GOSPEL READING:
Luke 6:39-4539 He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. 43 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Meditation: Are you clear-sighted, especially in your
perception of sin and the need for each of one of us to see
ourselves correctly as God sees us - with our faults,weaknesses,
and strengths? Jesus' two parables about poor vision allude to the
proverb: Without vision the people perish! (Proverbs
29:18) What can we learn from the illustration of a blind guide
and a bad eye (the log in the eye)? A bad eye left
untreated and a blind guide can cause a lot of trouble
that will only end in misery and disaster for us! We can only help
and teach others what we have learned and received from wise
teachers and guides. And how can we help others overcome their
faults if we are blinded by our own faults and misperceptions? We
are all in need of a physician who can help us overcome the blind
spots and failing of own sins, weaknesses, and ignorance.
Overcoming blind spots in our own lives
The Gospel of Luke was written by a disciple who was trained as a
physician. Luke, with keen insight, portrays Jesus as the good
physician and shepherd of souls who seeks out those who desire
healing, pardon, and restoration of body, mind, and spirit.
Jesus came to free us from the worst oppression possible - slavery
to sin, fear, and condemnation. Like a gentle and skillful doctor,
the Lord Jesus exposes the cancer of sin, evil, and oppression in
our lives so we can be set free and restored to wholeness. A key
step to healing and restoration requires that we first submit to
the physician who can heal us. The Lord Jesus is our great
Physician because he heals the whole person - soul and body, mind
and heart - and restores us to abundant life both now and for the
age to come in his everlasting kingdom.
Thinking the best of others
The Lord Jesus wants to heal and restore us to wholeness, not only
for our own sake alone. He also wants us to be his instruments of
healing, pardon, and restoration for others as well. What can
hinder us from helping others draw near to Jesus the divine
Physician? The Rabbis taught: "He who judges his neighbor
favorably will be judged favorably by God." How easy it is to
misjudge others and how difficult it is to be impartial in giving
good judgment. Our judgment of others is usually "off the mark"
because we can't see inside the other person, or we don't have
access to all the facts, or we are swayed by instinct and
unreasoning reactions to people. It is easier to find fault in
others than in oneself. A critical and judgmental spirit crushes
rather than heals, oppresses rather than restores, repels rather
than attracts. "Thinking the best of other people" is necessary if
we wish to grow in love. And kindliness in judgment is nothing
less that a sacred duty.
What you give to others will return to you
Jesus states a heavenly principle we can stake our lives on: what
you give to others (and how you treat others) will return to you
(Mark 4:24). The Lord knows our faults and he sees all, even
the imperfections and sins of the heart which we cannot recognize
in ourselves. Like a gentle father and a skillful doctor he
patiently draws us to his seat of mercy and removes the
cancer of sin which inhabits our hearts. Do you trust in God's
mercy and grace? Ask the Lord to flood your heart with his
loving-kindness and mercy that you may only have room for charity,
forbearance, and kindness towards your neighbor.
Producing good fruit versus bad fruit in our lives
Why does Jesus set figs and grapes over against thorns and
brambles (Luke 6:33-35)? The fig tree was the favorite of all
trees for the people of Palestine. It symbolized fertility, peace,
and prosperity. Grapes, likewise, produced wine, the symbol of
joy. Thorns and brambles were only good for burning as fuel for
the fire. There's a proverbial saying that you know a tree by its
fruit. Likewise a person will produce good or bad fruit depending
on what is sown in the heart. Charles Read said: "Sow an act and
you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow
a character and you reap a destiny." Character, like fruit,
doesn't grow overnight. It takes a lifetime.
Jesus connects soundness with good fruit. Something is
sound when it is free from defect, decay, or disease and is
healthy. Good fruit is the result of sound living - living
according to moral truth and upright character. The prophet Isaiah
warned against the dangers of falsehood:Woe
to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for
light and light for darkness(Isaiah
5:20). The fruits of falsehood produce an easy religion which
takes the iron out of religion, the cross out of Christianity, and
any teaching which eliminates the hard sayings of Jesus, and which
push the judgments of God into the background and makes us think
lightly of sin.
How do we avoid falsehood and bad fruit in our lives? By
being true - true to God, his word, and the grace and help he
gives us so we can turn away from evil and wrongdoing. And that
takes character! Those who are true to God know that their
strength lies not in themselves but in God who supplies everything
we need to live as his disciples. The Lord strengthens us with the
fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit - with faith, hope and love,
justice, prudence, fortitude and temperance. And we grow in godly
character through exercising the gifts and strength which God
supplies. Do you want to bear good fruit in your daily life? Allow
the Holy Spirit to train you in godliness and the wisdom to
distinguish good fruit from bad fruit (1 Timothy 4:7-8, Hebrews
5:14).
O Father, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke. Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This we ask for your name's sake. (Prayer of William Barclay, 1907-1978)
Psalm 92:1-2, 12-15
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord, they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They still bring forth fruit in old age, they are ever full of sap and green,
15 to show that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Seeing the speck in another's eye, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"The word hypocrite is aptly employed here (Luke 6:42, Matthew
7:5), since the denouncing of evils is best viewed as a matter
only for upright persons of goodwill. When the wicked engage in
it, they are like impersonators, masqueraders, hiding their real
selves behind a mask, while they portray another's character
through the mask. The word hypocrites in fact signifies
pretenders. Hence we ought especially to avoid that meddlesome
class of pretenders who under the pretense of seeking advice
undertake the censure of all kinds of vices. They are often moved
by hatred and malice. Rather, whenever necessity compels one to
reprove or rebuke another, we ought to proceed with godly
discernment and caution. First of all, let us consider whether the
other fault is such as we ourselves have never had or whether it
is one that we have overcome. Then, if we have never had such a
fault, let us remember that we are human and could have had it.
But if we have had it and are rid of it now, let us remember our
common frailty, in order that mercy, not hatred, may lead us to
the giving of correction and admonition. In this way, whether the
admonition occasions the amendment or the worsening of the one for
whose sake we are offering it (for the result cannot be foreseen),
we ourselves shall be made safe through singleness of eye. But if
on reflection we find that we ourselves have the same fault as the
one we are about to reprove, let us neither correct nor rebuke
that one. Rather, let us bemoan the fault ourselves and induce
that person to a similar concern, without asking him to submit to
our correction."(excerpt from Sermon on
the Mount 2.19.64)
