Pretty much everyone said 'John 3:16.' Good point . That's the one, right? The one that we all know, take to heart, and have internalized. As a Christian, even if you've memorized nothing else, you've memorized that one. You've figured it out, you've internalized it, and you can repeat it, chapter and verse. But that's for all the Christians in the house. If you're a non-Christian, what is the most important verse in the Bible, perhaps the only one you've committed to memory? Matthew 7:1. For those who are churchy, you might not be able to pluck Matthew 7:1 out of the air, so I'm going to assist you, albeit briefly. "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
I would say that more non-Christians, atheists, people like that, would know this verse, and would be able to pull it out of a holster fairly rapidly. And this verse is used to hamstring any condemnation, heck, any mentioning of sin whatsoever. If you point out sinfulness in someone else, if you point out sinfulness in the world, if you assess things and come to the conclusions that things shouldn't be going they way they are, whether in a big or small way, you will be hit with Matthew 7:1. Judge not, lest ye be judged.
Now, that verse is used to basically silence any or all criticisms of anything ever. If you pipe up with something, people will respond by saying 'doesn't your book say something about not judging?' And they'll treat it as though you, as a Christian, would be sinning gravely by bringing anything up. The image presented of the perfect Christian, then, is one who would gaze upon the sins of the world with a placid, calm, and philosophical face, never seeking to curb any type of behavior, no matter how corrupt. That sounds nice to the modern world, but unfortunately, it stumbles right away when you consider the reality of the Old Testament reading that we had on Sunday. The Old Testament reading that we had on Sunday gives you the complete opposite conclusion. Instead of the classic agnostic position that says that Jesus wants you to say nothing whatsoever in the face of sin, deception, destruction and desolation, we instead hear all about how you are required to speak up when you see deceit, when you see destruction, when you see sinfulness that leads to death, you are required to speak up in order that you might save the souls of your listener. God has placed us in a position that we don't really want to be in - as watchmen on Israel's wall. We are there to call out problems, issues, difficulties and sins as they arise. Not only does that passage tell us that we can, it tells us that we ought to do so. To refuse to deal with sinfulness is to shirk our duty, and to consign people to everlasting condemnation - and their blood is on our hands. That's heavy, you know. It's heavier than we want it to be, especially since most of us bought into the concept delivered to us that the best Christian is a mute one.
So what's a Christian to do? Well, if you believe in what you say you believe in, then you have some circles to square. You have some dogs to cat. Scripture interprets scripture, in case you didn't know, and with scripture interpreting scripture, you have to believe that you are a watchman on Israel's wall, but also that Christ told you to judge not lest ye be judged. How can both those things exist simultaneously? Quite easily actually.
If you want to know your sinfulness, if you want to know your need for a savior and what it is that Jesus died for specifically, then I invite you to take one simple step to tell you exactly what that is. Go thou to your brother, sister, husband, wife parent, child, whatever, and point out their sinfulness. If you do that, I can absolutely guarantee with 100% certainty what will happen next. They will immediately fire back at you with a sin of your own. If you tell someone that they chew too loudly, they'll tell you that you're a cheap date. If you tell someone that they need to load the dishwasher better, they'll tell you that you're shiftless and lazy. There is no faster way to have your own sin pointed out to you than to point out someone else's.
It's almost as though Jesus knew what he was talking about.
Let me put it to you this way. The Gospel reading that we had for this morning was all about repentance, repent or perish being the heading for the chapter. And we all essentially took that, glossed it over, and moved on, precisely because we genuinely can't see our own sins. We take it for granted that we ought to examine ourselves before holy communion, we ensure that we confess our sins at the appropriate time in the service, but honestly, we don't use the ten commandments of God and the words of Christ to evaluate our thoughts, words and deeds as we ought. And so when it comes to confess our sins, we can't think of any to confess. But when Jesus speaks, he tells us to be careful when we judge because when we do, that same measure will be applied to us. If you point out someone else's sins, they will point yours out in no time at all. And you're going to have the same temptation that the rest of us will, right? To explain your sins away, to pretend they're not a problem, to try to make the case that you don't really have a problem, it's not a sin when you do it, or to then snap back at the person again by pointing out their sins again. It's your temptation the same way it is mine, of course. But here's the deal. Your job is to stop running, and to embrace the issue all over again.
You're a watchman on Israel's wall, but so are other people as well. And if you've got the job of pointing out their sins, of indicating and isolating those sins, then you're going to for sure have people point out your sins as well. And that means that you, as a Christian, have the opportunity and the duty, of living out your faith. When someone presents your sins before you, in an attempt to get you to see that beam in your eye, your job is not to run from that, but to embrace it. Your job is to be thankful and grateful that now you know what you have to be forgiven. If someone, another watchman on the wall of Israel, dares to bring up your sins, to mention them, all you need to do is to quit running, and quit hiding. You need to stand firm in what you believe, and when someone says to you 'oh yeah, well you're lazy and a drunk,' that's when you need to come clean, to cop to the charges, and to say 'yes. And I shouldn't be. And that is what I need to confess, for that is my sinfulness that I have to deal with, work through, and have Christ take it to the cross.'
If you can't do that, then what is Lent for? What is the purpose of the Lenten season if all it is is a vague, perfunctory statement that you're a damnable sinner who can't think of a single damned sin? And if all you do is to make excuses, obfuscations and deflections when your sins are brought up, then congratulations, you're essentially a Pharisee. But if, for example, you're able to look your sin straight in the eye, to embrace the call of the watchman, to understand that it is there for your benefit, then all of a sudden, the faith that you take so lightly begins to coalesce into a reality in your life. That pain that you feel when someone points out to you even the slightest thing you do wrong, that raw scrape you feel when a nerve has been hit, that's what Christ comes to take away. He come to forgive, to spare you from the weight of your deeds and misdeeds.
So, in summation, judge not lest ye be judged, for with the measure you use, that same measure will be applied to you. That doesn't mean that you can't talk about sinfulness, according to the scriptures you have to. What it does mean, though, is that you are going to open yourself up to a careful, thoughtful analysis of your own sins. And your job is to embrace it. Your job is to say to the world that you are not perfect, and that you have a lot to be forgiven. So bring it on, and your sins will be revealed to you; then you can take them to Christ, and have him take them away.
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