7.2.25 Luke 6:37-42

Prepare

Lord Jesus, we come to you in prayer. Our Friend. Our Brother. Our Saviour. Be with us now we pray.

Read

Luke 6:37-42

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Reflect

Once at a family gathering an old quiz book was found on a bookshelf. We divided into 2 teams and appointed my Grandpa as the quiz master. Round 1: What is the currency of Brazil? Team 1 thought the peso, team 2 the Brazilian dollar? Who would be right? My family is a very competitive family! Nooo! My Grandpa announced. The right answer? Tallinn… This caused a fair deal of confusion. You may know that the currency of Brazil is the Real, and Tallinn is in fact the capital of Estonia. Unfortunately my Grandpa had experienced a bit of confusion correlating the answers at the back of the book to the corresponding answers in the front. Tallinn may well have been the right answer, but not for this question.

Jesus reminds us here that actually, we can’t claim to be the authority to judge others. We don’t make particularly good quiz masters! We’re all wondering around under God – only He has the right to judge.

Be

Ask Jesus to meet with you now. What might he want to speak to you in gentleness, humility and grace?

Become

Gracious Lord,
You have shown me mercy beyond measure (Lamentations 3:22-23)
and called me to forgive as I have been forgiven (Colossians 3:13).
Teach me not to judge, lest I too be judged (Luke 6:37),
and to remove the log from my own eye before I correct another (Luke 6:41-42).

Create in me a clean heart, O God (Psalm 51:10),
making me slow to anger and rich in love (James 1:19).
Let my words be full of grace (Colossians 4:6),
and my hands open to give, just as You have given to me (Luke 6:38).

May I walk humbly before You (Micah 6:8),
seeing others through the eyes of Christ (Philippians 2:3-5).
In Your mercy, shape me to be more like You.

Do

Let’s pray for St PB. We have been encouraged by the positive response to the sessions on sexuality and the Bible. As we seek to proclaim God’s message of grace and forgiveness of sin, let’s pray that we would do so in the way of Christ’s love.

Practice

Jesus encourages us to first take the plank from our own eye. Let’s spend a moment in confession and repentance.