Judge Not

Thank you, Mr. Keener, and good afternoon again to everyone. I wonder whenever we looked at this room, having the piano in the back, how easily that would work. I don't know whether that's easy to do or not. I think it's probably better if it's up front, but if not, they thought this would set up well. And actually, I don't believe that they use this particular room just a whole lot. They have a bigger sanctuary over here, and of course, a community room that we use. And then, actually, this little part of the building right here was the very first part of this building. This was what was here, initially. And then, of course, they later built on the other things. So, we hope that we will maybe learn a little about the air. I think there may be some air here, but it's not too bad today, hopefully. And we'll be able to figure that out for the times here in the future. But, I did want to just pass on to all of you, as I mentioned earlier, just how much the Lukeurs enjoyed getting to talk to you. Be able to see how the congregation is doing here. To see that, actually, what we can actually say, and of course, Lonnie mentioned this in the sermonette. We are our first fruits. God is working with us in a particular way, at a particular time, at His calling, at His choosing. And, thankfully for us, that's something that we can appreciate, that we can be grateful for. And, as Mr. Luecker was mentioning, we, as far as members here in the United Church of God, we have been tested. We have been tested, and in many ways, I think we have been proven. And we have been found to be sound and stable. And I hope that we understand that the reason for that is because of our reliance on God. That's really what we want to continue to remember. And we have continued work that we want to do. A telecast through the different magazines, through the public Bible lectures, that we hope to have here later on in the summer, or as we get into the first part of fall into September. I'm not sure exactly when that's going to happen. But, at that point, we certainly hope that we will have some people become more interested, and that God would draw and call more people into the connection with the Church, and connection with all of us. And as He does that, I know that we've got instruction in different sections of the Bible, some of which I want to cover today. Instruction that tells us that we want to be a type of congregation that is welcoming, is accepting of other people, is open to actually creating a healthy environment for people to come into. And each of us play a part in that. It's not me. I could, I guess, run people off. I hope I wouldn't. Certainly if I go too long, I know you all probably would leave. Actually, with these chairs, you might stay. You might stay, but you might be kind of slumped over in the chair. These are awfully nice chairs to be able to move these. I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson. These are in here. I think we inquired about that as well. Are we inquired about these chairs here, and are there any more? Because we thought we might need a few more. I guess at times we might need a few more.

And they have a few scattered around that are not right in this room, but most of them are in this room. So hopefully, all of us can be very comfortable here. But the instruction that we're given is that as a congregation and as individual Christians, we each have a responsibility toward other people. Again, I wanted to cover a section today that I think in some ways could be misunderstood, but in other ways may be very, very clear. And this is in the book of Matthew, starting in chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7 is a part of the Sermon on the Mount. But here in Matthew 7, you read in the first verse, you probably know what it says.

You can probably quote what it says. But in the King James it says, Judge not. Judge not, lest you also be judged. For with the judgment that you make, you will be judged, and with the measure you give, that will be the measure that you will get. Now, what is Jesus talking about? Well, He is not telling us to never make any kind of a judgment, because we all have to make judgments about our lives. We have to make judgments about the way of life that we're living, as opposed to the way of life we are moving away from.

We have to make decisions in that regard. We have to be able to discern good and evil, right and wrong, false and true. We need to be discerning in that way. And of course, that is a part of the Christianity that we are living. But that's really not what this is talking about, because this is really talking about, and I would just tell you up front, I believe when we read this whole section, maybe we should go ahead and read the rest, because it becomes very clear when you read the rest of it, and when you read the account that we will in Luke, it becomes very clear what this is talking about.

It says in verse 3, again, thinking about this in context of, do not judge or judge not. Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but you don't notice the log or the beam that is in your own eye? You know, that's really what Jesus is talking about. Why do people tend to have a kind of an inclination to want to take a look at everybody else, instead of what they really can benefit, not only themselves and others, by doing, because this is what he's explaining.

Why would you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but not notice the log in your own? How can you say to your neighbor, let me take this speck out of your eye while the log is in your own eye?

He says in verse 5, you hypocrite, this is what you should do. 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. See, what would you say this is talking about? What would you say this section is describing? Well, it's describing looking at other people and looking at ourselves.

It points out, really, the first thing that we need to do is to judge ourselves, and then be able, with an attitude of understanding our own flaws, understanding our own limitations, understanding the things that affect us and how we're aversely affected. I don't know if this necessarily is solely just speaking about sin, because in most cases, whenever we're dealing with the type of situation described here, I think it often is just dealing with not necessarily sins, but just differences that people have.

Because we can make judgmental comments about people's clothes or about other things, maybe even about their health. Those are things that we could think about or wonder about. And, of course, in most cases, everybody is different. All of us are different. And as we have new people, I would hope, coming into our congregation, there could be a variety of different ideas and things that people would have, even as they're in a process of learning.

And so, are we quick to point something out, or are we learning to judge ourselves and realize that this whole section is actually talking about how to love one another? That's what I get out of this. Whenever I read how Jesus is framing this, He said, this is talking about how to judge or how to love one another by not being judgmental, by not being a judgmental person.

See, this is really what He is saying. If we look over to chapter 6, I think you kind of see a similar ... Excuse me, I'm moving over to Luke. Luke 6 has the parallel passage to this. And it says here in Luke 6, verse 37, Again, do not judge, and you will not be judged.

It goes on to say, do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. But forgive, and you will be forgiven. See, as it is outlined in Matthew, it's really talking about how to show love, how to help, how to serve, how to encourage and uplift someone else. Here, it almost talks about not judging in a judgmental, accusatory, critical attitude, but being willing to forgive, being understanding that all of this is connected.

And I think in many ways, the phrase to begin with there in verse 37, probably could be best understood by just, do not be judgmental, lest that will be returned to us. See, that obviously is not what we want. We don't want to be criticized.

We don't want to be accused. We don't want to be condemned. And so, we certainly don't want to be that way toward others. He gave them a parable in verse 39, can a blind person guide a blind person? Well, not they both fall in the ditch. Well, that's certainly the case. We need to be able to see our own, as he mentioned, see our own sin.

He said, he goes through this same example about seeing a small speck or a small difficulty with someone else, but missing our own big difficulties. That's what he mentions. And in the last part of verse 42, again, you hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye, and then you'll see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbors. What it's talking about is not having a judgmental attitude toward others. You can discern right from wrong, and clearly we all would for ourselves, and we, in a sense, can for others.

At least we know what we do, that we are obeying God. Actually, God outlines what's right and wrong. He outlines how it is that He wants us to live. But there are actually many, many situations where, you know, we contend, and I'm sure this is why Jesus even pointed this out in the Sermon on the Mount, it's too easy for people to look at others and not look at ourselves first.

And so I want to just encourage us not to fall into that trap. Because in a sense, it is a trap. It's easy to do. That's why He's setting. It's easy to be judgmental, and it is kind of a trap that we can fall prey to.

I'd like to look at a few different examples here that are, I think, very... they're kind of glaring examples. But they're nonetheless examples that can help us, perhaps, remember the need to not be judgmental toward others, to be understanding, to be accepting, to be welcoming of others. You know, we need to have the focus of judging be on ourselves.

So here in Mark chapter 2, I'd like to go through several different examples here. Actually, I talked a fair amount during the Days of Unleavened Bread about the Pharisees. And it's clearly the wrong attitude of heart that they had. You know, their hearts were hardened. Their hearts were against Jesus Christ. They did not like Him. They did not want Him around.

They did not appreciate the fact that He came to reveal the Father. I don't know that they ever figured that out. They were really, in many ways, just clueless. Because they would never even pay attention to what He said.

But what we find in the writing of the Gospels, where it describes the interaction with the Pharisees that Jesus had. You find Scripture written about, well, what was wrong with the way the Pharisees were looking at it. They clearly didn't want to accept Him as the Son of God. They didn't want to appreciate what He had to say. But they clearly had an attitude toward Him. Here in Mark 2, you see this example. Verse 1, they returned to Capernaum.

Verse 2, many gathered around and were no longer room for them, not even in front of the room or in front of the door. He was speaking words to them. In verse 3, some people came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man who was carried by four of them. And when they could not bring Him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him. And after having dug through it, they let Him down on a mat on which the man lay. So you're familiar with that account of this individual being brought to Jesus. Very extraordinary situation. They let Him down through the roof. They put Him right in front of Him. In verse 5, it says, when Jesus saw their faith, they'd actually gone through a good amount of work to pick this man up, to get Him where they could lower Him and get Him right down here in front of wherever Jesus was speaking.

Whenever Jesus saw that they had faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, Your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there. What were they doing? Were they thankful that this man was being healed? Were they grateful that he was coming to Jesus to get something that he desperately wanted and needed and he couldn't even help himself in there? Had to have other people help him down. You know, they were so hardened. They were so jaded. It says, when they saw what Jesus had done, the scribes who were sitting there questioning in their heart, see, they were actually even going to condemn Jesus for what He was going to do.

He says, some of the scribes sitting there questioning in their heart, they said, Why does this fellow speak in this way? This is blasphemy. Who can forgive sin but God alone? See, what was it that they had to say about a miracle that was going to be performed right before their eyes? Well, since they were questioning in their heart, since they were a condemning group, they would make judgments and then pass those on to other people condemning, and that's what they were doing to Jesus, they were condemning Him for helping this person.

And of course, it was Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they were discussing these questions among them. He says, Why do you raise questions in your heart? Which is it easier to say? Your sins are forgiven, or stand up and take your mat and walk. So that you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin.

He said to the paralytic, I say to you, stand up and take your mat and go to your home. See, He was performing a miracle. He was helping this individual, and yet the scribes here in this case, were condemning Jesus for what He was doing.

See, they were very judgmental. They were very critical of what He had to do, what He had to say, and how He did it. Here in Luke 7, another example, we'll come back to Mark, but here in Luke 7, you see another situation. Again, I think we need to keep this in mind to avoid the trap of being judgmental, as these Pharisees and scribes clearly were.

Here in Luke 7, verse 36, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with Him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and took His place at the table. Verse 37, that a woman in the city who was his sinner, having learned that He was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment, and she stood behind Jesus at His feet, weeping, and began to bathe His feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. She continued kissing His feet and anointing them with the ointment.

Now, we, I think, read of a similar situation. We're married. Martha's sister anointed Jesus. I think this is a different time. It is recorded a couple of different times, and, of course, Jesus doesn't refuse either one of these. See, this was done to honor the Son of God. This was done to show respect.

This was done to show appreciation for who she, perhaps, was even coming to see is the Son of God. But what's the reaction? In verse 39, now the Pharisees, or the Pharisee who had invited Him to His house, when He saw it, He said to Himself, if this man were a prophet, He would have known who and what kind of woman this is who was touching Him because everybody knows she is a sinner.

See, what was His attitude? What was His outlook? Well, again, it was one of condemning Jesus because His heart, wanted to condemn Jesus. And He points out, well, very critically, probably sarcastically, well, surely He should know what kind of woman this is, and if He were really a prophet, He wouldn't allow this to take place. Well, apparently, the Pharisee thought He knew far better than Jesus.

Apparently, He thought this was something to criticize. Apparently, He thought this should be condemned. Again, this was coming from His heart. Let's back up to Mark again. Mark 3. Mark 3, verse 1. He enters the synagogue. The man was there with the withered hand. And see, those who were around Him, the Jews and the Pharisees, they watched Him to see whether He would cure Him on the Sabbath.

That would be a horrible thing. That would be not according to their tradition. That would be not according to what they thought was right. But here in verse 2, they watched Him to see whether He would cure Him on the Sabbath so that they might, what? Accuse Him. So that they might accuse Him. And so He said to the man who had the withered hand come forward, and He said to them, Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save wife or to kill?

And they were silent. And He looked around at them with anger and was grieved. What was He really grieved over? Well, He was grieved at the hardness of their heart. And they said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And He stretched out His hand, and His hand was restored. And the Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Jesus to see if they could figure out how to destroy Him.

Again, another example, almost every interaction you have between the Pharisees and between Jesus is going to involve the Pharisees being judgmental of Jesus Christ. Looking down on Him, conspiring against Him, accusing Him, condemning Him for what He did or for what He was even considering doing, because that was what it looks like it was, even before He did anything.

They were there in a judgmental attitude. And of course, the last verse there, all of them, they wanted to get together to try to destroy Him, to try to get rid of Him, but their purpose was to accuse Him. Let's go on over to chapter 7. Chapter 7, verse 1. Now, when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Him, they noticed that some of the disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. So here's a little different situation.

We read partly about this type of thing here last week. It says in verse 3, The Pharisees and the Jews did not eat unless they washed their hands, thoroughly washed their hands, as observing the tradition of the elders. They did not eat anything from the market unless they wash it.

And there were also many traditions that they observed the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles. So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, again, in an accusatory, in a condemning, and I think you could say in this case, a very critical way, Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but they eat with defiled hands?

And of course He had to go ahead and tell them, What you're actually doing is that you people are honoring Me with your lip, and yet your heart is far from Me. And what you do is teach for doctrines the commandments of men. And so He pointed out that their whole way of looking at everything was just completely wrong. And yet what I want to point out with this little section here in the first part of Mark 7 is that as they watched, just the initial exchange here, as they saw that these disciples, even before they were able to go on further and even to find out more about what Jesus was going to do, and they certainly didn't want to hear what He had to say about how defiled they really were, but what it says here is that as they saw the disciples with unwashed hands, they were looking at them in order to find fault.

I think that's what your King James or New King James says. So they were doing that in order to find fault. They were trying to be critical. They were trying to be accusatory. And they were trying certainly to condemn everything that Jesus had done.

And you find this recorded in numerous places throughout the exchanges between Jesus and the Pharisees, where their attitude was one of being judgmental and critical. And of course, that's an example to all of us of what to stay away from, what to avoid. Whenever we think about being critical or judgmental, actually, judgmental individuals tend, I think, to make others uncomfortable. That's something that we clearly want to keep in mind, because it's not really easy to be around people who are very judgmental. And of course, this could occur within a congregation. It could occur within your own family. It could occur between husband and wife, as far as being judgmental or critical of one another. And yet, we don't make ourselves very easy to be around, if that actually is the case. And usually, a judgmental person gives another person the feeling of being judged kind of all the time. And that is clearly something to avoid, clearly within our family situations. And yet, we can make others feel uncomfortable and uneasy. And that certainly is very unpleasant. And unfortunately, whenever you look at even what the Pharisees did, and should we fall into that type of trap, sometimes you find that people get satisfaction in finding fault with others, because in a sense, well, someone else is worse than I am. I mean, that kind of builds up or elevates the individual who is being judgmental. So, I'd like to go on from here, which just really points out how it is that I think Jesus was describing in Matthew 7 and in Luke, about how we should not be judgmental toward others. What's the perfect example? Well, I'd like for us to look at John chapter 8.

Because here we have another exchange. Another exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. And in many ways, they're still accusatory, they're still critical, they're still judgmental. But they are not, in this case, judgmental toward Jesus, they're judgmental toward a certain woman. Here in John 8, it says in verse 2, Early in the morning Jesus came to the temple, and all the people came to Him and sat down, and He began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. And making her stand before all of them, they said, So here it is. They have managed to be able to catch a woman in the act of adultery. Of course, how the man got away, we never know. And we can never figure that out. When you read this, you can never figure out how that that... Was it possibly one of their friends that they let slide? I don't know. I mean, it doesn't say. And so, it's just unusual, whenever you read this account, that they would only be bringing one person to Jesus to see what He would say. But clearly, perhaps they were rightly judging, well, that this was wrong. But what they were doing is that they were being very critical, very accusatory. And of course, not only did they want to embarrass her, making her stand before all of them, they said, Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now, in the law of Moses, commanded us to stone such women, what do you say? Of course, that was a set up. That was a trap. They were wanting to try to somehow create a situation where Jesus could be accused. And so, they were still being judgmental toward Him and being accusatory. But it says in verse 6, kind of what the situation is. They said this to test Him. They didn't really want to know. Probably, they weren't going to pay attention to whatever He had to say. But He says that they did this to test Him, so that they might have some charge to bring against Him. And so, they were doing it with ulterior motives. They were doing it to elevate themselves and to try to denigrate Christ. Whatever they could get on Him, they could use that to accuse Him. They could use that to damage Him. But what we find was that Jesus bent down and broke with His finger on the ground. And whatever He wrote, I again don't know whether He wrote different commentaries comment about what He wrote. Possibly, He must have written something that they could take a look at. I don't think He probably put 1 plus 1 equals 2. I doubt that that was it. Maybe He was listing other things. I don't know. He would clearly have been aware of some of the problems. Maybe He wrote down the name of the man who they somehow missed. I don't know. Nonetheless, when they kept on questioning Him, and He straightened up and said to them, Well, let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. Again, He was able to always be ahead of them. He always knew what the right answer was. He always was able to tell them something that they needed to do. See, what is He really saying? He said, well, first, you need to take a look at yourself. That's what He said back in Matthew 7. If you're going to be of any help to someone else, then you're going to have to take a look at yourself, and then, with humility, with compassion, with love, with forgiveness, try to help someone, that would be the only way that that could really be successful. The only way it could really work.

After saying, let anyone without sin be the first to throw a stone, and once again He bent down and rode on the ground, and so perhaps He continued whatever He had been writing before, and when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning from the oldest, and Jesus was left alone with a woman standing before Him. And so, it didn't seem to take very long for everyone who had gathered together to see how it was that they were able to criticize and get the upper hand on Jesus. It didn't take very long for all of them to disappear, but it says in verse 10, Jesus straightened up and said to her woman, Where are your accusers?

Where are those who condemn you? Where are those who have judged you and are critically judging you, very judgmental toward you? Has no one condemned you? So, He asked the question, and of course, He said, Well, no one has. You know, they're all gone. Everyone has disappeared. No one wanted to take the bait. No one wanted to start throwing stones because they all knew, you know, well, we're sinners as well. Or, at least Jesus seems to know we are, because maybe He wrote some things that were incriminating against them.

But see, the perfect example that we have of love, the perfect example that we have of being concerned, about being welcoming, about being accepting, about being loving toward other people is here in verse 11. Jesus said, Well, all the rest of the guys have fled. No one is here to accuse you.

But in verse 11, He says, Neither do I condemn you, but go and sin no more. Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, do not sin again. See, what He actually told her, well, you know, even though He would have the ability to tell someone, you were wrong and you need to change, He didn't even do that. He said, I don't condemn you. And I just point out that as you go forward, stop sinning, repent, change, and go forward. See, that's the perfect example that Jesus gives of accepting and receiving others.

See, He wasn't trying to embarrass her. He wasn't trying to make her feel ashamed, which maybe surely she already was. She had been humiliated. She had actually been in almost an abusive situation with these Pharisees, taking her and bringing her before Christ and setting her up in this way. And yet, Jesus' example is that, well, I'm not condemning you, and certainly others should not as well, but just simply go and sin no more.

That's what He told her. And that, of course, I think is an example that we want to keep in mind as we look at each other and as we look at others as they come into our fellowship, as they become a part of the Church of God, I think they want to be seeing a reflection of what Jesus said and what He did and how He acted, how He respected other people. I'd like to go to the latter part of the book of Romans here for just a couple of different sections here, because, see, this was a problem that different of the congregations that Paul wrote to had. Paul wrote to the people of Rome, he wrote to Corinth and Galatians, Ephesus, Philippi, he wrote to numerous different of the congregations, and actually different ones of those congregations had different difficulties.

And here in Rome, he points out that they did have a particular problem, because they were judgmental toward each other. They tended to try to pit one against the other. They tended to be, in a sense, hypocritical and in other ways at least condemning and accusatory of others. But here in chapter 14, he said, you should welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.

He says, we need to be accepting, we need to be open. He says down in verse 4, who are you to pass judgment on the servants of another? It's before their own Lord that they are going to stand or fall. See, all of us are not going to answer to each other. You all are not going to answer to me.

I, in a sense, am not answering to you. I am going to answer to Jesus Christ. Will everyone else? And of course, this is what Paul needed to point out to them. It wasn't really their responsibility to be judging or condemning someone else. Down in verse 10, he says, why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? Well, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And as it is written as I live, says, the Lord, every knee will bow to me, every tongue will give praise to God.

So then each of us will be accountable to Jesus Christ. See, that's where our accountability goes. All of us are going to be able to give account of ourselves. And so Paul has to point this out, in a sense, because he had certain Jew and Gentile conflicts. He had certain other people who did certain things and others would not. They would eat certain things and others would not. There were meat offered to idols that he mentions and talks about.

There were numerous different controversial opinions that they struggled with. And yet, when we look back in chapter 13, you find that arguing over those things or disputing over those things, which is how he describes it, is really unimportant. It's really insignificant because we don't want to be judgmental toward one another. We want to be accepting. We want to be welcoming. And as it says here in verse 8, we really do owe something to each other.

In verse 8, "...Ow no one anything except to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." Here he points out that, well, we don't have, and we should not be judgmental toward one another, but we do have a debt that we should be paying toward one another, and that is the debt of love, the debt of showing respect, the debt of, as Jesus was, being accepting, being encouraging, being uplifting, or uplifting to other people.

And of course he closes that section in verse 10 and chapter 13, "...but love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." That's what he said was the real responsibility that we have toward each other. And in essence, that's really what he was talking about back in Luke, or in Matthew 7, that we started with. And you also find here in chapter 15 of Romans, as we come to a conclusion here today, you find here in Romans 15 that he wanted the congregation there to be accepting and welcoming of others.

He says in verse 1, "...we who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor." So that's where we have a real responsibility. Build one another up. Build one another up in love. He says in verse 5, "...may the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Jesus Christ, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." And in verse 7, he says, "...welcome, or accept, or receive one another, therefore just as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God." See, all of us are here at the invitation of God.

We're here at the request of Jesus Christ. We're a part of the Church of God today because of God's calling, because of His special mercy that He has extended to us. And so, we want to fit into this category here at verse 7 of receiving or welcoming, accepting one another, just as Christ has accepted and welcomed us.

And we all fit into the same category that way. We all have the same type of responsibility toward one another of loving one another. And so, I would hope that as the Church of God, as we continue to provide a warm, loving, welcoming atmosphere, that we will emphasize doing that, that we will recognize the need. The focus ultimately is on each of us judging ourselves and then extending love to others. As we do that, ultimately then we can pay the real debt that we have to each other, which is to love one another. But unfortunately, the trap of being judgmental is easy to fall into. And so, this is part of why I mentioned this to you. I pointed out it's something that we all can fall into if we don't watch out. And so, as we go forward, let's appreciate the opportunity that we have to be able to show the love of God to one another, and certainly to be praying that God will change people's minds and bring them to a need and understand their need, and truly to the desire that they should have to be able to please and honor God as He would choose, as He would work with them to call and draw them into our fellowship. So, I'm glad to see all of you today. I know it's getting a little bit warmer, but not all that bad. And you blue people are still blue, but maybe we'll switch next time. I don't know.