June 1, 2003
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 to dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls
to the pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then
turn and tear you to pieces.
Since this morning we are
going to be dealing with the same passage that we did last week, I am going
to begin where I ended last week, and then do a short review before we look
at the next part of the passage.
I ended last week with what Dallas Willard writes about an example he had
as a child.
When I was quite a young
child, in “grade school” as it then was called, I came to know a wonderful
family in the region of southern Missouri where I was brought up. It was
the VonAllman family, the family of my sister-in-law Bertha VonAllman.
Now, I think my own family was a remarkable group of people, very caring
and responsible, but the VonAllman family...had in them a spirit I never
before had encountered. They did not condemn. They worked hard, were upright
almost to a fault, and carefully disciplined their children. But I never saw
or felt with them the slightest element of condemnation or condemnatory blaming.
Among them, I quickly noticed, children were to be heard as well as seen. And as I watched their children through the years,
and grew up along with their grandchildren, the same non-condemnatory spirit
seemed on the whole to prevail throughout their lives. I came to live with
my older brother...and his wife Bertha, when I was in second grade, and intermittently
thereafter. It was the VonAllman family - and most of all Bertha-that demonstrated
to me how one could live a strong and good life without using condemnation
to punish and control others. Never once in all those years, or since, did
she condemn or blame me, though I frequently deserved it. I thought in those
years long ago that it was “just her way”. Now I understand it was her heart.
Which she had learned from her father and mother, and through them, from
Christ.
So this is a picture of
the kind of person Jesus has in mind for all of his disciples to become.
We talked about what the nature of this judging is:
When we judge another person in this way, we really communicate that he
or she is in some deep and irredeemable way, bad--bad as a whole and to
be rejected.
We communicate that the person is unacceptable. We isolate the person. We
exclude the person.
Granted, this is not always our intention. But this is the result nevertheless.
Condemning and blaming people has a powerful effect on people. It strikes
at the core of our being. This is both why it can hurt people so badly and
why it is commonly relied on. You can control people for the very reason that
it works. People will avoid the pain and will fall in line. But the loss
to the individual and the loss to the person doing the blaming in terms of
connection and relationship are beyond measure.
The practice of blaming and condemning other people usually contains some
degree of self-righteousness.
Jesus told the little story of the Pharisee who prayed to himself, thanking
God that he was not like the publican. The story was directed toward those
who were “relying on themselves for their rightness and despising others.”
The two always go together. When we are really relying on our own rightness,
it inevitably leads to despising others. And it leads to judging people in
the very way Jesus warns against here.
We also established that when Jesus was telling us to take
the plank out of our own eye, he was not saying that the plank represented
unresolved sins or weaknesses that we must correct. If that were the case,
it would be like Dr. Seuss’ The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. We would never
get to the end of it.
The plank Jesus is talking about is the same for everyone. The plank IS
the spirit of condemnation and judging. That spirit is what we must rid ourselves
of before we can help anyone.
Then we tried to differentiate between this kind of wrong judging that
Jesus is talking about here and the kind of judging that is something we
have to do.
We have to discern between paths. We have to make decisions about one course
vs. another course. This kind of judgment is necessary.
We looked at how Jesus often pleaded with people to make sound judgments.
One time Jesus was having a dialogue with an angry crowd of people, and he
pleaded with them to make good judgments in relation to the teaching they
had been getting concerning the Sabbath and its regulations. He says this:
“Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses
may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on
the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment.”
The point of these judgments is almost always focused on finding OUR OWN
PATH.
We have to make judgments because we have to figure out how to do the right
thing. Hardly ever is the focus on figuring out what is right for someone
else.
Now we turn our attention toward verse 6: “Do not give to dogs what is sacred;
do not throw your pearls to the pigs. If you do, they may trample them under
their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.”
This is one of those verses that is often treated in this section as if
it is a completely separate truth, completely unrelated to what is before
and after it. That is not the case.
I would guess that almost everyone has heard an interpretation of this verse
that goes something like this:
We have certain treasures, usually the gospel itself, but it could be another
precious thing. There are some people who are not worthy of those things.
We have to watch for those people--those who will not accept the treasure
or who would perhaps even mock it. These people are pigs or dogs. We should
not even waste our time on such people.
Let me ask you a question. When you have heard that interpretation, has
it ever bothered you? Have you ever thought, “Something is wrong with it?”
Here is what is wrong with it.
First of all, if this is what Jesus means, then none of us should ever have
been given the gospel because we are all unworthy of it. That is why we need
it.
This interpretation would deny everything that Jesus did in coming to this
world. After all, the great pearl of God is Jesus himself. And so for Jesus
to come into this world would be an extreme violation of this principle.
Also, how could we possibly decide who is worthy, even if we were supposed
to? If I were a Jewish Christian in the first century, I would definitely
have called Saul of Tarsus unworthy of the gospel.
So the main thing wrong about this interpretation is EVERYTHING. It is sad
that this saying has become a proverb that is usually applied in just the
way I have described, and thus it often encourages an interpretation completely
in antithesis to Jesus and the gospel.
Jesus is not telling us that certain classes of people should be viewed
as pigs or dogs. That would be a violation of what we just said about judging.
Nor should we avoid doing good things, or giving good things to people who
might reject them, misuse them, or not appreciate them. If we did that, we
would have to stop giving to anyone. Jesus explicitly taught that the opposite
is true. He said that we should be like his Father who gives to both the just
and the unjust.
How this whole idea goes wrong is that this is not a matter of whether the
pigs are worthy or not; it’s not about the pigs at all as far as identifying
them as pigs.
Jesus uses pearls because they are considered precious. Jesus uses pigs
because of the absurdity of the picture. No one would give pearls to pigs
because pearls cannot nourish pigs.
I know about pigs. When pigs are hungry, you'd better give them something
to eat, not something they can’t eat. Surely this is why they will turn and
rend you, because at least YOU are edible. They care nothing for a bunch of
inedible pearls.
And that is the point: the absurdity of the picture. No one in his right
mind would give pearls to swine.
The pig does not represent a loathsome person; rather it just represents
something that is totally unable to in any way benefit from the pearls.
The point is not the unworthiness of the pigs. The point is that the pearls
are not helpful.
The pearl could be anything that is precious to us. It could be the things
of God. It could be other precious things to us. Good things. Significant
things. Good advice or good understanding that could truly help another person.
What Jesus is telling us here is that we must be wise and wait for opportunities
to give people our precious things when they can actually benefit from them.
Do you see how this is connected to what Jesus taught us about not judging?
Forcing things upon people, even the great truths about Jesus, is often done
with a certain superiority, a kind of arrogance that keeps us from really
paying attention to those we want to help. Our attitude is, “I perceive your
need, and I have an answer, so that should be enough.” It’s not long
before contempt, impatience, anger or even condemnation slip into the picture.
See how this fits with the summary statement at the end of this section,
where Jesus tells us to do to others what we would want done to us.
We have to ask ourselves, "How can I love this person?" And often
the answer can only be ascertained by carefully listening to the person.
We may well know that people need pearls that we have, but if they don’t
perceive their needs, then we need to try to love them by serving them at
the point of their needs.
There is a powerful truth behind this New Testament challenge: if someone
is in need, and you have it within your power to meet that need, what should
you do? If you simply say, “God bless you brother and best of luck," does
the love of God dwell in you?
This is why a person who actually loves other people will be able to influence
people with the gospel far more profoundly than someone who doesn’t love other
people but who is simply committed to sharing the gospel.
So Jesus is saying that we need to learn to try not to correct or control
others by pouring out our good things--words or deeds that they simply cannot
ingest or use at the moment.
Often when we do this, we haven't even listened to the person. We “KNOW”
without listening to the person.
And the outcome is predictable. The person will not be helped. Our good
intentions will make little difference. The needy person will finally become
angry and attack us.
So often what we are doing for people, with our “proper judgments” and our
“wonderful solutions,” is trying to control them. Even if our desire is to
control others for their good, we end up failing to treat them as we would
want to be treated.
There is an issue of trust here. Often we resort to pearl-pushing or condemning
people because we are anxious about them. We care for them. But deep down
we are really thinking that we need to take control of things because God
is incapable of doing the things that need to be done. And so by resorting
to these things that Jesus warns us against, we make it harder for the people
involved to understand their own responsibility, their own need to see and
to hear God.
As long as I am condemning my friends or relatives, or pushing my wisdom
on them, I am their problem. Their problem becomes responding to me, and that
usually means reacting by “judging” me right back or by turning on me, just
as Jesus says.
But if I back off, if I maintain a listening and non-manipulative presence,
I do not become the problem. As I listen, they do not have to protect themselves
from me, and they can now be free to respond to me as a person. In this environment,
I may actually appear to them as an ally and a resource. They are free now
to see the situation they have created--or possibly even themselves--as the
problem, not me. And now what can come into the picture is a request. They
invite my response. And now I can finally help these people.
And so Jesus brings again to our attention the basic currency of the Kingdom
of God. I am talking about the request.
Remember that the prayer that Jesus uses to teach us is entirely one of
requests. We request certain things of our Father in the heavens.
And so we see that on a horizontal level, between people, the respect and
honor that simple request-making communicates is the way of the kingdom.
Turn your attention to verses 7-11: Ask and it will be given to you; seek
and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone
who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will
be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you
are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will
your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything,
do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law
and the Prophets.
Notice that Jesus summarizes this section of teaching with the Golden Rule.
The Golden Rule is one that we normally think of as having horizontal implications.
It shows us how we love the people around us.
Can there be any doubt, then, that when Jesus speaks about asking, seeking,
and knocking, he speaks, not only about doing these things toward God, but
toward one another? The request is the currency of the Kingdom, both between
us and others, and between us and God.
Jesus talks about our requesting of God in the prayer he gives us before
he talks about requesting of others, because our requesting of God is the
basis for our requesting of others.
Because I can request of God, and because I am confident that he hears me,
I have the freedom to simply request of others without manipulating or condemning
or pushing.
I can treat other people with freedom and respect because I do not have
to change them or bring about the desired or needed result. I have already
requested of God that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That
means I am deeply aware that I cannot bring about the desire, or the good
outcome, but rather that I can entrust the person before me into the hands
of God. This allows me to treat the person the way I would want to be treated.
We teach young people to say please and thank-you because we want to instill
in them an attitude of respect. And a large measure of respect is that when
we request something of someone we are not demanding, but we are asking.
A request by its very nature acknowledges that the person who is given a request
has freedom. The please and thank-you are simply ways to emphasize that this
is the case--and that it is properly the case. We say please and thank-you
to underscore the fact that we are not demanding or taking the person for
granted.
Ask, and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door
shall be opened. This is how we are to relate to others and is the primary
meaning of this passage.
Jesus does make an application of this to God. He says that nearly all decent
fathers, if their sons or daughters ask them for something, would not fail
to give it to them; and they certainly would not give them something evil
instead. This is just the way most fathers are.
Even if there is some monster who would do the unthinkable, the exception
only serves to prove the point. There is tremendous power in the simple request.
And that request is all the more powerful when there is love and respect existing
between the one who requests and the one who receives the request.
Try eating your favorite snack in front of the family dog.
It might be your favorite snack, it might be a quiet moment you had hoped
to enjoy with your snack and your book or hobby, and then here comes the eyes,
the look, the face, maybe the paw on the knee.
You know what happens. You face an irresistible force of nature.
In our intimate friendships and relationships, a simple request will usually
bring about the desired response unless there has been a scarring or a breakdown
of the relationship in the past. And sometimes there are good reasons why
the request should not or even must not be granted. But that is rarely the
case.
In contrast to condemning and to pushing pearls, our approach to influencing
others for their good as well as ours is to simply ask. We can ask people
to change; we can help them in any way that they ask of us. This asking is
done in tandem with asking of God.
Some people are known for their ability to get people to do things. But
having that reputation is not inherently good or bad since it depends on
how it has come about.
We want to influence people for good. We are called of God to influence
people for good. But in the Kingdom, we do so not on our own but through
Christ.
Some things are under our control, and some things are not. God has granted
us a limited amount of control.
For instance, if we need our car fixed, we have some control. We might be
able to fix it ourselves. And so we do. Or we might request someone else to
do the job, and so the person does it.
But if we have a friend who is caught in an addiction to heroin, or who
is lost in the intellectual climate of our day, or who really believes that
more stuff is the answer to life, then whatever else you may do to help, first
and foremost you had better pray.
Why? Because fixing him is so far beyond you, and it SHOULD be beyond you.
So you do not condemn. Nor do you push. But you pray. That is, you ask of
God to do on earth as His will is done in heaven. And then you ask of your
friend.
And so as you keep praying to God, and keep respecting your friend before
God, you can keep asking in appropriate ways, and you can keep seeking and
knocking on the door of your friend’s heart.
Jesus himself operated in this way. We see it in the way he helped Simon
Peter.
In Luke 22:32, Jesus says this to Peter: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked
to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may
not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus does not just “fix Peter” so that the terrible thing would not happen.
Rather, with some sadness, perhaps, but also with great confidence, Jesus
looks to his Father to do the inside work on Peter that is needed. Jesus does
not condemn him or push him in any way.
Jesus warns us that, just as the branch cannot do anything without being
attached to the vine, so we cannot do anything without him. We see here that
Jesus has practiced what he has preached.
Finally, we come to verse 12: “So in everything, do to others what you would
have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
As I said at the beginning, verses 1-12 are often seen as unrelated gems
of wisdom. But they are actually an integrated teaching about how we are to
influence people as members of Jesus’ kingdom and as people who are living
in the Jesus kind of righteousness.
This is simply a summary principle of the examples Jesus has been talking
about. By this principle
--We are not doing to others as we would have them do to us to condemn them
and judge them harshly.
--We are not doing to others as we would have them do to us to push our
pearls on them.