The Log Between Us

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Let's pray together. Gracious and loving God, we come before your word with humble hearts. Open our eyes we may see. Open our ears that we may hear. And open our hearts that we may understand. By the light of your Holy Spirit, illuminate the truth of your word to us today and remove distractions and soften our hearts so that your word may take root and bear fruit in our lives. Speak to us, Lord, for your servants are listening. Transform us by your truth and lead us in the way everlasting. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Today's scripture is Matthew, chapter 7, verse 1 through 12. Do not judge so that you may not be judged. For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, let me take the speck out of your eye while the log is in your own eye, you hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your purse before swine, or they may trample them underfoot and turn and mold you and ask it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds. And for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, would you give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him in everything? Do to others as you would have them to do to you. For this is the law and the prophets. This is the word of the Lord. [00:02:43] Speaker B: We continue this sermon series today on the Sermon on the Mount. Coming now to Matthew, chapter seven. And it's rare that I stand up to preach a sermon this or any Sunday. And don't think of my preaching professor, the one who first taught me Introduction to Preaching. And Ian Pitt Watson, a name familiar to some of you I know back in the 1950s, Ian served as the pastor of the church in Edinburgh that John Knox served centuries before. After that, in the 60s, Ian would pastor what became the largest congregation in the whole of the Church of Scotland. This is a photo from him. In those Days, he was a king, gifted orator, a craftsman, and a poet when it came to preaching. And above all that, he had a charming Scottish accent. I still remember my introduction to preaching class. Very early on, Ian showed us a video, and the video first depicted him preaching to an enormous congregation. Then, after the sermon ended, the video then turned to focus in on a small group of people of mixed ages who were meeting with Ian after the sermon to discuss that sermon. After they first articulated elements of the sermon they thought were praiseworthy, that they thought were wonderful, Ian then asked them, okay, now I want to hear what are some things that could have made that sermon stronger? Or if I were going to preach that sermon again, what might you recommend I consider doing differently? And one of the younger women in that small group, I remember offering a piece of critique, saying something she thought he could have done in the sermon and didn't. And I remember Ian listening with rapt attention, considering carefully what she said, and then saying, that's very helpful, and then soliciting yet more feedback like that. Well, more than a decade later, when I had begun serving as your pastor here at Knox, Fuller Theological Seminary asked me to teach and lead seminars on preaching at their campus at 135NorthOakland as an adjunct professor. I would gather at the beginning of the quarter again at Peyton hall, where I had sat as a preaching student with a group not of 50 students as there had been in my time, but just 10 or so. But. But in addition to some required reading the students would have to do and papers they would have to write, each of them was required, as I was back in the day, to give two sermons during the quarter, and the rest of the class would then discuss those sermons and offer feedback. Well, I would lead one of the early classes of that quarter by doing precisely what Ian had done. Later, I would be the one offering written evaluations, leading the students and discussing that sermon and even giving a grade. But for the classes before those sermons were preached and that evaluation was given, I showed them a video of one of my sermons, one of the ones that I wasn't as proud of. And then I invited them to discuss what they saw as strengths or growing edges, weaknesses of that particular sermon. And sometimes, man, they would lay into that sermon. It was like, I thought there was some good that came out of that. Other times, you'd have to kind of tease out the critique. They were really concerned that I might either be offended or they just wanted to celebrate the good. But eventually we'd get around to that. And what I hoped that process would do was what Ian, in leading that class and showing that video, had done with me, that I might present myself not as someone high on a pedestal above them who had mastered the craft of preaching and was now deigning to speak to them where they stood as an expert, but instead I hoped they would see, hey, I'm one who's growing and learning and trying to develop myself. And as a person doing that work, I hope I can be helpful to them as well. And I was hopeful that if they saw that, if they experienced that in the very first feedback offered to a sermon at all, that it would then impact how they were able to hear the feedback I and other students would offer as well. In today's text, Jesus says, judge not lest ye be judged. And a part of me wants to push back on Jesus there and say, wait, judge not. I don't know about you, but I've found some critical feedback, some, if you will, judgment quite helpful. It helps me to grow. I remember getting the evaluation from Ian Pitt Watson when I preached my first sermon and finding it really helpful, helping me to recognize areas where I could grow and develop. And whether it's learning to play an instrument or learning a subject in school, or learning to write, how can we get better if we don't have the blessing of somebody pointing out the strengths and the great growing edges? I know James does that with his music students. Isn't that judgment helpful? But then Jesus goes on to address my concerns. He says, with the judgment you make, you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. In other words, if your judgment is condemnation and separation, if it places you above them, looking down on them, then that judgment is going to come back to bite you. Earlier in Jesus sermon, he had made reference to what I call a spiral of violence. He had spoken or evoked the notion in his listener's ears of how one person could do violence to another. And then in retribution, a person would strike back, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, until everyone was destroyed. And Jesus says, get out of that spiral. And here's how. Return evil with good. Return hate not with hate, but with love. Even love your enemies. And so get out of that spiral. And in my reading, it seems like there's a similar spiral in mind, at least in Jesus mind. Only this time it's not a spiral of violence. It's a spiral condemnation, a way where one person can condemn another and that person condemns the other in turn. Until relationships are more and more broken, people are more and more separate, and we see only the sin and faults and failures of the other and are blind to our own. As a way out of that spiral, Jesus says, try this, try this instead. Before offering that critical feedback, valuable as that may be for your neighbor. Do this piece of work first. Turn that critical lens that is focused in on your neighbor and try directing it back to yourself, to your issues, your faults, your sin. Look at the biases, the prejudices you might have, the privileges that might be coloring your perspective. Look at how you see and the ways you might be, well, blind or have impediments, maybe one big impediment to your sight then, then seeing that you'll be better able to help your neighbor deal with their stuff, or you will be better able to. To see your stuff first. And in the past, I don't know about you, but I often imagined when Jesus made reference to a log in his listener's eye, I thought that was a reference to this enormous sin in his listeners, that they should see before they saw a lesser amount of sin in their neighbor. I wonder instead if by using that reference to a log, Jesus isn't emphasizing this, instead that doing the hard work of self examination, of confession, of recognizing our own sin, guilt, biases, faults, that is hard work. It's a heavy lift. You know, seeing the faults and issues with our neighbor, that's like a speck. But looking at ourselves, that's heavy lifting, like lifting a log. But Lord have mercy, does it allow us better to see? So my mom and dad are here with us, visiting up from San Diego, and so I thought I would tell a story that my dad would often tell my brother, my sister and I around the dinner table. That way I feel like he could leave today and at least be able to say, thank heaven. And something I said to my kids actually got through. He would often tell us of a time he was struck by the actions of a US president back in the early 60s. And I think, as he can tell you, and he'd be comfortable with me telling you, he's voted on, quote, both sides of the aisle. Well, in 1961, the United States launched an invasion of a foreign country that would prove an absolute disaster. The US had trained Cuban exiles living in the United States, given them arms to lead an overthrow of Cuba's president at the time, Fidel Castro. The strike team landed at the Bahia de Cochinas, or Bay of Pigs, and they were quickly overwhelmed and captured by Cuba's military. It was a humiliating defeat, and for many it was a Sign of overreach, of imperial hubris on the part of the United States in staging an invasion of a foreign country, not recognizing the terrible consequences that could ensue. But what my dad found striking, and what he would tell us again and again, is how he observed after that debacle, a United States President actually admitting error and taking responsibility. In a press conference held soon after those events, the US President at that time, John F. Kennedy, responded to a reporter's question with these words. There's an old saying that victory. Has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan. Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan. And then Kennedy went on to say this. I am the responsible officer of the government. I am the responsible officer. And many, including my dad, were most struck by that. A US President not doing what would have been so much easier, blaming the generals, blaming the other political party, pointing out the speck in his neighbor's eye, he saw someone in politics pointing the lens, at least for a moment, at himself. And that capacity for self criticism, that capacity for taking responsibility for one's actions, especially when they are disastrous or wrong, that my dad wanted to convey to his kids was a mark of character, a mark of leadership. Well, today we're going to be ordaining and installing church leaders. We'll be praying over them as they kneel up here in front. We just heard Jesus lift up the value of seeing and working on that log in our own eye before we turn and offer critique of their neighbor. And so each year your nominating committee considers this question in selecting our leaders. Is this a person who shows humility and gentleness? Is this a person engaged not simply in neighbor examination, not even in hard prophetic critique of others and the community and the world, but are they also engaged in self examination? That's what we need in leaders, isn't it? In our churches, in our communities, in our local government, national government. That ability, that character, that capacity to learn from our own mistakes, from the mistakes of the broader communities of which we are a part. It's hard work, as hard as removing the log in our own eyes rather than flicking away the speck in our neighbors. But when you see that quality in a leader, lord have mercy, does it shine. And I've seen it shine. And everyone will be ordaining and installing today. They help me to see. I see those qualities of humility, gentleness, self examination in them. I saw it in my preaching professor Ian Pitt Watson, and I. I saw it in another church leader named John Perkins, who went to be with the Lord, A week ago last Friday, at the age of 95, John was a preacher, author, speaker, Christian leader, community development champion, and civil rights activist. The kind of person you would think would be incredibly intimidating to meet. I was super intimidated before I met him, but he was this extraordinary combination of passion and gentleness, strength and humility. He would often say, I tell people they're broken, but I can't do that. If I don't tell them I'm broken, too. I first met John back in the early 90s when a former classmate of mine from college, Katherine, was doing an internship at the Harambee Christian Family center in Northwest Pasadena. She told me about what John had done in that community where Howard and Navarro streets intersect just a mile from the Rose Bowl. That intersection had been famously called Blood Corner back in the 70s, and it had at that time, the highest daytime crime rate in all of Southern California, right here in pasadena. Then in 1983, John Perkins moved in to open a Christian community development center called Harambe. Back in Mississippi, John had founded Voice of Calvary and Mendenhall Ministries, which developed health clinics, theology classes, a housing cooperative, and thrift stores. He believed the gospel, that ministry in Jesus name meant dealing with the whole person and the whole community in which a person lives. He saw the gospel as transforming not just individual hearts, though it does that. Forgiving a person of sin, filling them with the Holy Spirit, giving them life with Christ. But he also saw it as transforming relationships between neighbors, where violence, and specifically violence associated with racism, could be challenged and transformed by love. John knew racism well. He'd seen his own brother Clyde, shot down by a U.S. marshal. As Clyde was waiting with his girlfriend outside a theater where black people were not allowed in the main floor. They had to wait for the balcony. And while Clyde was waiting with his girlfriend, a U.S. marshal got in a scuffle with him and shot and killed Clyde. John Perkins writes in his book Let Justice Roll down, of how in the hospital room, when he saw his dead brother, he wanted to kill that U.S. marshal. Later, John would move to California and took on work, first as a janitor, then a welder, then a supervisor. And he writes of not just a vocational journey, but a spiritual journey, a journey of the heart, he went on. In California, he had not been raised a Christian, but one day his son Spencer came home from a Bible class, and he was singing this song. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight. John writes of hearing that song and how it led him on a journey, a whole lot of reading, a whole lot of conversations, and then finally committing his life to Jesus Christ. Later, he would return to Mississippi to do the work of Christian community development. He sought to address the spiritual and economic and social needs of that community, believing Christ cared about the whole person. His civil rights work, John's, like boycotting industries that would not hire black workers, got him imprisoned. And once so severely beaten he needed stomach surgery. But Perkins would later look, he writes, at the white officers who beat him, not with hatred, but pity for what racism had done to them, to the black community and to the world. In addition to speaking out for racial justice, John Perkins was famous for championing another notion, too, one he had seen highlighted in Scripture, that of racial reconciliation, that of communal reconciliation. John loved that word, reconciliation, and to his last day, he clung to it. Years later, John would return to California to do the same in Northwest Pasadena to found an organization that means in Swahili, let's get together and push Harambe, an organization I know a number of you have been connected with over the years. My friend Catherine got me to be a tutor at Harambe, and the more I learned about it and about John, the more intrigued I became. And then when I was a youth director during my later years as a seminary student, I brought a group of high school students to spend a week at the Harambe center in Northwest Pasadena to serve and learn. We read and discussed John's book, Let Justice Roll down, prior to that trip. And the highlight of our it was a time of service and work and also of learning. A highlight was having this extraordinary soul take the time to sit with our group. We'd all read his book, thought about his life, what he'd suffered, what he'd learned his ministry, and get to ask him questions. We attended a service earlier that week where church choirs from all over Pasadena, various races, language and nationalities, met and sang. And the featured speaker was John Perkins himself. We heard him preach to the thousands. Then he meets with our little group from Claremont and humbly and graciously talked with us about the Christian life, not as one above us, but one willing to share his life, his insights, his struggles, his shortcomings and his successes with us. And I'll never forget this extraordinary Christian leader right over there in the blue shirt with me up second to the far left, having just talked to our group about what the Christian faith was all about. Thanks be to God. Jesus speaks of the gracious gift of God to us. Like this. He says, you have a loving, heavenly parent who is so eager to give you good things. You have a family given to you. God is your heavenly parent. Your neighbor is transformed and becomes your sibling in Christ. By God's love poured out for you in Christ. You've been graciously interconnected by God to your neighbor and all the earth in a web of relationships designed for yours and others thriving. Thanks be to God. The gift of is yours. [00:23:45] Speaker A: Ask. [00:23:46] Speaker B: It'll be given to you. Knock, the door will be open. A pearl of great price has been placed before you. In your hands, something so precious, don't go throw it before the pigs. Receive it, cherish it, hold it as sacred. You have a loving, life giving relationship with God, neighbor and creation marked by justice and love. This has been given to you by Christ. As the old song puts it. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in his sight. That means you and me. And with this gift comes new sight. You don't see first your neighbor's sins, faults and shortcomings, though they're there. You see instead in that neighbor, one created in God's image, one beloved by God, a member of your your loving family. With faults, faults that may hurt you dearly, but beloved all the same. And if you're honest, you'll find this log emerging time and again. You'll seem to see so clearly what's wrong with them, and not your own issues, shortcomings and biases. But with God's help, with God's love, you can do that hard work that logs work of self examination and confession. For you have a loving parent who yearns for you to grow and who's drawn near to you, not as one high above you, but in Jesus Christ as a servant, as one who came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. May we look squarely at the log in our own sight, the log between us and our neighbor. And once we've addressed that as we address that, we can help our neighbor see a little more clearly as well. And maybe all of us will be able to sing I once was blind, but now, now I see. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.