"In your eye, man!" Matthew 7:3-5

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

Matthew 7:3-5

 Last week we focused on the command of Jesus not to judge in verses 1 and 2. If you were not convinced that the command not to judge had nothing to do with not working to correct and reprove sin when we see it, then these verses should make it inescapably clear. We are not called to judge someone's soul based on their action, but Jesus states it very plainly that there are some things in our eyes that need to be cleaned out and we have a responsibility to help each other do that...we just need to be sure we get the cleaning steps in order.

I shared two stories from my childhood a few weeks ago on a Sunday night to illustrate this verse. 

I remember going with my family to buy an interior door. I am in the middle of 4 other siblings and we are all 1.5 years apart. Needless to say, there were things that went on in the back of the van anytime we went anywhere. On this trip, the door was propped up between me and my sister. I was picking on her doing something...I have no idea what. All I remember is that I was looking through the empty doorknob hole at her. Her answer to my picking was to blow through the hole into my eye. Let's just say we made a stop by my dad's clinic to clean all of the sawdust out of my eye. And let's be very clear...IT HURT!

I also remember going on several medical mission trips with my dad to Nicaragua. One of the trips he took me on was to a town called Rancheria. It was without a doubt, the dirtiest place I have ever been to. I have very clear memories of having to fan each bite of food as I brought it to my mouth so I wouldn't swallow one of the swarming flies. An even more vivid memory than that, however, was the sight of a little boy- maybe 2 or 3- who had some sort of infection in his eye. There was obvious drainage and pus in his eye and he looked miserable. But that wasn't what stood out. What stood out were all of the gnats and flies that were walking around on his eye in the drainage. He never blinked; he never swatted them away; and he never acted like he even noticed they were there.

I tell you these stories to point to one truth. Jesus' comparison of the "speck" or splinter to a beam or mote in our eyes seems a little absurd, but I believe he does that for a reason. Here is what I think we need to take away from it:

1. First and foremost, we are not being called to ignore sin. Sawdust in the eye hurts! You know exactly how uncomfortable it is when you get something stuck in your eye. We may think we are being kind and compassionate by overlooking someone's sin, but the truth is that their sin is hurting them. Unfortunately, so many of us have walked around with nastiness in our eyes for so long, that, like the little Nicaraguan boy, we don't even notice the irritant anymore. 
2.  Second, some of us reading this verse, need to realize that the people ignoring the "biggest" sins in their own lives are often not the adulterers, drunkards, drug addicts, or homosexuals; they are the self-righteous "church folk" who feel comfortable condemning others for sin while ignoring their own pride and hypocrisies. Just think about this for a minute. Try to find one place in the New Testament where Jesus really blasted an out and out "sinner." Look for a prostitute or thief or murderer that Jesus spoke harshly to. You won't find it. What you will find is that when Jesus' tone changes to sternness and rebuke, he is talking to the religious people who had been shunning and shaming the "sinners" all along. If you have grown up in the church as I have, that should serve as a serious call to pay attention and do a thorough check in the mirror to see if there have been any lingering planks or beams of smugness, arrogance, pride, and comparison oriented self-righteousness. 

I think Paul reiterates Jesus' words very well:

"Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. ² Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³ If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. ⁴ Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, ⁵ for each one should carry their own load."

Galatians 6:1-5

May we see sin as God sees it. May we be honest with our own sin so we can be free to be honest with others. The whole world is walking around with drainage and pus and flies and splinters in their eyes because of the damaging effects of the sin disease. May we never fail to bring them salve and cleansing and help because we who are disciples of the Great Physician cannot see clearly ourselves. May we view our own sins as beams and others as specks so that we can magnify God's grace that heals both. And may the world see only the love of God in our eyes when we confront sin instead of the hypocrisy, hyper-critical spirit, and self-righteousness that too often dominates the world's view of the church.