Lesson: Matthew 7.1-5

Sermon Title: Cataracts and Other Impediments to Sight

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INTRODUCTION:

A Jewish Parrot

Three Jewish sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts that they were able to give to their elderly mother.

The first said, "I built a big house for our mother."

The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver."

The third said, "I've got you both beat. You know how Mom enjoys reading the Torah and you know she can't see very well? I sent her a large brown parrot that can recite the entire Torah. It took twenty rabbis 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $1,000,000 but it was worth it. Mom just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it."

Soon thereafter. Mom sent out her letters of thanks. She wrote to the first son, "Milton, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house."

She wrote to the second son, "Marvin, I am too old to travel. I stay home all the time, so I never use the Mercedes and the driver is SO rude."

She wrote to the third son, "Dearest Melvin, you were the only son to have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious."

  1. What is needed here is clarification.

    1. Mom needs to know the difference between a parrot and a chicken.

    2. I do not know what a parrot tastes like, but then I do not want to know.

  2. Verses one and two of the text for today were probably said by Jesus with a seriousness that aroused the attention of the listeners.

  3. Verses three and four were probably said with a wry smile on his face.

    1. The listeners would have laughed at the absurdity of the contrast of speck and log.

    2. They would see the humor that we, because of our serious nature, might miss

  4. What we need is clarification.

    1. Do we want it?

    2. Perhaps not, we might be comfortable in our position and do not want any suggested change.

    3. How can we clarify the lesson for today?

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MAIN BODY:

  1. We are not to judge another.

    1. This does not mean that we are not to evaluate another for the purpose of a serious relationship.

    2. We are not to sit in judgement of another person's spiritual fitness before God.

      1. Judging is not our prerogative (our right to command, decide, or rule over another person).

4Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Romans 14:4 (NRSVA)

      1. It is inexcusable

1Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. Romans 2:1 (NRSVA)

      1. We are not acquainted with all the facts

5Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God. 1 Corinthians 4:5 (NRSVA)

      1. Sitting in judgement assumes too much of the prerogatives of God.

12There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:12 (NRSVA)

      1. We can only judge own lives

13Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. Romans 14:13 (NRSVA)

      1. This is Christ's command

1"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. Matthew 7:1 (NRSVA)

    1. Jesus states in verse 2: For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.

      1. Whatever determination is made about another will be the determination that will be received.

      2. I certainly do not want to judge myself in this way.

      3. I am pretty sure you do not want this result either.

  1. So then, to avoid judging another we need to examine and avoid the logs that may be in our eyes, our minds.

    1. Logs have a way of distorting or diminishing vision, our capacity to see and understand.

You know that I have had surgery to remove a cataract from my left eye.

On February 5, I am going to have surgery on the right eye.

I was asked, by one of my colleagues, about the success of the surgery.

I discovered two very important facts that generated a real sense of appreciation for restored sight.

I did not realize how much sight I had lost because of the cataract.

I did not fully realize the loss of the brilliance of color.

I said that there was a sermon illustration in this information.

There is.

      1. A cataract is like a log.
      2. There are other and, perhaps, more important logs that ought to be understood and avoided.

    1. What are these other logs that may be clouding vision?

      1. ABSOLUTISM

Absolutism occurs when a person sees only two sides of an issue and then polarizes those sides. It lies at the very center of us versus them thinking. In fact, it would be fair to say that healthy "us and them" thinking begins to devolve into the potentially dangerous form "us versus them" when absolutism comes into play. Absolutism is perhaps easiest to understand in terms of colors. A person in the grip of absolutist thinking sees only black and white. The person not only refuses to recognize red, green, and yellow but cannot even allow himself to appreciate the shades of gray in between black and white.

        1. In the Gospel of John Jesus is confronted by some men who have captured a women taken in the act of adultery.
        2. The punishment for the behavior is stoning.
        3. But the woman is not stoned.
        4. As you recall the story, Jesus began t write in the dusty street with his finger.
        5. One by one the men left.
        6. Finally Jesus asked the woman who it was that was accusing her.
        7. She saw no one.
        8. Jesus responded with neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.
        9. The men who had precipitated this event were absolutists.
        10. They saw only in black and white.
        11. There was no gray area.
        12. Jesus did not look through the hard eyes of absolutism, but through the softer eyes of love.

    1. The second log is STEREOTYPING.

      1. Stereotyping is categorizing gone bad.

      2. While categorizing is both a normal and necessary human mental function, some categorizing simplifies too much in becomes stereotyping.

      3. Generally, we can say that a person is stereotyping if he or she forms and oversimplified category based on ignorance about the items or people in the category.

      4. The belief that the poor are lazy and incompetent by the non-poor is used to legitimize differences in economic well-being and to help the in-group to justify their resistance to public policies that are designed to alter the socio-economic status quo.

      5. Furthermore, stereotypes allow individuals to see themselves as having personal strengths and to distinguish themselves from others. That is, negative images that one might have about dishonest people will reinforce one''s values concerning sincerity and reliability.

      6. If you disagree with this policy you must be supporting terrorism.

    2. We ought to be wary of SCAPEGOATING.

      1. Scapegoating occurs when we unfairly place blame for a problem onto another person or group. Because that person or group is in fact not at fault or least not solely responsible for causing the problem, Scapegoating is a fallacy of causal argument.

      2. Small children are notorious for Scapegoating.

        1. Children often redirect blame toward another child, most often the child who is younger and innocent.

        2. How often have you heard, "I didn't do it, Billy did!"

        3. From the mouth of a child standing all alone at the scene of a household crime, often covered in such evidence as mud or grease?

        4. By pushing the blame for the problem onto another child, the scapegoater tries to escape responsibility.

      3. McDonald's was sued because of an individual's obesity.

        1. The judge in the case ruled in McDonald's favor.

        2. Fast food is not the source of obesity.

        3. We choose to eat or not; it is our choice.

        4. As a matter of fact life can become simpler and easier to live if we take the position that "I do what I want to do, and I do not do what I do not want to do."

    3. Another log is DEHUMANIZATION which is used to strip "them" of any connection they might possibly have to "us."

      1. Dehumanization is a prerequisite to acts of extreme violence because that allows us to deny that our actions are actually hurting, even killing, another human, another one of "us."

      2. Although we most comfortably associate the use of dehumanizing thought patterns with serial killers and other social outcasts, dehumanization patterns also characterize the rhetoric we ourselves produce or, at least, except during times of war and significant domestic turmoil.

      3. Reflect on what has been written and pronounced about Assma ben Laden or Saddam Hussein.

        1. What about the president's statement on the "axis of evil."

        2. Are they evil or simply different?

      4. Are we guilty of dehumanization?

      5. Perhaps the last most serious attempt at dehumanization was Adolph Hitler's characterization of the Jews.

      6. But then Billy Graham is not immune either.

  1. So these are serious logs that have an impact on our lives in ways that we might not fully understand or appreciate.

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CONCLUSION

"One day many years ago, as part of my training, I worked at Boston City Hospital as a chaplain's assistant. I was assigned to a prison ward, and one of the prisoners there was a big-time drug dealer. It was my duty to visit him because he was very ill. Well, with the half-hearted pseudo-compassion of the typical do-gooder, I did my duty. Later, I confessed this to the Roman Catholic nun who was my supervisor. I said, 'How can I go and prey with this man who is ruining the life of this city? He deserves his illness and a whole lot more.' Do you know what she said to me? 'Patterson, who died and elected you God? Somewhere deep within that man, covered by the layers of pain and denial and every rotten thing he has ever done, there is the kernel of God's image. Your only job is to see that spark; and the only way you can ever see it is to forget everything else about whatever anyone else has told you about right and wrong and believe with your whole heart that the spark is there. He, too, just as much as anyone you will ever meet, is a child of God's love."' (1)

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There is a story that Michelangelo was once asked to judge another person's painting, someone who couldn't light a candle to his genius. Michelangelo proceeded to judge the other painting by pointing out some good features exhibited by the artist. Another painter accused him of not being honest in his criticism. To which Michelangelo replied, I criticize by creating.

  1. We live in God's image by creating.

    1. Recalled and preached by Dr. Ronald M. Patterson, Shiloh Church, Dayton, Ohio)

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