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Gospel: Luke 6:39-45
Jesus told his disciples a parable,
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Sometimes it feels like our nation has contracted an autoimmune disease.
Autoimmune diseases confuse the body’s natural defense system, so that it can no longer tell the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy cell; normal cells are mistaken for a threat.
As a result, the body literally starts attacking itself.
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Judgment of others, and by extension, an accusatory culture, has that same effect. It’s possible to look at our neighbor and confuse him or her for a threat.
Someone might be smart, creative, athletic, and spiritual…but they’re pro-this or anti-that.
All of a sudden, we can become so mono-focused on that one disagreement – that “splinter in their eye” – that we lose the ability to see the entire person.
While that “splinter” may need to be removed – a position reformed, an attitude adjusted, a belief or habit changed – Jesus urges us to see beyond it. There is more than meets the eye.
Can we find and celebrate what’s good in them?
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This is an essential spiritual practice for us as a community. The first pillar of our mission statement is “building community,” meaning all are welcome, even those with a splinter in their eye.
We may disagree on certain things, but the Lord still calls us to love one another – and to share our lives with one another. This is true in marriage, in families, in friendships, and in this community of God’s people.
As we grow together, the Spirit will purify us all, removing the beam from our own eye and the splinter from our neighbor’s eye.
That’s what love does – it purifies. But gently over time.
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Think about this in another way.
Someone once said to me, “Kevin, try to see people like a slice of watermelon. Spit out the seeds and enjoy what is good.”
Everyone has faults. But try to set those aside. Find what God loves in that person. Look for what unites us – not for what divides us.
Seeds constitute only a fraction of a watermelon – and by extension, a splinter only constitutes a fraction of a person.
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But what about ourselves?
As Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your neighbor’s eye.”
Take a bite out of yourself, as it were. Consider your own “seeds” or the beam in your eye.
What’s that beam in my eye? What’s one thing that I may need to work on?
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Perhaps we’ve fallen prey to a judgmental, accusatory culture. Maybe it’s something else.
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Let me offer myself as an example.
The good news is that I’m an achiever; I like getting things done. I’m sure we all know that – look at what we’ve accomplished this last year! We have new ministries, a playground coming, and a bustling café!
But the bad news is that I can be impatient with others.
Perhaps the Lord is inviting me to slow down – to listen to others; to hear their ideas; to allow them to come to their own conclusions; to allow them to move at their own pace.
Not everyone has to look, think, or act like me. They have their own gifts and talents, which I want to appreciate and learn from.
The more patient I become, the better I lead. And the better I lead, the stronger our community becomes.
But that’s true for all of us. The more we try to remove that beam from our own eye, the better we see other people and the gifts that God has given them.
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So, what’s one thing I can improve in my own life? What’s the beam that needs to be removed?
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Judgment is like an autoimmune disease or a cancer on a community. The more we’re aware of how it affects us – and the more we try to reduce it – the stronger we become as a family in faith.
May we set aside our differences and celebrate what is good in one another. Slowly, the splinters will fall – from your eyes and from mine.
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Image credits: (1) Carpenter Smith Consulting, lic (2) The Random Vibez(3) Episcopal Relief and Development