Featured Sermon of the Week:
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“Judge Not”
a sermon based on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
by Rev. Frank
Schaefer
“Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of
God's mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be
found trustworthy.”
Trustworthy! That’s a big word with a big concept. When the
apostle Paul uses it in our Bible passage, he certainly had a good
grasp of its concept.
One of the things that came to my mind when thinking of “trustworthy”
was a scene from the movie “Meeting the Parents” in which Ben Stiller
as “Greg Focker” tries to become part of his fiancée’s family’s so
called “circle of trust.” He tries so hard to be accepted by his future
father-in-law that he messes everything up and finds himself outside
of their circle of trust.
It’s true what they say—at least most of the time—blood is
thicker than water. We may argue, even fight in our families, but when
someone or something comes against us, we stand together as one. I
fought with my little brother a lot growing up, but every time
someone threatened him, I was there to defend him. I would have
defended him with my own life.
St. Paul could tell
stories of encountering the most trustworthy people as well as plenty
of stories about people that had turned out to be untrustworthy—even
if they were Christians. But Paul does not judge them; he rather
cautions us not to make judgments and in that way be found trustworthy
as well.
In fact, in our reading for today, the apostle Paul wants us to take a
perspective different from that of the world. The world is so
quick to judge, it’s scary. The public can take on the role of
prosecution, jury, and judge in an instant as the many examples of
“fallen” celebrities have shown. We don’t need to hear their side of the story. The world is confident in the judgment
based on the “facts” from the tabloids. You can be a shining example
for all the world one day and--overnight--the same people that
previously adored you, can condemn you roundly without bashing a lid.
That’s what happened to Jesus too: he rode into
Jerusalem with the
cheers of the people all around him and three days later the same
people shouted: “crucify him.”
The apostle Paul knew something about being judged too. Can you
believe that the very same churches he founded often
times turned against him? The church in Corinth (to which this letter
is addressed) was one of the worst in this regard. That certainly
explains his statement in our passage (Verse 3): “But with me it is
a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human
court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against
myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.”
Paul is saying in other words: when you look at things, don’t
just look at them the way the world looks at things—judgmentally. Look
at them through eyes of faith. Leave it up to God to judge. I love
the expression “to give someone the benefit of the doubt.” I think
had that expression been around at Paul’s time he would have added:
“if you hear something negative about your brother or sister in
Christ, don’t judge them, but give them the benefit of the doubt.”
Allow me to get a little personal here and ask this question:
what do we see when we look
at the
church of
Christ? What do you
see when you look at a brother or
sister?
Paul writes in Verse : “Therefore do not pronounce judgment
before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the
things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the
heart.”
Just as Paul does in this passage, Jesus calls us as fellow
disciples to love one another.
But much
too often the church acts like a dysfunctional family, where people
act as “brother’s/sister's keepers" rather than brothers and sisters.
Have you heard the story of Mildred, the church
gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the
church's morals? She sure kept track of other people's business in
church. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular
activities, but feared her
enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when
she
accused Joseph, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his
old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She
emphatically told Joe (and several others) that everyone seeing it
there
would know what he was doing.
Joseph, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just
turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend or deny; he said
nothing. Later that evening, Joe quietly parked his pickup in front of
Mildred's house, walked home and left it there all night....
Shame on us if we look at each other and expect nothing more
than what the world expects! Every time we do make an assumption about
somebody from church; somebody who is your brother or sister, it
should be a positive assumption; we should give them the benefit of
the doubt; we should look out for each other, we should act like a
family in the circle of trust and not wait for the next best
opportunity to churn the gossip mill.
Ninety per cent of the time, there is a perfectly logical
explanation for our observation about our brother or sister. And even
if there is sin or wrongdoing on their part, do you honestly believe
that spreading the word about them is going to help them, or you, or
God? Most likely, you will only drive them away rather than draw them
back to God. Because, bad assumptions, gossip, and judgment hurt
people’s feelings. And they hurt God’s feelings; these actions are
sinful and hurtful.
The bad assumptions have to stop, the judgment has to stop in
the church of Christ! That’s what the world does, but the apostle Paul is calling
us to take a perspective of faith and leave the judgment to God.
Even when Paul speaks about the judgment of God he ends on a hopeful
and positive note. He says: “Therefore do not pronounce judgment
before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the
things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the
heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.”
The last statement he makes about God’s judgment process is
that of receiving praise from God for the good things we have done.
Paul could have easily used the judgment concept in the manner of the
“fire-and-brimstone” type of preaching and said something like: you
will see, when the Lord returns, he will vindicate me and set the
record straight.
Instead, Paul has positive words even for his critics and
says: each of us will receive their praise from God.” Now that’s a
non-judgmental Christian attitude exemplified! I pray for all of us,
myself included, that we will be able to show this sort of generous,
gracious, and loving attitude toward all of God’s children. Amen.
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