 (NASB95)
Levitical law gives the Jews and Christians quite a bit about how to treat a neighbor. I want to bring up a point here that Pastor Lee also mentioned, and honestly, I was shocked to hear a pastor from a modern pulpit admit this. She said that we do, in fact, judge people all day long. What did she mean by that?
She used a very Christian word: discern.
Discernment
dih-surn-muhnt, -zurn-
noun
the faculty of discerning; discrimination; acuteness of judgment and understanding.
the act or an instance of discerning.
We apply our understanding and experience of having lived as long as we have to make decisions all day long. We use our discernment to decide what we think is best in all sorts of decisions throughout our day; we decide what to eat, where to go, what to say if we answer that phone call or text, whether or not we are going to type that text, email, or social media response, etc. All day long, we make judgment calls; we discern the right course of action. Note that in the Leviticus reading above, verse fifteen, God explains how to judge our neighbors. God knows we will judge people, and that's not a bad thing here because we have to make decisions about right and wrong. God has also given us guidance in Old Testament scripture about how to make godly decisions instead of worldly decisions. It's okay to make these judgment calls. So, why is this scripture being preached today, and what does it mean when Jesus says, "Do not judge?"
Flawed and fallen earthly people, some with no malice of intent and others knowing full well they pervert Christ's meaning, have implied that Jesus means we shouldn't judge other's actions as right or wrong. That's just not correct. We are called to have a very clearly defined moral sense of right and wrong, but it is to be guided by what God thinks is right and wrong, not what Man thinks is right and wrong. That doesn't explain why Jesus says not to judge and how He isn't creating a contradiction. Pastor Lee set that straight quite clearly.
We are not called to condemn anyone to Hell for what they do or do not do. Period. "But I can't send anyone to Hell any more than I can forgive someone of their sins and send them to Heaven." Really?
15 "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
17 "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
Matthew 18:15–20 (NASB95)
I read that scripture as empowering with a great deal of authority for us as individuals. It is a power we should not wield lightly or without care. I want to put that passage next to a verse from today's passage because the two hold grave implications for each of us.
2 "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
Matthew 7:2 (NASB95)
Here's why this should give everyone reading this pause. You are going to judge others. You are. I am. We all are. It is the nature of fallen humanity that we will look at our neighbors and decide we like them and don't like these other people. If you don't think it will happen, get in your car and drive on the interstate for any length of time. You will judge someone, and rather quickly, I should think.
If what I've said is true that we will judge someone, then here is another passage from today's scripture you might already have in your head.
1 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
Matthew 7:1 (NASB95)
These three passages should be concerning if you believe and understand, you will judge others. I am going to judge other people, so I will be judged (Matt 7:1.) Therefore, how I judge them is how I will be judged (Matt 7:2.) So, the way I judge people, what I decide about them has eternal implications for me because the standards I expect other people to meet will be the standards by which God decides my fate (Matt 18:15-20.)
This takes on even more weight when we get to Pastor Lee's next point.
The suggestion in today's scripture that we must first deal with the speck in our eye before we deal with the log we perceive in our neighbor's eye has serious meaning. Jesus didn't say that we might have a speck in our eye. Jesus said we do have a speck. What He means there is that we do have flaws, are sinning, and are breaking God's laws. It is not a question of maybe. It is a statement of fact that we are. And so are our neighbors. The implication is that I am one hundred percent guilty of sin that God doesn't like, just like the people I am looking at and pointing fingers at when I judge who I like and don't like. If I ask God for justice for them instead of extending them forgiveness and grace, that is what God will give me, justice.
Wait a minute. That means God will give me what I deserve, just like I asked God to give those others what they deserve. I don't want justice for myself. I want forgiveness, but if I can't be willing to let those other people get forgiveness for the things I think they've done wrong, how will I get it for myself? The answer is I won't. Be careful what you wish for.
Pastor Lee showed a video of Jeff Earlanger meeting Fred Rogers at this point. I'll link that video, too. It was a very interactive audio/visual sermon on Sunday.
For those who don't watch it, Jeff Erlanger was a young boy confined to a wheelchair because a tumor destroyed nerves in his spinal cord. Pastor Lee's point in showing the video was to present Mister Rogers asking Jeff what happened to put him in the wheelchair. He didn't avoid something so obvious and integral to who Jeff was. He asked about it but with care and compassion to discover who Jeff was. Fred Rogers connected with that young man for who he was without flinching away or avoiding the obvious. He cared. He asked because it touched his heart to know how this happened so he could evaluate if there was anything he could do to help. It was a closing example of how to treat our neighbor.
The question that came to mind from that video and the closing comments in the sermon is this. Is anyone not deserving of being seen, loved, and cared for? Anyone, even that person, who cut you off in traffic or carried thirteen items into the ten items or less line at the grocery store? Who should be denied Love, Grace, and Mercy? Be careful how you answer that because I guarantee someone on earth can answer that differently, which might affect us as individuals. God bless and Godspeed.