“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.”— Luke 6:37-38a
Well, if that isn’t a lot to start a Monday with! And yet, I feel like this fits with what I have been focused on recently. I’ve been talking a lot about curiosity. And, I think curiosity can lead us to discoveries that will help us not to judge or condemn another. We struggle as a society because we often lead with judgement and when we lead with judgement there’s really no where to go from there.
But, I also want to define curiosity in a bit narrower way. We’ve heard the phrase, “curiosity killed the cat.” That’s not what I’m talking about. That kind of curiosity may be considered nosy which is why we might say, “you are sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Curiosity, as I have been thinking about it, means “genuine interest in another.”
It was just a few weeks ago when we heard Paul use the imagery of the body of Christ and how we are all members of that body. As we should be curious about how our own bodies work, we too should be curious about how the body of Christ works. This is where we need to start.
What Jesus is calling us to do in Luke’s Gospel is beyond getting to know the people around us or hanging out with the people with whom we are comfortable. Jesus is setting a structure for how we are to act in the world. Not making the easy social transactions but showing mercy at the level that Jesus has shown us mercy. This is by no means an easy task and it is definitely one that we will struggle with all of our lives.
And, maybe we are meant to struggle with it. Because in our struggle maybe we get a better understanding of the grace extended to us through Jesus Christ. Maybe we will see how we are in need of the forgiveness that comes from God the Father. As we begin this week, the bar is high, the tasks ahead aren’t easy but we enter into this week knowing that the things that seem impossible for us are not impossible for God.
God’s Peace, Pastor Steve