Monday 24 February 2025
"Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you." (v. 6)
Background
If you go to church, have you ever arrived when the sermon is already underway and felt on the back foot? You might feel like that if you haven't been following 'A Word in Time' for the last two weeks. It has been devoted to Jesus' moral teaching, known as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. You can read it in full here.
FD Bruner ( a lay member of the Presbyterian church in America who has written commentaries on Matthew and John's Gospels) suggests that the Sermon on the Mount is an invitation to think at length about discipleship and that we might be helped to see it as having three overlapping sections. They are calls to mercy (chapter 5); calls to faith (chapter 6); and calls to justice (chapter 7).
The first five verses of chapter 7 challenge us not to be so critical and to nurture justice (and mercy and faith) in our conversations. It is all too easy to assume we know another person's character and what they need to do to improve it, and we may be wrong.
Proverbs 21:2 says “All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart.” The Sermon on the Mount is an invitation and challenge to nurture the life of God's kingdom day by day. We are challenged by Jesus to examine ourselves and to 'remove the logs from our eyes' (see verse 5) such that we might then able to be of realistic help to others.
Self-examination does not mean abandoning ourselves and our talents. Self-examination, albeit slow and hard work, can reshape the way we live. We are also called to make judgements (have discernment) about the world about us. We are called to live generously towards the world but with Christian wisdom.
To Ponder:
- Can you recall a recent occasion when you were over-critical? What actions of word or deed might offer healing and hope for the future?
- How do you nurture self-examination as a Christian virtue?
- In what situations do you need a measure of discernment? How do you nurture/sustain that?
Prayer
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)
Bible notes author: The Revd Bob Sneddon
Bob Sneddon is a retired presbyter who lives on the south coast of England. He has had five varied circuit appointments over some 40 years and before that worked in India for a year. In retirement he is enjoying making a garden and walking.