Judging isn't loving
The author, Eugene Brice, in one of his books (Books That Bring Life (Net Press, 1987)), tells of a controversy that took up a lot of time in the United States Senate many years ago. It was around whether or not to allow the newly elected senator from Utah, a man called Reed Smoot, to take his seat.
At that time, the Mormon church (to which Smoot belonged) still allowed the practice of polygamy. And although Smoot had only one wife, some of the more difficult members of the Senate argued that he should not be allowed to take his seat, given the beliefs of his church.
But the issue was settled when another Senator came forward and looked directly at some of his colleagues who, though married, were known to "womanize" quite a bit. He stated strongly, "I would prefer to have seated beside me in the Senate a polygamist who doesn’t polyg than a monogamist who doesn’t monog."
I spent quite a lot of time looking at this mornings readings, and thinking about what they were trying to say, and I’m not sure I’ve come to the right conclusion, but it seems that each of them are, in a way, just calling us to be simple ! Now that’s easier for some of us than for others I know but each of these readings really does call us to cut away the trappings of religion, to push out the distractions and to proclaim the love, the wonder and the majesty of God.
In the reading from Isaiah (66:10-14), we hear the promises of God to the nation of Israel; the promise to comfort the people as a mother comforts a child. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians (6:7-16), he reminds the people in the Church there that they should boast in nothing except the cross of Jesus, and then in the gospel (Luke:10:1-11,16-20) there is the famous account of Jesus sending out disciples to proclaim that the kingdom of God had come near – it was a call for people to respond to his love and his saving power.
Much of the teaching in the gospels is very simple, however much we might occasionally like to complicate it, and one of the great messages we find is that we must not be judges of other people. As Christians we are given the huge privilege of a relationship which we recognise with God, and there are many occasions throughout history when we have been guilty of imposing our ideas and beliefs on people, and judging their lifestyles or their attitudes, when what we should be doing is living out, in our words, but even more so in our actions, the reality of the gospel.
Paul says in that letter to the Galatians that we should boast of nothing except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a reminder that there is nothing that we can ever do that can ever match the goodness, the mercy and the love of God, but also a reminder that God has already done all we need for our future relationship with him.
The cross was a symbol of brutality and torture for which we are all responsible. Each one of us continues at times to put Jesus on the cross through our wrongful words or actions, or simply our indifference. As we look at the life of the early Church and the earliest followers of Jesus we are challenged to commit ourselves to lives of service and dedication. We are challenged to offer a message to people everywhere about hope and about love.
I’ve been reading a book recently which I’ve found particularly challenging. The author mentions a visit that he had made to Zimbabwe. He had gone to one of the townships where up to 12 people share a little hut not much bigger than a king-sized double bed. These people were victims of extreme poverty, and many had lost nearly all of their family to AIDS. The point he made was that he realised that unless our living out of the gospel is really touching people like these, and many people within our own community who have huge needs, then our gospel is not worth very much at all.
Our prayers for people are valuable, even essential, but there is nothing that can ever be more important than our time. Perhaps when we look at some people who are caught up in poverty we may be tempted to judge them and to wonder what they’ve done in their lives to cause such misery. Perhaps when we see the drunk in the street, we’ll just think how stupid they’ve been to get themselves into that position.
The point I’m trying to make is that it is very easy to judge people. I’ve done it, you may well have done it, but without exception we judge without the full facts. Many people make stupid mistakes in their lives, I know I have, and some are more serious than others, but at such times, we are called not to judge or to condemn, but to comfort and love, and to encourage the person back on to the right track. Judgement is to be left to God alone – our duty is to live out and proclaim his message; this message of hope and love for all…
And this duty is very much emphasised in the gospel reading. Jesus sends out the 70 disciples, telling them to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God, but he tells them not to waste too much time on those who won’t listen, but to move on to new areas where the message will be received better. Perhaps there’s a lesson for all of us there, not just as we seek to talk to people about the gospel, but throughout our whole lives as we spend so much time on things that really are not that important.
None of us can answer all of the worlds needs, none of us can even sort out all of the problems in our own country or even community, but each one of us can do something to make a difference, and to let people know that the God of life and love wants to know them better, and have a relationship with them.
Mother Teresa once said: "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." And if you love people, you have no desire to judge them… Many people who came to her homes and hospital in Calcutta had made mistakes, many didn’t worship the God she worshipped and some would have, if they’d been able probably even have criticised her ministry, but she never asked their opinions – she loved without any questions.
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