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| Rev. Brent Russett |
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/
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PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast -
Sunday, May 27th, 2018:
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast -
Sunday, May 27th, 2018:
The Principle of
Sowing
and Reaping Judgement
Today's Reading: Matthew 7:1-5
Good morning and Welcome
to good news in the morning. I am so glad that you have tuned into the program
today. My name is Brent Russett. I am the Lead Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan
Church here in Ottawa. I have been pastoring there for 28 years. One of the things
I love to do is show how God’s word that was written a long time ago, connects
with our world right now.
I know that some of you who are listening have been
followers of Jesus for a long time, and I know that others of you think of
yourself as spiritual, but you are not really sure of this Christian thing, and
I know others of you just curious how people of faith think. I trust that
wherever you are on yours spiritual journey, that you will find this program
interesting and informative, and I believe that for those of you desire it, God
can use a program like this to take you another step closer to Him
This morning I want to talk to you about the principle of
sowing and reaping Judgement.
All the way through the bible we see the principle of sowing
and reaping. If you sow corn you are
going to reap corn, not apples. Another way of putting it is if you keep
driving down the road you are on you are going to get to where that road is
taking you. If you sow to spirit, you reap spiritual flourishing. If you sow to
the flesh, you reap spiritual destruction.
You see the sowing and reaping principle in all parts of
life. If you keep on spending more than you make, you know where that path is
gong to lead you to. If you neglect relationships, you reap distant
relationships.
Today I want to take a look at the sowing and reaping
principle in regards to judging others.
The application point of this sermon is don’t judge
others. And you already know what you need to do – But I am not sure we how we
judge others. We don’t really view ourselves as judgemental, after all we are
Canadians. But I am hoping I can give you a biblical view of judging today – so
that you know how to avoid the pain that judging brings.
Let me take you to the text, and then give some reasons
why this is really important to us – especially in our culture. Hear the words
of Jesus
Matthew 7:1–5 (NIV)
7 “Do not judge, or you too will
be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be
judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (you
heard the sowing and reaping principle-repeat)
Then Jesus
the carpenter, paints this funny absurd picture.
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? 4 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? 5 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.
We Canadians are a tolerant bunch. We pride ourselves in
saying, Vive la difference. The only thing that we can’t tolerate, are those
who are intolerant. So we think – We got this judgment thing.
I hate to break it to you, but a Canadian view of
tolerance and what Jesus is talking about – Do not judge, are not even close to
the same thing.
The way judgment or tolerance works in our society, is we
tend to be tolerant up to a point – and then at some point we condemn the
person for their sin. We tend to be tolerant of sexual permissiveness up to the
point where you get a Harvey Weinstein. Then what happens is we condemn the
person for their sin. What Harvey Weinstein did was horrible and wrong. – and
he has been thoroughly condemned
The other way judgement works in our society is that we
say nothing a person does is wrong. You live the way you want to live – and we
will affirm you in your chosen lifestyle. And it really doesn’t matter what
kind of bazar stuff people do, they will find people on the internet to affirm
them.
What these two views of judgement do, is actually bind
people to their sin. One says you are not only wrong but you are condemned, and
there is no hope for you. The other just enables people – saying you were meant
to be this way. Both are saying you are your sin and your sin is you.
The grace that Jesus taught us says something different.
Grace says you are different from your sin. God says your sin is not the real
you. So a Canadian view of tolerance and Jesus’ words, Do not judge are
different. So what is Jesus saying.
Matthew 7:1–2 (NIV)
“Do not
judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you
judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you.
In Canadian society we think declaring something good or
bad or right or wrong is judging. That is not the idea behind this word – or at
least not the whole definition.
Could you imagine if you used that as a definition, and
said, I am going to follow the words of Jesus, and am also going to be a
parent. Little Joey, you just craved your initials into the piano, but I can’t
judge that as being right or wrong – Little Alice, awe you just stole from our
neighbour and lied about it, but I am going to follow Jesus and not judge that
as being right or wrong.
Of course not – that would be absurd. What you did,
little Joey, Little Alice was wrong. If you are going to be a good parent to
little Joey and little Alice – then you need to let them know it is wrong. That
is not what Jesus is talking about when he says, do not judge.
The idea of judgement not only carries with it the idea
of what is right and wrong – but it also carries with it the idea of judging
them as guilty and then to condemn them for it. Not only condemning what they
did, but their very being. Judgement here is about saying not only what you did
was wrong – but you are wrong. Your very being is wrong. Judgement here is about condemnation.
So if I say to little Joey or little Alice, what you did
what you did was wrong. I have not passed judgement. But if I go on to say, you
are such a bad kid. – then I have moved to judgement. I have condemned their
being, their personhood.
You parents know this. You can say what you did was wrong
or bad, but you shouldn’t say you’re bad. That kind of statement binds the
wrongness of action to their identity. That is harmful.
But we pass those judgements all the time – not just on
our family, but on our friends, bosses, co-workers, celebrities. . They’re such
an idiot, moron, slut, loser – fill in your own words. We not only judge them
to be wrong, but we condemn their very personhood for it.
Matthew 7:1–2 (NIV)
“Do not
judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you
judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you.
Or to use a rough translation, Don’t condemn, or you to
will be condemned – for in the same way you condemn others, you will be
condemned, the measure you use, it will be used against you.
So how does the sowing and reaping principle work in
regards to judging. Well at a very basic level, when you condemn someone else’s
personhood, a person made in the image of God, you diminish your own
personhood. If you are the kind of person that is pulling other people down,
you are probably going to be the kind of person who is stunted yourself. You
cannot diminish others, without diminishing yourself.
The sowing and reaping principle is in effect. Remember
what the bible says – you reap what you sow. Jesus is saying that if you sow
judgement and condemnation – you are going to reap judgement and condemnation. Now
if you know anything about gardening, you know a seed doesn’t necessarily look
like the plant that grows. A carrot seed does not look like a carrot. Sometimes
you will sow judgement in one area – and the judgement you reap doesn’t look
like the judgement you have sown, but it will be connected.
There is a time lag between when you sow and when you
reap, and there is often a time lag between when you judge, and when you reap
judgement.
People who judge other people on their fashion sense, are
often insecure about their own looks. It is not a judgement to say that ensemble doesn’t work. But when you move to that to judge a person’s
character, their upbringing, all because of their looks – then your have moved
into judgement, and you will reap what you sow.
When you judge
others because they have different preferences than yours, you will often reap
others choice not to be in close relationship to you. The church is often
judged as being very judgemental – sometimes unfairly, but other times very
fairly. We reap what we sow. People want nothing to do with the judgemental
church.
What we often tend to do is judge others weaknesses against their own
strengths. This tends to make us really insecure about our own weaknesses. When
you judge others, it has this boomerang affect. You reap what you sow.
Matthew 7:3–5 (NIV)
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? 4 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?
5 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.
Jesus says, why are you looking at other people’s stuff,
when you have a boat load of your own stuff. Forget about other people’s stuff
and work on your own stuff – when you have dealt with your own stuff, maybe you
can help someone else with there stuff.
But we are really good at judging other people’s stuff
and overlooking our own stuff. There are people who will judge drug addicts and
alcoholics – the addicted, all the while they have their own issues of being
addicted to food, or their smart phones, or live in co-dependent relationships
which is just another form of addiction. We see other people’s stuff but we
don’t see our own.
We fail to have compassion on the poor or the homeless or
the mentally ill. We condemn them for living in their circumstances in life.
And yet many of us fail to be thankful for our own good health, for our
families, such as they were, that gave many of us a boost, and we pretend that
we have earned all that we have had. But most of you, when you look at your
life honestly, it was built on good health, or those who have poured into you.
We condemn others for not having the advantages that we have had. This hurts
us.
There are a few things I want you to note about our
passage. When Jesus is talking about getting the plank out of your own eye, he
is not saying judge yourself – in the sense that we have been using the word
judge. Condemning yourself for your stuff is unhelpful. But acknowledging that
you have stuff – is really helpful. The plank in your eye, is not you, but it
is going to keep you from functioning like you were meant to function.
But Jesus doesn’t just say, acknowledge your plank,
acknowledge your stuff. He says, do something about your stuff. You are not
condemned because of the plank in your eye. You just cant see to take the speck
our of your neighbours eye. Your ability to speak into other’s lives is
inhibited if you don’t deal with your own stuff.
Let me say, that if you tend to judge yourself by your
plank, that is really unhelpful. When you condemn yourself because of your
stuff, your stuff tends to become a part of your identity – but your plank is
not you. If it has been in your eye for a long time, it will seem like a part
of you, but it is not you. Repent of judging and condemning yourself, so you
can be separated from your plank – and that gives room for God to deal with
you.
MUSIC – Love (One
Another) Maranatha Singers 2:58
Now I want to talk to you who are Christians. By that you
have received Jesus into your life and you have asked him to take away your
sin. He has forgiven you, and you are doing your best to follow him. You know
you are not perfect, but it is your desire to do what Jesus wants you to do. If you are a Christian, then these next verses
are directed towards you.
1 Corinthians 5:9–12 (NIV)
9 I wrote
to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—10 not
at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and
swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But
now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to
be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or
slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What
business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge
those inside?
This seams like such a harsh passage. But I think it is a
really important passage. The first thing is to note that if you are a
Christian, you have no business judging those who are outside the church. Even
those people who are sexually immoral, or swindlers, or idolaters.
When we judge people in our world, we are not being what
we are called to be. People will not be condemned because of their greed or
idolatry, they will be judged on what they did with Jesus. When you judge
people who are not Christians on their sin, you are showing that you think that
sin can be dealt with by some other means than Jesus.
When you do see people who are not Christians sinning,
the right response is grief not anger. Because you and I know that you don’t so
much break God’s laws, as you break yourself against God’s laws. When you sin
it hurts you. So when you see our society going in way other than God’s way,
our response has got to be, not one condemnation, but of compassion. If you
keep going like you are going, you are going to be in for a lot of pain, and
you are not going to flourish. I know you can’t see that right now, but I wish
you could. I love you, so I wish you wouldn’t go down the road – but the choice
is yours. Don’t judge. Don’t condemn. Have compassion. It is not about their
sin, it is about what they do with Jesus.
But Paul says something very different about those inside
the church. He says if someone is claiming to be a brother or sister in Christ,
but they are living in a sexually immoral way, or a greedy way, or if they are
an idolater, or slanderer, or swindler – then you have to judge that for
yourself. He says, don’t associate with such people.
Now Paul, in this passage was dealing with someone who
was sleeping with their step mom, but all the while claiming to be a brother in
Christ. And he was not repentant. He was thinking there was nothing wrong with
this.
Paul says, wait a second. Spiritual fellowship is so
important and so sacred, that people who persist in their sin, without
repentance will jeopardize the work of God in your life – so you need to make
the choice not to associate with them, and the condemnation of them is the
breaking of fellowship with them.
In many churches, like the one I pastor, we have all
kinds of people in all kinds of places on their spiritual journey. That is
great. There are people kicking tires, people who are wondering about this
Christian thing. People who are brand new Christians. People who have been
Christians for quite a while.
In my judgement, in our context, this scripture is
talking about Christians who have been so for quite a while. It is not about
new Christians. It is not about those investigating the faith. It is about
people who have been Christians for quite a while who you choose to have deep
spiritual fellowship with. If they are grievously sinning, and they are unrepentant
about it, then they are not the kind of people who you want in close circle for
spiritual friends.
Paul balances off this whole passage with what he wrote
to the church in Rome.
Romans 14:1–4 (NIV)
14 Accept the one whose
faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One
person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak,
eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not
treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat
everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge
someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And
they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
There
are a whole lot of areas where we will see things differently. They are what
Paul calls disputable matters. If we are full of pride, and think we are always
right, then we think there are no disputable matters. But the reality is, that
there are so many things that are not black and white. The issue in the Roman
Church was eating meat sacrificed to idols, or which days are sacred.
2 One man's
faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats
only vegetables. (Some Christians
became vegetarians because they were worried about eating meat sacrificed to
idols - some Christians didn’t worry a whole lot about it)
3 The man who eats everything must not look down
on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn
the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4
Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands
or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Be
very sure that if you are breaking fellowship with someone, it is over
substantial matters. Not grey areas.
Hear God’s word Romans 14:12
12 So
then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
13 Therefore
let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to
put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.
We don’t judge those outside the church, because it is
not about their sin, it is about what they do with Jesus. And it has to be
extraordinary to judge people in the church.
Big unrepentant, in your face kind of sin – and the judgement then is to
withdraw from those kind of people – not to gossip, not to slander, but to
withdraw.
Back to our main verse.
Matthew 7:1–5 (NIV)
7 “Do not judge, or you too will
be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be
judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
If you are type that easily condemn others – then it is
time to repent of that. Because that kind of stuff comes back to haunt you. You
can say what you see as good or bad, or right and wrong, but as soon as you
move into condemning people you are setting yourself up to be condemn. So don’t
do it. You reap what you sow.
PRAYER:
Lord, in this matter of judgement, it is often very easy to move from saying something that is wrong, to condemning someone.
I
pray, Lord, for the grace to not be judges of each other, but instead,
help us to be that for each other, in Jesus' name, AMEN.
And Thank you for listening to Good News in the
morning.
This program is on the air by the grace of God and
donations of many faithful people.
My name is Brent Russett, and it has been a privilege to
bring you Good News in the morning.
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
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