On this final weekend before Lent, we continue to hear Jesus’ radical teaching in the Sermon on the Plain. Today He asks a # of poignant questions that almost sound like riddles. When you drill down, they are very relevant to the way we treat ourselves and others.
Remember last week: Jesus ended His teaching with the following commands:
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
And yes, these are commands. Directives. He is not messing around!
How many times did we judge someone this past week? Too many
How many times did we condemn this past week? Too many
How many times did we show mercy this past week? Not Enough!
So where are our blind spots? We all have them. Have you ever cut someone off while driving? I did this past Thursday. I failed to look at my side view mirror (which had a flashing yellow signal as I was changing lanes). Thankfully there was still room and I found myself saying a short prayer of gratitude to God for keeping me & the driver behind me from harm.
And Jesus reminds us that we have blind spots in our spiritual life. He wants us to become like Him. Which is why He says no disciple is superior to the teacher. But when fully trained, we will be like Him. So how do we become fully trained? Well, not easily, especially when we try to do it on our own. Which makes the spiritual disciplines in our life so critical. Have we carved out dedicated time to be with Him? We cannot become like Him if we do not spend time with Him. And that time cannot be rushed or have distractions. He wants the first fruits of our time. Our time in His Word; our time in prayer has to be priority #1. If not, we will experience the distractions that can easily “blind” us in our lives.
When Jesus was in the desert as He began His public ministry, He was tempted by the devil to turn away from the Father’s will. How did he fight the Enemy? God’s Word. His Word! Spending time in His Word is absolutely necessary as we strive to walk with Him and become like Him!
And then we hear Jesus shift to how judgmental we can be. Removing the splinter from our brother’s eye while neglecting the wooden beam in our own. And He doesn’t hold back from calling us hypocrites. We must perform daily examinations of our lives to see when we have been judgmental before we criticize others. The end of last week’s Gospel is clear-the measure with which we measure shall be measured out to us!
Finally, Jesus often uses the analogy of fruit as He teaches His disciples (and us) how we are to live our lives as His followers. Hint: Abide in Him (John 15 – I love the translation – take residence in Him)
Saint Paul teaches us about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit is: peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.
When we look at each of these “nine words”, we can also look at their opposites. Those opposites would describe “rotten fruit”. Most of us have eaten fruit that tastes really good and fruit that may look good on the outside but it is sour or does not taste as good as it looks. It’s a clever analogy and Jesus tells us that good trees cannot bear rotten fruit while rotten trees cannot bear good fruit.
So how can we bear good fruit? Well, when the roots of a tree are watered and fed, they are likely to bear good fruit. Think about the parable of the sower and the seed. The seed planted on good soil produces 30, 60, 100-fold. And what is that seed. The Word of God.
Throughout the Scriptures, when we feed ourselves with a daily dose of God’s Word, it has the ability to take root in our hearts. But we have to make that choice. That daily choice. To be in His Word. Reading it, reflecting on it, memorizing it - challenging ourselves in it. Jesus never promised His followers an easy life. But He did promise them an eternal reward for those who strive to follow Him each day.
Be with Him
Become like Him
Do as He did!
Lent begins this week. I am going to challenge myself to spend more time in His Word each day. The Bible app is a great place to start. There are numerous plans available with short reflections followed by Bible verses that cover all aspects of life and the challenges we face to be His followers.
The rescue Mission culminates at the end of Lent when we celebrate and remember His passion, death and Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The Bible is the greatest love story ever told.
It’s why I believe John 3:16 is one of the most beautiful and radical verses in the Bible.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
Jesus loves us so much that He came to die for us.
We are sinners in need of a Savior. The world we live in says we can do everything on our own. That is a lie! When we recognize that, we open ourselves to this radical, reckless, selfless AGAPE love that He showed us on the Cross.
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And ALL will be given to you.
Make sure to carve out time during this Lenten season to spend time in His Word each day. Start with the Gospels. They remind us of the depth is of His love.
His teachings are hard to live. But the reward we receive for following Him each day is the best gift we could ever receive.
May the fruit we produce each day be the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians and may our eyes be opened to see the face of Jesus in each and every person we meet. And let the final words of the Gospel today challenge us in our daily walk to become like Him:
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:39-45
Jesus told his disciples a parable,
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thorn bushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
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