April 7 - Luke 6:1-11, 27-40 - "Don't Judge!"

MPC 7th April 2019.

Phil Campbell

Last year social researcher Mark McCrindle surveyed 1024 ordinary Australians. And asked them what it is... that most puts them off Christianity.

Because there's no doubt, is there, that for most people these days, Christianity is on the nose.

In his column in The Australian last Saturday, Bernard Salt asked the question, how will future generations look back on this present decade? He said, on his analysis, there's a social change going on that's just as profound as the winds that swept through the 1960s.

Except in this case to do with loss of faith in social institutions. Including government. And banks. And of course the church.

And that's backed up by Mark Mccrindle's data.

Among his sample of 1024 Australians... he found 266 non-Christians. Who said they're actually open to change. Everyone else is completely closed. Or so they say.

And then he drills down into the minds of those 266 who were open. And asks them what kind of behaviours do you see in the church... that most likely stop you. From exploring Christianity further.

Here's what he found.

Church abuse was obviously a big one. 57%, Why wouldn't it be? Hypocrisy. 47%. The fact that so many who claim to be Christian act otherwise. Religious wars were number 3.

And coming in on a robust 43%: judging others. The way Christians, hypocrites as they are, are so judgy of everybody else.

If you're here this morning and you're a Christian. As I am. It's worth asking. Why? Why have we as a movement got a reputation for judging everyone else? Why is the first word that comes to mind when you say the word Christian to 43% of Australians, judgemental?

Because it's very much a breath-taking reversal of how it should be. When you stop and take notice of the actual words of Jesus.

We're in part five of our series called Nine of the Best Things Jesus Ever Said. Though maybe when you think about today's words we should have called it Nine Of the Most Ignored Things Jesus Ever Said.

Because check it out. Luke 6 verse 37. Here are the words Jesus actually said.

37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

He really said it. There's more. Keep reading.

Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Can I assure you. Jesus really did say that stuff. And he meant it. And at the very least whatever you want to do with those words, on the face of it there's a mismatch between the words of our founder and what seems to be the attitude of a whole lot of his 21st century followers. Who are labelled as not just judgmental. But these days being called abusive. And intolerant.

Although as we usually do, before we work out the implications in detail we need to step back a bit and take a look at the passage in context.

Seems to be judgementalism kicks in when your focus is on other people's righteousness. Rather than your own. In the sense that you think your own issues are all sorted.

And so you've got a high platform. That lets you look down on everybody else. A feeling that it's your job to chide and correct. And assess. That you're the gold standard for everyone else.

Which is exactly how it was in the time of Jesus with the Jewish Pharisees.

The context. In Luke chapter 6. Is that Jesus has just been rebuked and corrected by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, who we're told were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. And they've found one. Because he's healed a guy. On their Sabbath day. The day of rest. And they're going to judge and condemn him for it.

Here's this guy at the start of the chapter with a shriveled hand. Some kind of muscular atrophy.

And the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law, kind of the religious far right of Israelite politics, they've got so many rules for observing their rest day that it's exhausting to just think about it.

I mean, Jewish laws are still like that. Like our new oven has got a Sabbath mode on it; not kidding. Where you can set it on Friday morning to turn itself on and cook your dinner on the Saturday Sabbath. Because if you turn it on yourself, you're doing work.

And look, Jesus is walking all over that kind of rule keeping; he's already picked some heads of grain with his disciples and they're chewing it on the Sabbath, which has made waves with the Pharisees because that's harvesting.

And now there's this guy with the hand problem. And Jesus has called him up the front of the crowd. And made a speech to the crowd about the fact it's quite okay to do good to people on the Sabbath day; and then he heals him.

And the Pharisees. These guys are like the Taliban. And the Jewish law teachers... they're furious. And they start plotting with one another. What they're going to do with this Jesus.

And it's in that context. That Jesus gathers his disciples. And starts to teach them. About the problem with the Pharisees. The problem with self righteous religion. About God's blessing for the humble. About the woes coming. For the proud and comfortable. About the great reversal that's coming from the hand of God. That lies ahead for the for the hard hearted, for the unrepentant, for the self righteous. Like the Pharisees.

Now it's worth taking some time to unpack what he's saying. Because it's full of stuff that just flips the usual script. He's calling for a Kingdom that's so profoundly different. To anything that came before.

That values the poor and the hungry and the weeping; over the rich and the well fed and the laughing. That values the excluded and insulted. Above the accepted and the in. He says, Don't be surprised when you find that God's insiders. Are everyone else's outsiders.

If you've been here the last few weeks you'll know Jesus likes to call himself the son of man. Which is picking up a label from the ancient Prophet Daniel; for the ruler of God's coming kingdom.

And he says the problem is, the sort of people who are rich and powerful and laughing now; they've always opposed God's prophets. They've always looked down on everyone else. Look at the way they're judging me now. Just for healing a guy on the Sabbath. So if you're coming with me. Keep in mind there'll be more of the same. But worth it.

Verse 22. Look at his words.

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil... because of me. Because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Because great is your reward in heaven. For that's how their ancestors treated the prophets.

And then from verse 27; these famous words. That flip everything. So that instead of being payback people, if you follow Jesus he's calling us to be pay forward people.

He says anyone can reciprocate. Anyone can pay back good for good. Anyone can lend when there's a guaranteed return.

Japanese culture. A lot of cultures are like this, but Japan's famous for it. Very much a gift giving culture. But not a grace culture at all. Because they're constantly caught up in this struggle to give back and not be in one another's debt. Because if you've given the bigger gift. You've got the upper hand.

And look, we're so often the same. I've done you a favour, you owe me one.

Jesus says flip it.

Start by loving your enemies. And not just your friends. Doing good. To your haters. Blessing the cursers. Pray for the ones mistreating you. If they hit you and miss, give them another shot. Give the shirt off your back. Just give. And Keep giving. Whether it's fair or it's not fair. Just keep paying it forward. Being the model. And break the payback cycle.

Do to others he says, not what they've done to you. But what you wish they would. Treat others. Not the way they've treated you. But the way you wish they would.

These are his words. Verse 31.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Because anyone. Can do good to people who are good to them; and anyone. Will lend when it's going to be paid back.

Which comes to a climax in verse 36. "Be merciful. Just as your father is merciful."

Be to other people. The way God is. To you.

Now here's the big question. And look, this is right at the heart of it. I want to ask you this morning, do you really believe that? Or not?

Is that Yyur own fundamental deeply wired understanding of God? That instead of waiting to judge you. Instead of looking over your shoulder to assess you. That instead of looking for ways to mark you down for every minor error. He's brimming to overflowing with mercy.

First year bible college, we had to learn Greek. And let me tell you, it's hard work. And every day, there'd be vocab to learn. Strange words written in strange letters; words and words and words. Plus rules. And grammar. Declensions of nouns, conjugations of verbs. And every week, on a Thursday morning, the Greek test.

Here's the thing. The weekly marks add up for your final grade. That's not the thing. This is the thing. Every week was marked out of ten. And the marking scheme was simple. Every mistake. You lose one mark. Forget a word. Lose a mark. Spell it wrong. Lose a mark. Wrong ending on a verb. Lose a mark. Thing was, didn't take long and you'd be in the negatives. Week 1. minus 5 out of ten. And every week from then on, trying desperately to make it up.

Our teachers name was Mark Harding. But we used to call him Hard Marking.

See, I wonder, if that's deep down your impression of God... And if it is, whether that just overflows into the way you treat everybody else. hard marking. In your mind, God's marking you down on every mistake; so you're going to do the same. To everyone. See, I don't know what would need to happen to convince you otherwise.

So what if, for example, instead of testing and condemning you. God sent someone else to pay for all your failures.

What if Jesus said, just to show you what it looks like to turn the other cheek, I'm going to go on trial and not just be slapped on the cheek and spat on, but whipped and crucified as well.

And not just my shirt. They're going to take my coat. And raffle it off while they mock me as I hang on a cross.

And I'm going to give everything. And love my enemies. And pray, "Father forgive them." As they drive the nails through my hands and feet. I'm going to give to everyone who asks me. Absolutely free forgiveness of their sins. Because the price will be paid in full. By me.

Because. God. My Father. Is not hard marking but merciful.

And he's not going to look for ways to condemn you, and he's not going to take marks off for every time you got it wrong and he's not just looking for ways to criticise and put you down; and he just immensely loves you so much that even when you're his enemy he's sent Jesus to die for you as an act of timeless mercy and grace.

To which the Pharisee says, no thanks, God doesn't work like that. God's a God who's counting up the leaves in my herb garden to make sure I've given ten percent. I've got five mint plants, and they've got a total of 627 leaves; here are 62 point 7 of them for the temple kitchen, and to be safe I've even rounded it up to 68.

And if you rounded down on yours, then I'm better. And you're judged. And if you dare to heal someone on the Sabbath day. Then I'm better. And you're judged.

Can you see. That if your own fundamental perception of God is built on his mercy to you in the gospel. The good news that Jesus has freely paid for your sin. Then it's just going to overflow in the gracious way you treat everyone else. And the opposite. If you've totally missed. The mercy of God. Then you'll have nothing for anyone else. If you think God's working on a merit system. Then that's what you'll be applying. Stringently. To everyone. Everywhere.

Like a Pharisee. You're religious. Like they were. But you're missing the point.

Completely missing the logic of the Kingdom. Which in the case of the Pharisees means they're declaring themselves completely outside it.

Because they're showing. In the way they're judging without a hint of mercy. That grace. Just doesn't compute for them.

And so Jesus says to them... with the measure of grace you use. It's going to be measured back to you.

So Pharisees. He says, stop judging. Think again. Some of the best words he ever said. The kingdom of God; this is great news. It's not meant to be full of judgy condemning people. Because It's all about forgiveness.

So get with the program.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

You're not called to be everyone else's critic. And write people off.

Don't condemn. And you won't be. Forgive. And you will be.

Jesus says to the crowd in verse 39, who'll be your guide? You choose. Can the blind lead the blind. Won't they both fall into a pit?

Do you want to follow the Pharisees? Really? They're blind guides. It'll just be the blind leading the blind.

Is that the model you want? Which again, when we step back to the 21st century, is a very good question, isn't it? Who have we followed? How on earth. Did we end up in such a hole?

Who ever said that Christianity was meant to be about judging everybody and telling them how wrong they are? Instead of modelling forgiveness. And giving. And love.

That we of all the people in the world, we among all the religions on offer; we're the ones who are meant to have the clearest view of God's mercy, because he's shown that mercy to us. And that's meant to be our hallmark.

It's as if we started with Jesus. And somewhere in the history of the church; somewhere in the last 2000 or so years. We switched. And decided maybe we should try the Pharisee model instead.

Look, the pressure was on right from the start.

Next term we're going to be looking at Paul's letter to the Colossians. And already, they're under pressure from other Christians who want to be judgy. Over what they're eating or drinking. Over Sabbath days. Over whether they're spiritual enough. And look what he says...

Therefore do not let anyone judge you but what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath Day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

But it didn't stop. It's like generations of people who wanted to play church... just missed the memo.

Because it's not about playing church; it's not about doing a bunch of religious things like Sabbaths and Food rules and holy days the right way according to the right rules; and condemning the non compliant.

And maybe you're here today and you've had experiences where people have looked down on you for stuff like that. Because you've never quite managed to act religious enough to pass muster.

Paul says to the Colossian Christians, don't let anyone look down on you for that stuff. Just keep looking at Jesus. And what he had to say. About the way the Pharisees judged. Square up your shoulders, hold up your chin and say, I'm okay. Because I'm trusting and following Jesus.

And then learn what it means to be like him. Learn to look at other people with grace in your eyes. Rather than judgement. Learn to Pay forward. And not just pay back. To love enemies. And not just love friends. Lend. Give. Love. Forgive. And treat other people just the way God's treated you.

You know, if you're a Christian, I reckon we've got some work to do if we want to change our reputation. And we'll only get to do it one interaction at a time. One relationship at a time.

If you're not a Christian. I wonder if you might reconsider. Ask yourself. When it comes to the Christians you know. Whether maybe on reflection even though you might disagree with them on some stuff... maybe it's not that they're judgemental. Maybe you just disagree.

We're kind of caught up in the outrage culture, aren't we? Things so easily magnified by social media. Maybe by both sides.

And maybe. Just maybe. There are Christians around who are very much committed to listening to Jesus. And not following the Pharisees.

Who very much know they're just forgiven sinners depending on God's mercy. Which means they're merciful themselves. In the way they treat everyone they meet.

I know there are Christians like that around.

Because here's another slightly more positive statistic from Mark McCrindle Research. It's one thing to have a general perception that Christians are all judgemental. But do you actually know any? And what are they like?

That's the follow up question McCrindle asked 1024 Australians. And 92 percent of them said they know at least one Christian.

And look, sure there are negatives. Because there's a bit of Pharisee in all of us.

But 41% said caring was the first word that came to mind. 35% said loving. 35% said kind. Honest. Faithful.

Which I reckon must mean there are loads of Christians out there who are actually taking Jesus seriously. And doing what he said. Being merciful because they've found God's mercy for themselves.

And leaving the judging to him.