A sermon for Monday, June 26th, at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Chautauqua Institution. Year A Proper 7 Monday Gospel: Matthew 7:1-5

There is but one judge whose acumen is trustworthy and true. Fortunately, God is infamous for steadfast forbearance, slow to anger, and abiding in great mercy.

I find it interesting that the morning after the opening challenge from [Chautauqua Institution’s] President Hill to exercise curiosity before or even instead of judgement, we have this lesson from Jesus. One might even call it a curious coincidence!

There is no doubt that we carry logs in our eyes, prejudices and prejudgments that subject us to “confirmation bias”. I know that I am guilty of it. I know that it is easier for me to pick holes in the argument of another than to recognize the chasm of compassion missing from my own. And it is true, I think, that apart from the patience of saints, I will be judged as impatiently as I categorize, affirm, or dismiss others.

Still, we are told elsewhere that we shall know the trees by their fruit; we are told to be as wise as serpents, though as gentle as doves; we do need day by day to make judgements about situations, actions, even to prejudge what might come next, as part of making our lives in the world. 

There is another problem, which is that this verse, “Judge not,” has become a way to end rather than to begin a conversation. I guess that’s where the curiosity would come in.

Stephen Holmgren, in his book, Ethics after Easter, teases the verse out this way:

It is usually quoted in situations where a person or group is admonished not to criticize the behavior of others. However, it is likely that the kinds of judgments that Jesus forbids are assessments of the final state of another’s soul. … This is quite a different matter from using reason and reflection to assess the structure and moral character of acts that we witness on an everyday basis.^[i]

In other words, we do have an obligation to exercise (good) judgement; but we cannot mistake our judgement for God’s justice.

Beth Kissileff, whose husband survived the murderous attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, has written several times about the difficulty of rendering justice, even when we are quite certain of our judgement. Most recently, she wrote for Haaretz,

The only thing that makes sense to me in relation to the trial is an insight from the Talmud which has been on my mind. The “profundity of justice” (In Hebrew, omek ha’din) is among the seven things concealed from humans.
Why? Humans are not equipped to cope with some kinds of information. Most of us would not want to know the day of our death or what is in the hearts of others“^[ii]

“The profundity of justice is hidden from humans.” In amongst the awfulness of what Beth is writing about, that insight rang like a clear bell. Most of us would not want to know what is in the hearts of others; only God knows, only God sees the whole human clearly. Our judgment, even at its best, is incomplete; we judge actions, while God has charge over the whole person.  

Most of the time, thank God, our judgements are not based on such an intense crisis. But that in itself gives us the opportunity to interrogate them, examine them for short-sightedness. Because left unquestioned, unrestrained, they can affect not only to those we judge, but our sense of justice itself, our vision of God’s kingdom come, which contains compassion beyond our understanding, which is restorative, and redeeming, which renders the justice of reconciliation, which so often evades us. There is, after all, more joy – and probably relief – in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine (if you could find them) who need no repentance (Luke 15:7).

Sometimes, I think that the idea of exercising curiosity rather than judgement over someone we disagree with is, while a really good idea, a stretch in practice. To be more honest, I find it a stretch, especially over an extended period that feels like eternity. But I wonder if we could manage, if I could manage, curiosity over what God thinks of this person, whom I know that God loves, despite the grief they may occasion, whom I know is made in God’s image. What does God still see in them, that God has counted every hair of their head?

There is but one judge whose acumen is trustworthy and true. Fortunately, God is infamous for steadfast forbearance, slow to anger, and abiding in great mercy, even for a sinner like me.

^[i] Stephen Holmgren, Ethics After Easter (Cowley Publications, 2000), 143-4

^[ii] https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-06-19/ty-article-opinion/.premium/the-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter-has-been-convicted-but-theres-no-real-justice/

Featured image: Michelangelo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons