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A Simple Guide for Behaviour
My choice for daily Bible reading, is Eugene Peterson’s, “The Message.” Today’s reading is Matthew 7:1-12, a familiar portion of what we call “The Sermon on the Mount. In my Bible the words are underlined and starred telling me this passage has spoken to me in the past. As I read it, the “words from the King James translation rattled through my mind. Wow, this is so much more graphic, bringing out the relevance for today’s world.
Judgement – it’s so easy to judge and find fault, to fall into a life focused on judging others. It may begin with judging our own political leaders or those of our neighbouring country. We all do that. Then, it grows. After all religious leaders make mistakes, people who have hurt us are wrong, look at that child why doesn’t his mother make him behave and more. Oh yes, the list is endless. Judging requires very little effort.
Although working for justice, and becoming justice does require judgment, we need to even do that with humility. We need to remember we, ourselves, are not always right, far from perfect. In fact, as Peterson tells us we need to remove the, “we’re right SNEER”, from our own faces, the contempt for others that lies within our own hearts. That’s the first step. Only then can we see clearly the need for justice. Only then can we offer the washcloth to remove the smudge from someone else’s face.
Throughout the Bible we find God loving God’s people not because we are perfect but because we are God’s beloved children. In the Hebrew Scriptures Jacob was a cheat, King David an adulterer and still God loved them. In the Christian Scriptures God in Jesus even loved those who crucified him and the criminals hanging beside him on their crosses. We can live our faith. We can follow in Jesus’ footsteps. WE CAN LOVE ALL PEOPLE. That’s what this passage said to me today. Please read it and consider it’s message for your life. I’ve posted it below to make it easier.
Matthew 7:1-12
A Simple Guide for Behavior
7 1-5 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
6 “Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.
7-11 “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?
12 “Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
The Message: Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson