This is the Way
Week five - Clear Eyes, Full Hearts
Matthew 7:1-12
Bottom line: Examining our own lives clears our eyes to see others the way God sees them.
Series recap: Life is hard and you want to get it right. We have a Master Teacher in Jesus who wants to help.
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose! —Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights
(but also, and first, Jesus…)
Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount was leading up to his greatest teaching/commandment -
Love one another.
As we turn to these last sections of the teaching, Jesus wants to talk about how we clear our
1 “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.
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.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. —Matthew 7:1-6
Instinctually,
Judging others is pervasive because it helps us classify people into categories that help us make sense of the world the way we see it. —Rich Villodas
The problem is…
We don’t see others with the clarity we think we do. —Rich Villodas
Jesus invites us to practice
Three questions for Self-Examination (from Rich Villodas):
- Where am I failing to live up to a standard I expect from others?
- How do I currently benefit from the patience and grace of God (and others)?
- Who in my life can help me see some of my blind spots?
Jesus says, First deal with your stuff before you try and deal with other people’s stuff
In other words - Clear eyes
On the narrow path,
When we recognize our own shortcomings and are honest about our own struggles, i.e. clearing our own eyes, we’re more compassionate with how we look at others
To walk the narrow path means releasing any system that excuses our own sin by magnifying the sin of others. —Villodas
Clear eyes, Full hearts
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. —Matthew 7:7-12
Ask, seek, knock - it’s about a life of curiosity and trusting that the One who judges us is a good Father, eager to be generous
Curiosity leads to
In the same way, we can be generous instead of judgmental in how we view others
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!