When Judges Die ...

Torrential rains, and Cat 5 hurricanes, cause unprecedented damage in our world today.  To those in harm’s way it hardly matters whether the cause is man-made or random nature’s fury – it only matters that the fury is bearing down on you.  For any who have experienced a tornado it is terrifying.  A Cat 5 hurricane is like enduring a 5-hour tornado, with a bunch of flooding thrown in for good measure.  That kind of fury does not care who you are.  It does not care what you do for a living.  A supreme court judge is no different than an appellate court judge is no different than a county court judge is no different than an amateur judge on the sofa.  The nation notices when a supreme court judge dies.  So far, I don’t believe we have lost one to a hurricane.  The odds of losing an appellate court judge to a tragedy of nature go up simply because there are more of them.  But losing an amateur judge, the kind that sit on the sofa and render out verdicts all day long on one matter or another; well it is certain we have lost those types to storms.  Those kind of judges are you, and me.  And the judging we do is not a service to our nation or communities.  It is usually only an unsolicited (and unwanted) pronouncement of our opinions over the lives of each other.  Nothing gained by those pronouncements, but surely much is lost by them.

And in this matter, we are all equally guilty.  For all of us have sat in judgement of others over one thing or another.  We have assessed the motives of others as well as their actions.  We have condemned those we thought guilty of their various crimes, or neglect and omissions, or general misdemeanors.  When the TV relays the stories of politicians, we judge what they do and say as being part of criminal activity when those words or actions do not fit what we believe to be right (or in our best interest).  When the news keeps tabs on high profile court cases we are quick to offer our judicial assessments of what verdict “should” happen, no matter what actually does happen.  And we are also quick to dismiss the results of actual justice in our country if that justice does not concur with what we believe to be true.  Many of us believe Casey Anthony, George Zimmerman, and OJ Simpson – to be guilty – no matter what the court systems were able to prove.  Our racial biases may influence our positions on those three; White, Hispanic, or Black we believe to be guilty.  But it is hard to find someone in the US, who is willing to accept a “not guilty” verdict for all three of them.  But our entire American justice system is built on doing just that.  And our entire Christian religion requires much more of us than mere acceptance of a not-guilty verdict.

Our judgment is often quick, and in error.  Michael Brown of Ferguson Missouri became the poster child for the Black Lives Matter movement.  His death was a tragedy.  It was a failure of our society on many levels.  And when black men die at the hands of the police, it is understandable how trends can be drawn, and patterns adopted – even if statistics do not bear that out.  But no matter how you feel about the Black Lives Matter movement, or about racial bias in police departments at large, Michael Brown was the single most person responsible for the tragedy of that day.  The investigations conducted by the US Justice Department Civil Rights division, the FBI, as well state and local police departments all came to that same conclusion.  Not all of those agencies had the same goals or agenda during their investigations.  The nation was clambering for action to be taken against the policemen involved.  The press reported this incident on the hour.  And Mike’s name is still listed with reverence when discussing victims used to inspire the Black Lives Matter movement.  But the case on this, the specific case on this incident, found only that the tragedy that ensued happened because of the actions Mike took during the incident.  There were no charges brought against the policemen, because none of the agencies who investigated it found wrong doing on the part of the policemen involved.  And our nation, meaning most of us, have yet to accept that finding of our justice system.  Does that mean every case is wrong, No.  But does that mean, every case is guilty, No, it can’t mean that either.  There will never be a 100% clear cut answer.  There will only ever be tragedies, and failures of our society, failures of our people, that lead to sadness that lingers on well after the incident is over.  And what we judge to be true influences our hearts more than anything else.

And so we are asked not to judge at all.  Not at all.  And for many of us this seems impossible.  Judging is a core part of who we are, or rather, who we have chosen to become.  And this is not a new phenomenon.  It transcends humanity across time.  Theophilus and Luke faced this problem in their day.  Jesus faced it in His.  It is what killed Him.  It is what would kill so many of the followers of Jesus.  As it still does today.  Not the judgment of others rendered upon Christians (that is only a minority given the population of Christians across the planet even though it continues to take place).  It is the judgment we render on each other, that continues to destroy Christian hearts, and adds only to the tragedies of this world.  Nothing gained by our judgment of each other, but surely much is lost by the practice we are forbidden to engage in, yet somehow refuse to give up.  Luke zeroes in on this issue in the Christian church as he continues in the sixth chapter of his gospel, picking up in the greatest sermon ever preached.  Told by Jesus Himself to His followers, as relevant then, as it is today.

Luke picks up in verse 37 saying … “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”  In this single verse Jesus contrasts what we do, myself included, with what He wants.  We are not to judge each other.  Not in matters of motives.  Not in matters of action.  Not even in matters of sin or not sin.  Jesus did not put constraints around this idea.  He did not say – well don’t judge in matters of the world, but you are free to judge in matters of the church.  No.  He said not to judge each other – ever.  The only qualified judge is our God.  We are crappy at it.  We cause more harm than good.  It is no accident that Jesus followed the words for us not to judge, with not to condemn.  Have you noticed our judgements nearly always lead to a condemnation of someone over something.  We always find ourselves with a guilty verdict for somebody.  And we condemn them almost immediately.  We judge.  Then we condemn.  We do this to sinners most of all.  And it is sinners who LEAST need our judgement and our condemnation.  This idea of judging and condemning sinners as a tool of evangelism comes straight from the mind of Satan, not the lips of Christ.  It has the opposite effect of leading people to Jesus, instead it drives them away.  It teaches them they will never be good enough.

The only way to find relief from sin is to come to Jesus.  But you cannot be forced there, or frightened there.  You must see His love, and feel that lure in your own heart as a response.  You cannot do that when you are constantly bombarded with pronouncements of guilt by those who claim to follow Jesus.  That condemnation does not drive you to the Cross.  It drives you away from the Cross.  Better the judge be dead, than be the cause of keeping people from the only relief from sin they will ever know.  That means, the judge in us, needs to die and be silent forevermore.  Instead of judgment and verdicts of condemnation – Christians are to offer forgiveness.  That means, Casey Anthony, George Zimmerman, OJ Simpson, Michael Brown and Darren Wilson – should all be welcome in your church, your home, and your heart.  It does not matter what you think they did, or did not do.  It does not matter what you feel about any one of them.  Your ideas, your feelings, your judgment, your beliefs about them is entirely irrelevant.  Your forgiveness of them, as ideally they too should forgive you, is all that matters.  Your love of them is all that matters.  For your love of them, may be the only thing, that takes tragedy and pulls down the sadness.

Jesus continues in verse 38 saying … “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  Jesus reminds us of the cumulative effect of giving on our hearts.  When through our submission to Christ of our ideas, our will, our desires we are freed from the burden of judgement we have so long held on to – we are free to love, to give to others instead.  Forgiveness of others breaks the chain of hate that lies deep within us.  It is our own hearts we destroy because we refuse to forgive.  When we can love and give to others, we heal the damage we have so long done to our own hearts.  And what comes to our bosom is not the gifts of others in return for our own, it is the healing of our hearts that nothing else could have done for us.  This is not the idea of you giving to others, ONLY so they can give back to you in return and in greater measure.  This is the idea that the act of you giving to others, to those you might have previously thought did not deserve it, puts you in harmony with how God thinks, and how God loves.  That harmony with the ways of God, will heal more of your heart and soul than anything else could have done.  And more than you could have imagined.

Jesus continues in verse 39 saying … “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? [verse 40] The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.”  We are not capable of judging because we do not see clearly into the hearts of men.  Only our God can do that.  But our God is busy forgiving, and redeeming, and giving to us.  If this is how our God spends His time, are we to do any different.  We can join with our God in forgiving, especially those who do not want our forgiveness, or deserve it.  We can join with our God in giving and loving, especially those who do not love us, or ever give back to us.  We are too blind to judge.  But perhaps not too blind to follow the ways of our God in forgiveness, and giving.  If we are to be perfect, we must be like He who is perfect.  We do not see well enough to judge, but we may see well enough to meet a need instead.

Jesus brings home the point again picking up in verse 41 saying … “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? [verse 42] Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.”  Too often we condemn our brother for some minor offense, while being guilty ourselves of a major one.  We like to think we know how to weigh sin, and determine which ones are the more grievous ones to commit.  Murder is worse than theft is worse than lying.  But pride began it all.  And lying made it grow.  Murder sprang from these earlier and more insidious sins.  Being gay was not the first sin.  And how we deal with our sins is not something I can cure you from.  My own log in my eye will always be too great to remove the splinter from your eye.  There is no weight of sin one versus the other.  And I am no sin removal doctor.  To tell the truth, I am not even a good judge of what you do, to know if it is sin at all.  I must trust in Jesus to address what is erring in you, as He does what is erring in me.  And I must trust in His love to be great enough to save us both.

This is not about behavior.  Behavior is merely a symptom.  This is about the core of who you are.  You do not judge others because it is something you do in your spare time.  You judge, nearly constantly.  You condemn, nearly constantly.  Because it is who you are.  That is what needs to change.  That is why the judge in you must die.  It must be taken from you before you will be freed from it.  It cannot just take a nap and leave you safe from it.  It needs to go entirely.  You must be made free from it, by the only God who is able to free you from it.  Jesus is the only one who can kill the judge in you, and re-create what He intended you to be.  He looks to transform you from dying bramble bush that you are, into part of the vine in His vineyard.  To make you something that produces a different fruit than condemnation, a fruit of love instead.

Jesus continues in verse 43 saying … “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. [verse 44] For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. [verse 45] A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”  What you say.  What you think reveals who you are.  What you feel about the criminals you believe guilty is NOT OK.  Those feelings are an extension of the judgment in your heart you still cling to.  To love them, to truly love them, you must think differently, so you can love differently.  To love like God loves.  To be the fruit bearing kind, out of the goodness of who you become.  Jesus tells us here, that it takes this kind of core transformation to produce something else out of you.  A real change in who you are.  Anything less, leaves a harvest unfit for you or anyone else.

Jesus continues in verse 46 saying … “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”  Yikes!  Let those words sink in for a minute.  That is Jesus talking to me, to you.  Why call Jesus Lord, why pray, why claim to be His follower – if we refuse to do what He says.  Christians who judge, are not Christians.  They are Christians in name only, but they do not know the Lord they claim to serve.  We are not to judge even in matters of the church, maybe particularly in matters of the church.  If we are to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps we could start by listening and then doing what He asks us to do.  For those of us who need a transformation to get here.  Let us submit ourselves to Jesus and find that transformation.  Jesus did not come to leave us where we are, He came to lift us from it.  But to be lifted, we must seek to be lifted, and be willing to be lifted.  We must submit to find ourselves in harmony with God’s ways.  Lose the judge in us.  Find the Jesus living in us.

Jesus concludes this sermon, perhaps the greatest sermon ever to the Christian church picking back up in verse 47 saying … ” Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: [verse 48] He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. [verse 49] But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”  There is a Cat 5 hurricane headed your way.  It is one of Satan’s making.  You will feel its fury no matter whether you are founded on the Rock or not.  This is not a product of global warming, it is a product of Satan’s intensity.  The fall of the home and of the heart, not grounded in Jesus will be great.  It is Jesus who says this very thing.

So I ask, who are you?  Are you the judge, jury, and executioner of your own heart?  Do you ignore the words of Jesus and continue to judge all matters of sin and righteousness though you are too blind to see either.  Or has your heart been made free of this burden, by letting Jesus free you from your own ideas, and feelings, and desires – in favor of His own.  The fury of Satan’s floods and winds are destined to rage in your life.  It is coming.  A many hour tornado with rains and floods that will flatten the home of hypocrisy without so much as a second glance backwards.  There is but one defense.  It is not the cries of agony while the storm rages on.  It is the transformation of your heart that precedes the storm.  It is your persistence in not just reading the words of Jesus, but the transformation of who you are, that would find you doing these words because they are a part of you.  Will this storm find you loving others, unshackled from the burden of judgement of your own heart.  Not weighed down with the anchor of condemnation, but instead lifted by the buoy of love that will not be denied.  If we are all to face the storm, why not head into it with the life raft of becoming the words of Jesus in action.  Let the judge die.  See the saint resurrected in you.  And survive the gale in the transformation of Jesus Christ in your life, not just reading, but doing because you are in harmony with who God is.