• "Judge Not, and Ye Shall Not be Judged"
• Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity
• June 19, 2005
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

Today's gospel (Luke 6:37f.) contains one of the most quoted and least understood passages of scripture: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged." This is the typical response given when someone asserts a moral standard. The implication of the "Judge not" comment is that any attempt to say that something is wrong amounts to a self-righteous and condemning attitude.

I was recently the recipient of a Luke 6 rejoinder. The situation was this. A man who had left his wife and two children some years back is now having a baby with another women who is not yet his wife. I was informed that a wedding is indeed planned for summer of 2006. I said, "They are getting married NEXT summer?" I was told to "Judge not."

But, does "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged" really mean that we can never say that what someone is doing is wrong? Did Jesus really mean that each may have his own standard of conduct, and no one else may challenge it?

Jesus himself did not follow such a standard. For example, in Matthew 23, Jesus gives a litany of the sins of the religious leaders. He concludes by saying, "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?" (23:33)-judgmental, to say the least!

But, of course, he was the Son of God. What about mere humans? In Acts, St. Peter passes moral judgment on Simon Magus, who tried to purchased the gift of Holy Orders, saying, "I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." In Galatians, after giving a catalogue of various sins, St. Paul says, "I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (5:21, cf. 1 Cor. 6:9-10).

Matthew 18 gives a rather detailed description of how to confront a fellow Christian who has done something wrong. And James says, "He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins" (5:20). Clearly, the Bible not only tolerates moral judgment but actually requires us to assert distinctions between right and wrong.

Making moral judgments is part of our duty to love our neighbor as ourselves. Parents confront and correct the wrong behavior of their children as part of their love for them. A parent who does not is negligent. How can we observe behavior that is wrong and causes harm and not speak about it?

Moreover, we have a prophetic duty to say that what is wrong is wrong. As God said to Ezekiel, "If...you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand" (33:8).

However, there are two things that must inform our judgments for them to rise above the kind of judgment that Jesus prohibited. First, the purpose of the moral judgment is to get people to change. When we say that what someone is doing is wrong, it must be with the intent that they turn and begin to do what is right.

The teaching of Jesus is aimed at the religious leaders of his time, who judged the tax collectors, sinners, marginal Jews and Gentiles harshly. Their error was not in saying that extortion, prostitution, unfaithfulness and idolatry were wrong. Their error was that they did not really care whether any of those they judged were saved or not.

Jesus confronted Israel's sin in order to lead people to repentance. When the nation did not turn he wept over the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). He wanted people to be saved and it affected him at the deepest level of his being when the nation did not repent.

Too often we rejoice over the condemnation of our adversaries. Our moral judgment about them may be accurate. But we are wrong to be happy about their suffering. The judging of behavior must have the end of forgiveness in mind. This is what distinguishes a genuine Christian judgment from other kinds of judgment.

This is of no small importance. If we say that someone has done wrong and he agrees with us, he might just as well commit suicide out of despair. Some people acknowledge they have sinned, but believe their sin is unforgivable. Lots of people can accuse others of doing wrong. But only the church has the answer for the wrong done: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." "He is the propitiation for our sins."

The second thing that must inform our moral judgments is this: We must first judge ourselves by the same standard. Often we see all too clearly the sins of others but are more or less blind to our own sins. Jesus said, First pull the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye."

We are less likely to condemn people if we remember that the things we judge in others are also present in ourselves. If we are to confront greed, we must do so in the light of our own struggles with covetousness. If we are to confront sexual sin, we must do so in the light of our own struggles with lust. If we are to confront pride, we must do so in the light of our own lack of humility.

We will be most effective in confronting the sins of others when we have dealt with the same sins in our own lives. For example, it is the one who has overcome drug addiction who will be most effective in dealing with drug abuse. Conversely, we ought to be cautious when we confront sins to which we have never been tempted. If we have no understanding of the how the sin of another is like our sin, we may be tempted to condemn rather than to redeem.

We state the truth about sin in order that we may also proclaim the truth that Jesus died for the sins of the world. What we are saying when we make moral judgments is not, "You're so bad that you are going to hell." What we are saying is, "Come and join us in the life of repentance and faith."

As 1 John says, "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."