Monday, October 6, 2014

Monday, October 6, 2014

Luke 6:39-49

The reading for today is part of the sermon on the plain. It can remind us that as human beings we all have, to varying degrees, limited vision. Trying to discern the will of God to help us navigate through the daily challenges that we face inevitably will result in some missteps and errors.

Frequently we may find it much “easier” to detect the faults in others than ourselves. With this in mind this passage includes the warning “Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or, how can you say to your neighbour, Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.”

One benefit of this passage is that it can make us much more reluctant to quickly judge others’ actions and readily claim to detect the motivations behind these same actions. Recall that this passage closely follows upon the words in Luke that are assigned to Jesus when he asks us to “love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” Jesus also advocated that we not judge others and also need to forgive others in Luke 6. This is a tall order when we frequently feel threatened, hurt, or frustrated by the actions of others. How might we deal with these powerful feelings which can cloud our own vision and hamper us in making good choices in life?

Perhaps, one way to appreciate this hypocritical dynamic is to honestly realize that our own ego causes us to make many excuses for our own faults. There are times, in fact, when one of the reasons we may be so upset and condemn the actions of another is because deep down inside we come to see a weakness in our own selves brought to light and exhibited through the actions of another. We gloss over the fact that we may have exhibited these very same tendencies. We may feel justification in condemning these behaviors but remain silent, or even ignorant, of the fact that the intensity of our anger or disappointment is so strong because others may be highlighting something within our own beings that we are not proud of and this disappoints us.

What might we do with this insight? Certainly, this perspective does not mean we should simply ignore the destructive or problematic behaviour we witness in others. Instead, when discussing the situations perhaps we should be especially open to humility and engage an empathetic exchange in which we truly learn more about what is motivating others and ourselves. It can be hoped that together each of us will be permitted to embark upon a better path as we move forward in life.

- Terry Rothwell