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Jan 18, 2015

Sin is Not Just Out There

Passage: Matthew 7:1-5

Preacher: John Huizinga

Series: A hypocrite! Who, me?

Summary:

A Hypocrite! Who, me? Part 2 - Sin is Not Just Out There

Detail:

If there's one Bible verse everybody knows it's Matthew 7:1, 'Do not judge or you too will be judged . . .' This verse gets spoken every time there's a sanctity of life march, or there's a forum on Biblical marriage, or someone writes a letter to Ellen . . . The meaning seems to be keep it to yourself, or like Frank Bruni on the NY Times writes: 'I support the right of people to believe what they do and say what they wish — in their pews, homes and hearts.' (Of course, he should know better, because he makes a living by saying what he wishes outside of his heart home and umm, pew.) The reality is all of us have to make judgments all the time, some even depending on the judgments of others. So what could Jesus possibly mean by teaching this? It's not surprise that to fully understand this teaching we have to read it in its full context. And when we do we are given his wisdom to face the evil and sinful brokenness of life. It starts by understanding sin is not just out there, but to quote Solzhenitsyn, it runs a crooked line through every human heart. And then the way to deal with it is through repentance, relying on God's mercy. 'First take the plank out of your own eye so you can see clearly . . .' When our default is mercy, not judgment, then we can see. And what we'll see is the grace of God to remove even the speck we didn't notice before.