Judging Like Jesus

 

            

Judging  like Jesus

 “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?  If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?”  (Jn. 8:46).  This bit of dialogue is in the middle of one of the most heated conversations that Jesus had with the Pharisees.  Jesus “laid it on the line” with them, calling them “slaves to sin” (8:34), sons of Satan (8: 38, 41, 44),  and  liars (8: 55).  This “interaction”  comes on the heels of another “scene” that Jesus had recently had with the Pharisees and teachers of the law in which they brought to him a woman caught in the act of adultery. 

When I was reading this passage,  I couldn’t help but changing the setting of this conversation to today.  Jesus talking to certain church leaders,  calling it like it is with many of them.  In a  day and age in which “judging” is the ultimate (and practically ONLY) sin (akin to “intolerance”) in our world ,  would Jesus be accused today of “sinning”?  I found it interesting as I was reading the quote at the top of the article by Jesus, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?”  In spite of ALL the judgments he had made of these men, not one of them then turned and said, “Yes – it’s a sin to judge, and since you are making all kinds of judgments about us,  therefore, you are a sinner!” Certainly if they had said so, it would have been important enough to have been included. But its conspicuous absence speaks volumes, or should, to our generation.

  The Jewish leaders  asked Jesus once, “Who do you think you are?” (8:53) but that was in the context of his claim that “if a man keeps my word, he will never taste death.” (8:51) They were taken aback that he could make such a claim since Abraham and the prophets all died and he was saying that if anyone believed in HIM, they would never see death”! (Radical statement indeed).   But it was the next claim that caused outright pandemonium:  “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I AM!” (8:58)  It was here that they picked up stones to stone him to death.

Today,  when anyone mentions the “I AM” statement, we’re told by New Agers that Jesus was just referring to the “I AM Ascended Masters” and how he was being our model and we were to be -and could be if we just awakened our consciousness to be on that wavelength -  just like him.  But once again, this is taken out of context and without understanding of the historical  implications of the statement. He was not talking about being a model for people in this statement. He was saying two things:  1) that he came (in years and preeminence) before  Abraham, and 2) that he referred to himself as “I AM WHO I AM.”  (Exo. 3:13-14) The understanding by everyone from Moses to the Pharoah to whom He told this, was that this was the name of God by God Himself. Therefore, when Jesus made the statement, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” the implication was understood by the Pharisees to mean that Jesus was claiming to himself be God. This was the reason for their stoning attempt! It was considered blasphemy for a man to call himself God.

 

Many people today prefer for the sake of not hurting anyone’s religious sensibilities, to steer clear of a Jesus that made waves.  They would rather believe in the Jesus who stilled the storm.  But the Jesus of the New Testament was not an either-or Messiah – He was ALL of those things he said about himself (for a sample, check out John's Gospel, chapters 5-8 for starters) – and so much more.  They say that this (Biblical) view of Jesus is “narrow” and “exclusivistic ,” and edit his quotes out of the Bible or disregard him altogether as unhistorical (in spite of other extra-Biblical writers of the time who wrote about him, such as Josephus who was not a Christian, and others). 

The Jesus of the Bible is not small but HUGE – far beyond what our puny little brains can wrap around!  Many people of ALL nationalities and religious backgrounds (including former atheists) have come to follow Jesus  over the centuries. He speaks today in a myriad of ways – mostly through people in relationship with other people, sharing their experiences with Jesus,  but also through the Bible, physical healings,  miraculous life-changing events, and even through dreams and near-death experiences – whatever ways people need to meet him.   

He is the SAVIOR of ALL people – IF we accept His judgment – that we are sinners who the God of all creation deemed worthy enough to move heaven and earth  to become a baby born not in a rich man’s palace but in a dirty barn, his first cradle an animal’s feeding trough, giving up his unfathomable glory as the ultimate deity to show us OUR worth – that God would become one of us and DIE to take on our sins so that we might – if we choose – come back into a right relationship with Him and live forever.  Now THAT is some judgment and some basis for self-worth!

If only all of us could be that judgmental.

 

 

 

 

A Birds-Eye Lesson in God's Care for Us

A Birds-Eye lesson in God's Care for Us


      As most of you know, I work with Developmentally Disabled adults, getting them jobs and taking them there as a job coach.  I love what I do. 

       A few weeks ago I went with one of my clients to his job at the local Y, and since the day was pretty nice (DRY! I live in the Seattle area, after all!),  he was sweeping the outside courtyard area.  This particular client is quite independent and so I was going to sit on the sidelines so that I wouldn't be breathing down his neck while he worked, yet still watching in case he needed any assistance.  Well, I went over to a table on one side and saw a small bird, probably a sparrow or something like it, sitting on the sidewalk in front of the table. I got closer, figuring it would fly away, but the closer I got to it, it didn't move, just sat there with its eyes closed (see picture).  I took a picture with my phone's camera and sat down, figuring it was probably dying, either of natural causes or some kind of previous trauma. 

     Being so close (about 10 feet) from the more natural setting of trees and earth, I slid a laminated map that a friend had recently given me for my car under it and moved it under a tree so that it would get some shade and be more comfortable.  Then I began to look for something I could put some water in to try to feed it a little (I looked around for worms but couldn't find any), and found the cap of a little bottle with eyeglass cleaner. I removed the tiny cap and went to the bathroom and filled it up, bringing it back outside to where the bird was. I put the cap of water up over the beak of the little bird and then away, and it actually moved and looked as though it were taking the water in.  I did it a few more times.  Finally, after walking away to check on my client and returning, the bird was actually sitting up and looking around! 

I couldn't help but think of the Scipture that reminds us that God knows each of us, and cares for us all, knowing even the smallest sparrow that falls to the ground. And if He knows this tiny creature, and cares for it personally, how much more does He know YOU and ME?  And if He knows and cares for US, why should we worry or fear?  For as Jesus has said...

"Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?" (Mt. 6:26-27)

Instead:

"Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Mt. 6:33-34)

P.S.  A few days after this I found myself back at the same place and looked for the bird (or its remains, as I figured it would no longer be alive), it was gone. But the tiny cap of water was still in its place, standing up and half filled with water. Did it recuperate enough to fly away? I will never know.  But the message that God is taking care of us - of me - in spite of how bad things look to the natural eye -  will stay with me always, especially when I see a small bird.



Perspective

      Every day I get up,  play a little with my 2 cats, get up, shower and dress, feed the kitties and make myself breakfast and lunch to go, and then head off for work.  I feel like I'm running on auto-pilot. Relate?  The ways of the world weigh me down, and I get mad at stupid drivers in my way until I get home, feed the cats and make my dinner, watch TV and go to bed, to start the same process over again the next day.  Not so very different from the Bill Murray movie, "Groundhog Day." 

      But then I am reminded, by a still, small voice in my spirit that says, "It doesn't have to be this way. Listen to my voice, spend time with me;  I am here for you and have to give you life in the fullest way."  Then I slap my forehead and like the V-8 commercial, I shake off my weariness, regain my sense of  whose I am, and open the "Instruction Book," (aka the Bible) that reminds me of what my life and perspective should be! 

     Thankfully,  I'm doing the latter more and more regularly nowadays,  not that I don't still have those "auto-pilot" days (sometimes a couple or 3 times a week when I'm particularly forgetful, I'm sorry to say).  But what I'm learning is that when I start my day off with prayer and God's Word,  and I remember that God wants a partnership with me, in order to reach His sick and hurting world,  I have a sense of perspective that I can't otherwise have. 

     I've been doing these "miracle" blog postings now for a few months and maybe you might ask yourself why.  Truth is,  writing (or actually reporting) these present-day miracles is another way to remind myself of the eternal, or heavenly perspective that really does give this life a clearer direction and purpose.  I am reminded that my life is not just for me, for one thing, and for another, that in looking at what God has done and continues to do in this world, I remember that He is still in control and wants me to work with Him, to reach out with His hands and feet, and in so doing, to realize how much more I can accomplish when I am working with Him, or, more accurately, letting Him work in and through me!  How much more meaning my life has when I see it from an eternal perspective, rather than my little, earth-bound, auto-piloted one. 

     If you find your life dull, devoid of purpose, and running on auto-pilot, there's good news waiting for you!  The Creator of the COSMOS knows, loves and has a bigger plan for you than the day to day boredom of the same-old same-old.  He is waiting for you to reach out to Him, as He is has been reaching out to you your whole life, whether you've known it or not.  Believe that Jesus is the "Word made flesh" (read the first chapter of the gospel of John!), came to reunite you to your eternal, loving, Heavenly Father through no effort on your part but HIS death on the cross FOR your sins, and walk into His embrace to a life worth living and an eternity to look forward to rather than dread. 

     I recently came across a website (www.jesuslovesyou.org) that shares LOTS of miracle stories that remind us this world is NOT all there is, that there is a God out there who loves us enough to intervene in our lives, is bigger than ALL our troubles and able to handle them, and who wants to use us to partner with Him or just to worship Him in awe and with thanksgiving to come into His courts.  Join me as I do so and let's turn off the auto-pilot once and for all, letting Jesus be our pilot!