Jesus is pretty clear in today’s Gospel.
Let’s sum it up in 2 words: “Don’t judge.”
Easy to say, difficult to do. And yet …
“Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
“Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye?
“You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
(Flashing back to excerpts of a reflection I wrote a while back …)
That guy over there looks funny. The woman in the red dress, I bet I know what she is up to. Who are all these kids? Where are their parents? Did you read the story about that guy? He must be horrible.
All around us, we see people who look different, act different, worship differently than we do. Does that make them bad?
‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
Their skin is so much darker than my own. They have a funny accent. They worship God, but they call him by a different name! Who are these people and why are they seeking Jesus?
I thought Jesus was our guy …
So much judging takes place in the world. It’s hard not to judge. We are human, of course. But just because we might be wired to be judgmental, even discriminatory against our fellow human beings, does not make it right.
Recall another episode in the Gospels when Peter is spotted entering the home of a Gentile. That put him on thin ice with the majority of those present. But not so with God, who teaches: ‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
That went for Peter – back in the day – and it goes for us as well. A hard lesson to learn.
Especially when that guy over there refuses to pull up his pants. And that woman does nothing but chat on her cell phone when she’s in the line for confession.
Judging comes so easy … embracing someone with different beliefs and customs, well, that can be a bit of a challenge.
And it’s more than just tolerance … and acceptance.
Jesus ate with those considered “unclean” in his day.
What are we to do?
Surely their sins are much greater than ours.
Must we really associate with “those people” …?
Today’s readings seem pretty clear on that point.
Stop judging.
Period.
