Pickin’ Splinters 10-26-08                                                 

            (Start by shooting nerf darts at the congregation from behind pulpit, reload and walk down isle hiding behind bible shooting darts, each printed with a labeled which reads “TRUTH”)  The biggest criticism non-Christians have of Christians is that we are to judgmental .We hide behind our bibles and shoot these little truth darts at people without any compassion or love with this holier than thou attitude. It doesn’t help anyone; if anything it drives people away. 

            Let me start by saying I love the Lord and I am at a point in my relationship with Him that I will do whatever He asks of me, I truly feel my life is His, to do with what He pleases. And most of the time I love His people too, but sometime, I hate to even say this, I don’t like Christians very much. And before you jump up and leave let me interject real fast, than sometimes, in fact more often than I’d like to admit, I am one of those Christians I don’t like. So often we shoot these little darts at people like I just did, but instead of being made of foam rubber they are poison tipped darts. We shoot out these darts in the name of Christ, proclaiming the truth without any compassion or love what so ever. It’s easy to say for instance homosexuality is a sin, if you are not caught up in that lifestyle.  But to tell a guy who is dying from AIDS that he’s a sinner and is going to burn in hell for all eternity, doesn’t really mean a lot, he’s already in hell. What he needs from us is love, compassion, and understanding. He needs a message of hope and healing, not a dart. 

          It is so easy to condemn people, to judge them. We do it a hundred times a day and non-Christians do it too. I think I’ve shared with you before an eye opening experience, when I visited a guy down in Stockton in one of those old hotels that had turned in a flop house. It was the only place I’ve ever been where I felt naked without a gun. I really doubted that my pickup was going to be there when I came out.  I went to the front door and there was a guy sitting in a cage made of steel and thick Plexiglas, who would unlock the door to let you in. It was a 3 or 4 story building; garbage bags pilled in the halls and as I’m walking down the hall these doors would open just a crack to see who is coming. I didn’t think I was making that much noise walking, but they new a stranger was in the building and they were checking me out. I still remember this skinny old woman, flashing me a toothless smile through the crack in the door, after she realized I didn’t look like a threat, she might have been 25 going on 60. On the ride home I couldn’t help but feel compassion for those people their dignity was all but gone. They didn’t need a free lunch; they needed to be restored to their proper place, as children of God. The thought occurred to me then, if I had to live there and didn’t know the Lord and for a buck I could lick a stamp with some LSD on it and escape that place for a while, if only in my mind, I might be tempted. So the first step in not judging is to see people as through God’s eyes, and be willing to walk a mile in their moccasins.   Every hard core drug addict knows he is killing himself but they are powerless to escape. What they need is a Christian to shoot them with a little dart of truth. No, they need the compassion and strength of a clean person to help them get free, to replace the drugs with something better. With Jesus Christ, and we don’t do it with a dart we do it with a hug.  

It’s so easy to condemn people and judge them and one of the biggest criticisms non-Christians have against Christians is that we’re judgmental. It’s such an important message that we need to hear I ever resorted to shooting darts at you to help you remember. I hope 6 months from now you will be able to remember the time the Pastor shot nerf darts at the congregation to help visualize what we are doing when we judge people.   Jesus had a great visual for us too if we are ever tempted to slip into a judgmental role. Out text is found in Matthew 7 today page 685 in your pew bibles. This is a famous passage and even those who have never cracked open a bible can quote for you. Do not judge. Then Jesus goes on to paint a hilarious picture for us what judging others looks like. Picture this. A guy stand there with a 6’ long cedar fence post sticking out of his eye and he is trying to get a speck of sawdust out of his brothers eye.  Hus arms are to short and every time he gets within 6’ he hits his brother with this fence post. Every movement of his head is exaggerated because of this 6’ chuck of wood sticking out the front of his face. Everyone he gets close to get nailed. This would make a great Saturday Night Live skit. Maybe I can have my prop man whip one up. I have been blessed with a son-in-law who can make anything, so maybe next time we study this section I can come in costume. But our God has a great sense of humor. I can get all theological on you explaining this passage, but this is just a funny picture of little old us trying to judge others. I remember when Rick was little he would put on my cowboy boots and walk around, I think I remember him even putting on a hat trying to walk around , hat covering his head boots taller than his legs. This is how silly we look when we try and play God judging other people. Donald Miller in his book Blue like Jazz tells a about a trip to the grocery store which I would like to read. At the checkout counter, the lady in front of me pulled out food stamps to pay for her groceries. I had never seen food stamps before. They were more colorful than I imagined and looked more like money than stamps. It was obvious as she unfolded the currency that she, I, and the checkout girl were quite uncomfortable with the interaction. I wished there was something I could do. I wished I could pay for her groceries myself, but to do so would have been to cause a greater scene. The checkout girl quickly performed her job, signing and verifying a few documents, and then filed the lady through the line. The woman never lifted her head as she organized her bags of groceries and set them into her cart. She walked away from the checkout stand in the sort of stiff movements a person uses when they know they are being watched.      

On the drive over the mountain that afternoon, I realized that it was not the woman who should be pitied; it was me. Somehow I had come to believe that because a person is in need, they are candidates for sympathy, not just charity. It was not that I wanted to buy her groceries; the government was already doing that. I wanted to buy her dignity. And yet, by judging her, I was the one taking her dignity away. 

All he should have done was to treat her, the same as he would anyone else, with dignity and respect. You see how the holier than thou attitude can creep in so subtly, even disguised as charity. 

            We never want to be known as a bunch of self righteous hypocrites who run around judging other people. I realize that sometimes this criticism is totally unfounded, and sometimes the world will think what it thinks, despite our best efforts and what we actually do.  Like the guy who was driving through Nevada. He kept getting faster and faster on those long straight roads, and his wife told him if you don’t slow down you’re going to get a ticket. He would slow down for a while and then his speed would creep up again. Sure enough he got pulled over, and got a ticket. He got back in the car and they rode along in silence for next 15 minutes, and finally the husband couldn’t take it any longer and he cracked, “Are you going to harp or on this forever?”  She hadn’t said a thing, but he knew he was guilty. Sometime this is the case when we are accused of being judgmental, when in actuality people are being convicted by their own guilt. Non-Christians have this preconceived notion of what we are about and they are very sensitive about their own shortcomings. They don’t want to be judged or condemned, or made to feel bad about themselves.  So many times it’s not even the truth we proclaim that is so offensive to the world, but the method of delivery.   

Our text for today is found in Matthew 7 page 685 in your pew bibles. V.1 Do not judge, or you will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measure to you. In a nut shell, quit judging people.  I’m going to come back to this but first. I want to move right into the next section V.3 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 then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 

Jesus is telling us here that our own sins are hard to see.  Ever notice that people who are outspoken about certain sins are often caught up in the very sin they harp against. Remember Jim Baker? He had a Christian TV show in the 80’s, big television ministry and was caught in huge sex scandal. Jimmy Swaggart, also a tele-evangelist, was one of the most vocal to condemn him, and in a very short time he was caught in the same thing, twice.  Jesus knows the heart, and sin is sin to Him. Every shape and form has the same outcome, it all cost Him His life. But we can’t see our sin because it’s too up close and personal. I’ve got this plank in my eye but it been there so long I don’t even notice it anymore.  I’ve learned to use my other eye and ignore it’s there; I can tilt my head and even see under the plank just fine. But I don’t like people messing with my eyes so don’t even suggest that you might try and take it out. Boy that is no joke; I really don’t like people messing with my eye. Falling timber for a living you get kind of used to have stuff in them all the time in fact it didn’t feel like I was dressed until you had a few chips in eye. You get up in the morning and throw a handful of sawdust in your face. Cheryll used to come at me with those long old acrylic nails she used to wear, ‘here let me get that wood chip out for you.’  Stay away from my eyes. That saw dust was just a minor irritation, but it was my saw dust, stay away. 

          I don’t want to give you the impression that we should never judge right from wrong. This is far from the case but it is how we do it that is all important. Do we shoot little truth darts at people, or do we build relationships with them and let the Holy Spirit do His work. Do we condemn, or to we encourage, and help each other to live Holy lives? Our nation, our state our county, our town needs a moral revolution; we need to revive the standards of right and wrong. And we need to take the plank out of our own eyes first so we can see clearly to help our brothers.  Notice He says brothers, revival starts in the church. We need to clean up our own act. We can’t expect non believers to adhere to the same standards which we hold, but we are to be like Christ.  We must judge with right motives, separating the sin from the sinner, hate the sin still but love the sinner. When we can look past the woman who is presently a drug addict and a prostitute, and see instead a precious soul made in the image of God. The poor pastor who hides behind his computer all day staring at porn, afraid someone will find out, longing to be free of this addiction so he can serve God with his whole heart. Instead of throwing him under the bus, help him to get free. Hate the sin but not the sinner. Don’t be like one of those angry street evangelists standing on a busy corner shouting at everyone passing by. Repent you worthless sinners; the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I think the angry street evangelist is committing a sin right there for all to see. But he can’t see his plank. I think it would be a stretch to say he was loving his brothers while he was doing this and Jesus said, If anyone say to a brother Raca, which we think means you fool, is in danger of the fires of hell.  Calling someone a worthless scum bag sinner probably will get you there just as fast.  Hate the sin, but love the sinner.  Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Don’t ignore the sin but remember the sin is not what defines us. Under that sin does a Child of God want to be free, and remember it’s hard to see our own sin? There is a passage in Lev. 19:17 which read do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. God was teaching the children of Israel how to build a strong community, and it starts by admonishing one another in the confines of a safe nurturing relationship.  Help them to see their sin, and help them get free. (Wave hands) The bridge is out, stop before you crash. To not warn a brother about sin would be letting them die.  But we warn them because we love them and we don’t want them to get hurt, not to make ourselves look better in our own eyes. Because the passage we’re looking at says, we have planks in our eyes. The planks in our eyes take many forms. Let the Holy Spirit be your mirror. I think what Jesus is trying to teach us in this passage is that many times the plank in our eye as Christians; is an attitude of superiority, I know what they need. Or how about and attitude self righteousness, I got free from that sin why can’t they?  How about an attitude of selfishness or self-centeredness.  Anyone carrying an attitude like these? (Raise hand sheepishly, and pause a second) But I haven’t killed anybody, actually killed them dead I mean.  

          This passage isn’t really meant to say not to make any judgments, because that sawdust in your brother’s eye is still going to hurt him. V. 6 tells us not to throw what is holy to dogs or pearls to pigs, so who is who and what is what, requires some discernment. But rather He is teaching us to keep from judging others with wrong motives. With humility and love help your brother get the sawdust out.  Not with a superior, holier than thou attitude, but with clear vision because our plank has been removed.  When we see clearly we can see that God is the only one who has all the facts, He is the only one capable of judging fairly, and the rest of us are just a bunch of His misfit kids. We’ll never know all the facts; we’ll never know what was going on in that woman’s life that forced her to use food stamps. 

There were two commercials shown during Super Bowl a few years ago that conveyed the same message “Don’t judge too quickly.”  

In one ad, a shopper in a mini mart is standing at the counter and talking on his cell phone. He says to the person on the other end, “You’re getting robbed.” The two clerks spring into action; they were squirting the man with pepper spray, slugging him with a baseball bat, and then zapping him with an electric cattle prod. 

In the second commercial, a man is preparing a romantic dinner. He chops vegetables with a large knife, while tomato sauce simmers on the stove. A long haired white cat knocks the pan of sauce onto the floor and then falls into the mess. Just as the man picks up his tomato-splattered cat, his wife opens the door. She sees him holding a cat dripping with red sauce in one hand and a big knife in the other. A scene right out of a Freddie Kruger movie.  Things aren’t always what they appear, and we will never know all the facts. That’s why judging others is best left to God. 

          Judging others takes so many forms we must guard our heart continually. Any time we take away a person’s dignity we are guilty. If we look at them as something other than a beautiful soul created in the image of God this is what we are doing. When we go about pickin’ splinters out of our brother’s eyes, we must be in prayer that our motives are pure, and that we are acting in love, not to make ourselves out to be holier than thou. 

God hasn’t called us to be slinging these little truth darts through the air at people, he has called us to love Him and love our brothers, to take the planks out of our own eyes. He’s not telling us to stop having an opinion, but to stop playing God. He has given us the ability to discern if things are right or wrong, and this is a great gift, but we must use it wisely, carefully. Being fully aware of the plank in our own eyes. 

 God knows, we aren’t fooling him. He knows you’re the center of your own universe, you’re selfish. He knows if you’re playing God, he knows you’re looking at porn, and that it’s going to rot your brain and rob you of a rich relationship with Christ. He knows you’re smoking pot, and that it will make you spiritually dumb. He knows you gossip, and when you do that you’re killing people Jesus loves.  He knows we’re spending more time trying to please the world, than we are trying to please Him. He knows about our lack of trust.  He knows us and he still loves us, isn’t that amazing? Our own sins are hard to see, this is what this funny little picture from Jesus tells us. A guy with a 6’ cedar fence post sticking out of his eye, trying to get close enough to another person to take the speck out of theirs. Every time he moves this head he is beating the person in front of him with this post. Tell me God doesn’t have a sense of humor, he takes a thing, like our sin of trying to play God judging others, and makes it a subject of comedy. Stop taking ourselves so seriously, admit our faults and stop judging other. I don’t want to give the impression sin is funny, sin is never funny. Jesus suffered a terrible death to redeem us from its grip. And the sin of trying to play God is just as deadly as any other, maybe worst. That’s what we are doing when we sit in judgment of others. When we judge the person not the deed. And playing God actually made the top ten lists of things not to do. They shall not have any God’s before me. And in the words of the great historian, Forest Gump, that’s all I got to say about that, for today.  

Let’s pray: Our most gracious heavenly father I just thank you for your word, and the vast storehouse of wisdom it contains. Lord help us to glean from the lesson today a heart of compassion, help us to see the planks in our own eyes and Lord I pray right now that you perform the necessary surgery to remove them from us  and restore our sight, that we may see our neighbors as you see them, precious souls created in your image. Renew a right spirit in us. Help us to always, remember when we are pickin’ splinters from our brother’s eyes, that we are not God. Thank you for loving us and we give you all the glory, all the honor, and all our praise. In your precious name we pray. Amen 

Our own sin is hard to see 

Quit judging others                                                                 

Everyone is precious in His sight, treat everyone with dignity