A Community of Non-Judgmental Love
For Meditation (Corey Widmer)
After two weeks away, we're back in the Sermon on the Mount! At the end of chapter 6, Jesus addressed how we should steward our earthly treasures and possessions. Now at the beginning of chapter 7, Jesus addresses how to handle our earthly relationships.
Jesus begins with a command not to judge. This is a famous and often over-used saying of Jesus, but what does it really mean? Surely Jesus does not mean, as some people have claimed, that we should refuse to discern between truth and error, good and evil, and shrug our shoulders in a spirit of moral relativism. The entire Sermon on the Mount is about discerning the good and fruitful life! When we look at it carefully, we see that Jesus is calling us away from evaluating others with a spirit of condemnation, separating ourselves from others in self-righteousness, and holding others in contempt. He is forbidding judgement without love.
As you prepare for worship, read through the text slowly and consider all the many times a day you find yourself judging, evaluating, and condemning others in your heart. See if you can notice how you are seeing and measuring others. And then invite the Holy Spirit to do what Jesus calls for in this passage, which is to first turn the spotlight on yourself, "to get the log out of your own eye." Only then will you have the humility to recognize your own need for grace, and will be able to extend grace to others.
What do you think is the difference between judgement as moral discernment and judgement as condemnation? How and why might the first lead to the second?
What is the best way to "get the log out of your own eye"?
How could you or your Parish Group practice non-judgmental love with one another?
Matthew 7:1–6
“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.”