Last Sunday we heard Jesus at his most edgy.
Blessed are you who are hungry…woe to you who are full.
Blessed are you who are poor…woe to you who are rich.
Blessed are you who are weeping…woe to you who are laughing.
Blessing are you who are rejected…woe to you who are accepted.
Jesus is like that. Remember he answers a question about eternal life by telling his audience that in the end we will all be judged by whether we visited the prisoner, fed the hungry, clothed the naked. Remember Jesus tells us that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Remember that when Jesus is asked to define truth he tells a story about a Jewish person in the ditch who is passed over by a priest and a lawyer, only rescued by his archrival Samaritan. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch!
I remember a couple whom I had married the week before, they decided to attend a church service, their first ever (neither had any church experience at all). They loved all the references to love sprinkled throughout their wedding service. They loved 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, they loved 1 John 4 (“God is love”) and they overwhelmed by the Song of Solomon 4:9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. But on that Sunday this couple, both from tight-knit families, sat in the pew, their hands clutching each other, their look equal parts anger and shock. I was preaching on Luke 14. A young child, our reader for the day, had proclaimed from the lectern “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” They were not amused.
In some parts of our Gospel Jesus certainly sounds quite judgmental doesn’t he? And yet…this morning Mary read us this verse "Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge (others) so you might not be condemned (by God). Do not condemn (others) so you might not be condemned (by God). Acquit (others) and you will be acquitted (by God).”
Luke 6:37 "judge…condemn…acquit" These three verbs describe the powers of a magistrate. Jesus used legal terms to remind his followers that these were powers best left to God, the eternal judge. In a more positive vein, Jesus implied when people refrained from these activities, they were living in the Kingdom, living as if the ultimate Judgment had already taken place. Place yourself under the mercy of a just God, Jesus seemed to say, and realize life in the Kingdom here and now.
My takeaway from these contrasting narratives of Jesus, the prophet who comes to judge our sinful ways and attitudes and the lover who comes to embrace our human condition and offer us unconditional love, is that ultimate judgment is to be left to God. That is to say whether someone is judged for the totality of their actions and attitudes is entirely, 100%, left to God and God alone. None of us know what the deeper relationship that exists between someone else and God. We are NOT to be speaking on behalf of God, not now, not ever.
But there is another type of “judgment” that is impossible to avoid. Obviously as a Christian I stand for a compassionate society based on the life, words and sacrificial life of Jesus. For that stance to have any meaning I need to hold others and myself to that standard. If all kinds of behavior, ethical decision-making or mindsets are equally valid and worthy it makes a mockery of the high standards Jesus set for his followers.
So let’s go back to the “judgmental” pronouncements of Jesus. Imagine you are a parent and you are trying to model, to witness, to inspire, your child to be a better person you will eventually need to draw some contrasts. The blessings and woe to you verses from last week speak to the values of the Kingdom Jesus ushered in. We are not of value to God because we are rich, or full, or laughing or accepted. We are of value to God because we belong to God, God created us and God loves us. It is not our wealth (rich young ruler) that makes us special, it is not our family that makes us special, it is not our ethnicity that makes us special. It is our citizenship in the Kingdom of God, it is our basic humanity, that makes us loved and therefore we are to extend that grace-filled blessing of love to others.
Being “judgmental” about what is good and what is not is hardly radical or scary. What is problematic about this kind of judgment is a lack of humility, when we begin to go beyond actions and attitudes and judge people in some ultimate way. Everyone is worthy of respect, love and belonging. But none of us are exempt from the judgment that comes with attempting to live into this Kingdom. I might question the lifestyle decisions you make that affect the planet we both love, that our Creator gifted us, but I can never question the love God has for you, that God has for me.
But I want to return to the theme of humility. I think humility is key to understanding judgment. As Christians we leave the big questions to God and God’s wisdom. We can’t, we don’t, know the answers to the larger questions of judgment. That is lesson #1 in humility. Lesson #2 in humility is this, if I am going to stand in judgment of you on something, anything, I open myself up to your judgment if I am doing the very same thing. Hypocrite! That is a word Jesus used for those who judged him and judged his followers. If you judge me for X and you do X as well that makes you a hypocrite. Being humble in one’s judgment, making it clear we have unclean hands ourselves, we struggle to live the Kingdom’s values as well, this goes a long way to mitigating our self-righteousness.
Dr. Jeremy Sherman is a philosopher and social science researcher who studies the natural history and everyday practicalities of decision making. This is what he says about humility and judgment, referencing that famous expression, “People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at other people's glass houses":
Instead of not throwing stones, I try to throw stones in pairs. For every one I throw at someone else's glass house, I try to throw one at the equivalent place on my house. For example, when I criticize someone else's approach I try to find an analog to their approach in my approach. Likewise, when I get angry at someone's bad behavior I try to temper my temper with recollections of my comparably bad behavior. By throwing stones at my own house, I discover the weaker windows, places where there's room for improvement and therefore where I need to do some home repair and remodeling. Throwing stones at other people's glass houses, I express the value I place on my fallible yet evolving, improvable and improving powers of judgment. By pairing the stones aimed at their houses with stones aimed at mine, I actively devalue my natural, inevitable but limiting and limitable self-serving double standards. At least that's the goal, my formula for speaking my mind not obnoxiously.
From glass houses one shouldn't throw stone?
How else can my standards be shown?
I throw them in pairs
One at mine; one at theirs
Holding me to my standards helps hone.
You will recall a dinner party where a tired Jesus sat, no doubt waiting for a sustaining meal and supportive company. And then…They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.” Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.” Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.” Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.” He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.” She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.” Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well. Even Jesus had his moments of judgment thrown back at him. This woman was right and Jesus knew it, he humbly “gave in” and shifted his approach. Jesus’ judgment was met with the judgment of a heartbroken mother and from this humble exchange came a reckoning with truth and justice.
My friends as a preacher I will occasionally need to “afflict the comfortable”. Please understand I do this with love, holding myself to the same standards. In fact, living within the challenges of our Christian community we are called to keep each other accountable. And I know you will do the same for me. And have. No less than the Apostle Paul would do this with his letters. Paul understood all too well the wisdom of Dr. Sherman, when he “threw stones” Paul threw the first one at himself, his own shortcomings, his own mistakes.
It is human to judge, it is only God who can make judgments about the larger questions of human life. So as we hold one another accountable with these small stones occasionally thrown at glass houses know the first one you throw should always be at your own home. That is what humility does. That is what keeps up from being self-righteous. That is what helps us to be understanding and gentle with one another. That is what it means to live as though the Kingdom was here, now. Because it is. Amen.