Tuesday 19 November 2013

Background

Yesterday's reading reminds us to keep a checkon how we live our lives, but today's passage shows us that whileit is vital that we keep an eye on our own actions and behaviours,we should not judge others with the same eye. If you ever watch thefootball on TV, you (like me) might find it hard to take seriouslythe pundit who you remember often struggling when they were aplayer now turning a harshly critical eye on the current crop offootballers. It's very easy to forget our previous trangressions,and very easy to remember other people's mistakes.

Humility is a very tough thing to get hold of if you don't haveit, or don't want it. We might feel (like those addressed here)that we are humble enough, and its 'those other people' who need toimprove, but there is an irony there. The truth that is alwaysworth remembering is that everyone who ever existed, who existsnow, or who ever will exist, is known and valued and loved by God.They are loved as much as the person who came first and the personwho will come last. What we do or don't do will never match up withthe kind of love we're shown by God. We both don't deserve, andcan't ever deserve this, and if that doesn't humble us all, we'renot reading these facts correctly!

And of course, the good news is that this God who does all ofthis for us, is also the one who judges us. It is not that we won'tbe held accountable for what we've done, but the notion ofjudgement changes from something unpleasant to something righteous.Hence, why we should not sit in judgement, when we know we cannotshow God's love through our own judgement.

To Ponder

• What can be the positive points of judgement?

• Why should we be reassured that it is God that judges us?