37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” – Luke 6:37-38
I often wonder what it would look like to take the words of Jesus literally.
It’s a funny thought right? I mean, isn’t this what Christ followers already do?
Not exactly.
The truth is, His words are difficult, not because He uses lofty language or impressive wordsmithery, but because they are simple and painfully practical. When He says to give to the poor, He doesn’t qualify or regulate. He states simply to do so in every situation. Painful. When He says to love or forgive, again, every situation as bright as day and with no room to loophole, He takes us to task. He tells us to do what we do not want to, in situations in which we wish not to.
And this is why He speaks clearly. He doesn’t want us to miss His message in the language. Make no mistake, there is still a certain eloquence and fierce beauty in His ability to speak and command a crowd and He could break the heart of both the artist and the logic. Yet, His message was from above in a tongue of the loving creator who shepherds us all. This is at the heart of it all – relationship. His love for us, keeps Him from mystifying the good news. It is this He models for us and wishes for us to go into the world to display with those we often don’t wish to lavish His love, forgiveness, and grace upon.
In the Gospels, we see the measure of our grace being in direct relationship to the grace we bestow on others. Scary right? If we can get past judgment and condemnation of others, then God will look past it in us.
Simple? Yes.
Difficult? Well, also yes.
Lord, be with us. Empower us to look past the sins of others. May we take your words seriously and may your Spirit give us the strength necessary to act upon your simple grace. Amen
Matt simon blog 