Matthew 7:1-12

Matthew 7:1-12

“Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk”

7^th in Sermon On The Mount series

August 12, 2007

 

This summer we are looking at how we can learn to walk like Jesus taught.  Jesus has taught us how to walk in His ways – how to be His people – how to follow in His footsteps – and we need to look at His words – His teachings – so we can walk as He taught us how to walk.

We need to learn to walk like Jesus taught.

We need to learn to walk like Jesus taught.

We’re looking at one of the places where Jesus taught us how to walk in His ways — the Sermon On The Mount – Matthew chapters 5-7.  As we look at these chapters we’re seeing how Jesus taught us to walk – and learning how to

Walk Like Jesus Taught

Walk Like Jesus Taught

Walk Like Jesus Taught – that’s our theme for the summer.

We’ve already seen how the Sermon On The Mount is an important piece of scripture.  It’s the longest segment of scripture with just the teachings of Jesus – and it’s a piece of scripture where Jesus gives the guidelines for how His followers should live. Matthew places it at an important point in Jesus’ ministry.  As Matthew records the story of Jesus, Jesus has been born – raised in Nazareth – has been baptized by John – has been tempted by Satan in the wilderness – and has now begun His ministry of teaching and healing.  He has begun to attract crowds of people — and has even called some to be disciples. 

But – the crowds – and especially the disciples – must have wondered how they were supposed to live – how they were supposed to act – what they were supposed to do.  The disciples had given up their old lifestyles to follow Jesus – and they were probably wondering how they were supposed to live now that they were following Jesus.

Well – they were about to find out.

As Jesus climbed that mountainside – He began to teach His disciples how He wanted them to live.

And the disciples began their attempt to walk like Jesus taught.

Walk Like Jesus Taught

Walk Like Jesus Taught

We began in June looking at the first 12 verses of Matthew 5 – what we call The Beattitudes – and we saw how the first step to walking like Jesus taught is walking in  God’s blessings by surrendering yourself to God, giving Him control of your life, and serving others with a heart of compassion.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk in God’s blessings.

That’s the first step. 

We then looked at Matthew 5: 13-16 – and saw how we can be the light of Christ in the world as we live like Jesus lived – or – as I put it — walk like Jesus walked.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk in God’s blessings.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like Jesus Walked

These are the first 2 steeps we must take.

We then looked at Matthew 5:17-32 – and saw how the third step in walking like Jesus taught is walking in righteousness.

Walk in God’s blessing

Walk like Jesus walked

Walk in righteousness

We then added a fourth step as we looked at Matthew 5:33-43 – and saw that – if we are going to walk like Jesus taught – we are going to have to walk in love.
            Walk in God’s blessing

Walk like Jesus walked

Walk in righteousness

Walk in love

Then  we added another step as we looked at Matthew 6:1-18 – and saw what it might mean to walk in true righteousness.

Last week we added a 6^th step as we saw how we need to walk in trust – trusting God for the things we need.

Walk Like Jesus Taught:

Walk in God’s blessing

Walk like Jesus walked

Walk in righteousness

Walk in love

Walk in true righteousness

Walk in trust

We’re going to begin chapter 7 today as we add a 7^th step to what it means to wall like Jesus taught – this step being – walk like you want others to walk.  It’s one thing to talk about being a follower of Jesus, and to judge how well others walk in Jesus’ ways.  But – it’s quite another to actually walk as Jesus taught ourselves – isn’t it? 

Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1-12:

Read Scripture

 

Walk Like Jesus Taught:

Walk in God’s blessing

Walk like Jesus walked

Walk in righteousness

Walk in love

Walk in true righteousness

Walk in trust

Walk like you want others to walk

 

You are probably familiar with Robert Fulghum’s book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. This essay is his personal statement of belief, his credo. The idea came to him one day as he putting gas in his car, and he suddenly realized that life doesn’t have to be complicated. All that’s necessary for a meaningful life is really quite simple. In fact, we learned most of it, he says, in kindergarten. His essay includes things such as play fair, share, and when you go out into the world, hold hands and stick together.

I thought of Robert Fulghum’s essay when I was working on this sermon  because today we’re looking at some of Jesus’ most famous saying of all –

Don’t judge, don’t criticize, don’t talk about the speck in someone else’s eye when you have a plank in yours, do to others what you would like for them to do to you –

Some of Jesus’ most famous teachings – and some of the things we need to know to walk like Jesus taught.  I’m calling this 7^th step in walking like Jesus taught “Walk Like You Want Others To Walk”. 

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

If we want to truly be the Christians Jesus wants us to be, we need to live in His ways – and at the same time we need to show others how to live in His ways instead of merely judging or criticizing how others live.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

You probably remember when the Jim Bakker/Jessica Hahn scandal hit the airwaves in 1988. Jimmy Swaggart went on Nightline and said, “The gospel of Jesus Christ has never sunk to such a level.” No other nationally known preacher was as vocal in his condemnation of Jim Bakker as was Jimmy Swaggart. Yet, it wasn’t very long until Jimmy Swaggart was caught in his own sex scandal—not once, but twice.   It seems that brother Jimmy might have done well to have tended to his own walk with Christ instead of worrying so much about bother Jim’s! 

One of the biggest critics of Bill Clinton when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the news was California congressman Gary Condit.  Not many years after criticizing Clinton, Condit was embroiled in his own scandal. 

 Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Throughout history people have condemned others for a sin that they were actually committing themselves.  Jesus spoke harshly about this kind of hypocrisy.  The Apostle Paul in Romans 2:21 – 24 did also:

Well, then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you steal from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The world blasphemes the name of God because of you.” (Romans 2:21-24)

In Matthew 7 Jesus gives a stern warning about hypocritically condemning other people. He begins with one of his most famous sayings…

(v. 1) “Do not judge, or you too will be judged

This is one of Jesus’ most well known sayings; but it’s also of the most misunderstood. Some people think that it means that Christians shouldn’t speak out against sin or make a stand for holiness. That’s not what Jesus is saying at all. What he is saying is that when it comes to looking at the lives of others, we must proceed with caution. We have to make sure we are walking in the ways we want others to walk.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

One of the biggest criticisms non-Christians have against Christians is that they say Christians are too judgmental. I’ve heard people say that Christians think they’re better than everyone else. I’ve heard people say that Christians are always telling everyone that they’re going to hell…and they’re always trying to make people feel guilty.  Personally, I don’t buy that. I don’t believe it. It is true that in the over 24 years that I have been in the ministry I have met some sour Christians who do seem to be self-righteously smug. But they are definitely in the minority. The overwhelming majority of the Christians I’ve known are kind, merciful, and forgiving.  

Sometimes when people accuse Christians of being judgmental, I think they’re really expressing their own sense of guilt. I heard a story about a guy who was driving down an Arizona highway with his wife, and he kept exceeding the speed limit. Every once in a while she would say, “Honey…you need to slow down. You’ll get a ticket.” He’d slow down for a few minutes, then gradually speed back up. Finally, sure enough, a highway patrolmen pulled him over and gave him a ticket. The man got back in his car and began driving down the highway again. His wife said nothing. They sat in silence for about 15 minutes, and finally the husband said, “Are you going to harp on this forever?!” She hadn’t said anything – his guilty conscience was actually harping on him, but he was blaming her!  

People don’t want to be judged. They don’t want to be condemned. For this reason, we have to exercise extreme caution when dealing with others – and we need to make sure we are walking in the ways we are trying to get them to walk – or living in the ways we are trying to get them to live.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

How do we make sure we are walking in the ways we want others to walk – or living in the ways we want others to live?

In Matthew 7:1-12 Jesus teaches us how to make a stand for holiness – how to live as Jesus wants us to live and even be an example to others — without being judgmental. He teaches us how to avoid the sin of hypocrisy, and, at the same time, help others discover the truth. In fact, that’s the main point of this passage—how to help others get the specks out of their eyes —  how to help others improve some area of their lives.

The question is: Can you help others live the Christian life – can you help others walk like Jesus taught —  without being a busy-body? Can you do it without being holier-than-thou? The answer is: Yes, you can. It’s all in how you look at others, and how you look at yourself. When it comes to dealing with other people faults, when it comes to trying to help people live in Jesus’ ways,  Jesus teaches four principles in these 12 verses that we need to keep in mind. The first principle is…

1.      If you’re not on the jury, don’t try to reach a verdict.

If you’re not on the jury, don’t try to reach a verdict

What do I mean by that? It’s very simple: if it’s not your judgment to make, don’t make the judgment.

There are a few areas of our lives where we do need to make certain judgments  in order to make the right decision or come to the right conclusion—whether or not we will hire someone, whether or not we will marry someone, whether or not we will allow our children to go to a party or social event, whether or not we will allow someone to borrow our car, whether or not we’ll give money to a certain charity, and on and on. That’s why Jesus said in the Gospel of John,

“Stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment.” (John 7:24)

There are, so to speak, certain juries that we sit on, and it is our responsibility in those situations to make a right judgment. However, in Matthew 7 Jesus is talking about a different kind of judging. He’s talking about making a judgment against someone when you’re not even on the jury. In other words, making a judgment against someone when it’s none of your business.

Sometimes we might hear someone say, “I don’t think so-and-so is really saved.” That may be their opinion, but it’s not their call to make. They’re not on that jury. When I hear someone say that, my response is, “Be sure to let God know so that he won’t accidentally let them into heaven.”  

One time I was at a conference with a group of ministers and after the night session we were gathered in a TV lounge looking for a baseball game to watch. As we flipped through the channels, we came across a TV preacher, so naturally we  stopped to watch for a few minutes. Almost immediately one of those in the room said: “You can tell that guy’s a phony just by looking at him.”  I said, “How in the world can you make that judgment? Because he’s wearing a loud tie?” I didn’t know what else it could possibly be; we’d been watching only a few seconds. Still another person in the room said, “I bet he’s just in it for the money.” I didn’t know if they were right or wrong, I just wondered who put them in charge of making that call.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

If you’re not on the jury, don’t try to reach a verdict

When Jesus said,

(v. 1) “Do not judge, or you too will be judged,”

…He was talking about making judgments that are none of our business. The problem is that when we make these judgments, we often make them without knowing all – or even any — of the facts.

Maybe you remember the TV show Three’s Company. It seemed that on every show there would be a crazy nix – up because someone would overhear a portion of a conversation and jump to the wrong conclusion: Maybe they would conclude that Mr. and Mrs. Roper were getting a divorce, or maybe that Chrissy is going to have a baby, or maybe that Jack had a terminal illness, on and on it would continue, all because someone jumped to a conclusion without knowing all the facts.

Do you think this happens in real life? 

You know it does!

 I remember one time a friend called me and asked if I knew another friend of ours had been arrested. “No!” I replied – “What for?” He said, “I don’t know, but I saw him being driven through town in the back seat of a police car.” Later, when I asked the friend who had supposedly been arrested about it, he said, “I had a wreck and had to get my car towed, so the cops gave me a ride home.”

Sally’s Dad worked part time for a Funeral Home after retiring from Du Pont. One day he had to drive to North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, NC to pick up a body.  Since we lived less than an hour away from Winston, he came by to visit us on his way back to Camden.  He parked the hearse in the front yard of our house and came in to visit.  Well, you have to understand that we lived in a very small community – and before long the word got out that there was a hearse in front of the preacher’s house.  Within five minutes of the hearse arriving, people were calling the house.  If Sally answered the phone, they would say: “Oh Sally – what are we going to do without Bill?”  If I answered the phone, they would say: “Oh Bill – what you going to do without Sally?”

My parents owned a Cadillac.  They drove it to see us in North Carolina one weekend – and parked it in the drive. Wouldn’t you know it, before it had been parked there thirty minutes a member of the Church called to say that he knew I was being paid too much – and from the looks of my new car he was right!

I heard about a woman in a Sunday School class who mentioned one Sunday that she and her husband had just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. A few minutes later she said something about her 12-year-old son. Another member of the class said, “Wait a minute. You’ve been married 10 years and you have a 12-year-old son?” The woman became annoyed and said, “That’s right. Do you have a problem with that?” The other member responded – in a very sanctimonious voice, “Well, it just seemed rather strange.” In fact, it wasn’t strange at all. She and her husband adopted their son when he was 6 years old.

Here’s what I’m saying: Before you pass judgment on anyone, remind yourself that you don’t have all the facts. There just might be a part of the story that you don’t know. And, most likely, it’s not your business to know.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

 If you don’t sit on that jury, don’t try to reach a verdict. Let God be the judge.

That’s the first thing you need to remember so you can walk like you want others to walk – and avoid self-righteous hypocrisy. There’s a second step:

2. Look at your own faults before you look at anyone else’s.

Jesus said,

(v. 3-4) 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? 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?

The problem is, too often we have a tendency to consider someone’s speck a plank, and consider our plank to be merely a speck.   

I heard of a man whose children were, to put it mildly, beyond his control…but he was organized. His life consisted of meticulously dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. His attitude seemed to be: “Teenagers will be teenagers and there’s nothing you can do about it, but if you’re disorganized, that’s a sign that you don’t have your act together.” Well, his brother was as disorganized as the other was organized. His house always looked like a rummage sale, and he was never on time for anything —  but he had great kids. The organized brother was constantly criticizing the disorganized one for not having his life together. He’d say things like, “Why don’t you mow your yard? For crying out loud! I’m embarrassed for people to know we’re related!” The fact that his son was in rehab doesn’t seem to bother him  as much as the fact that his brother had a messy house. I think one brother had a speck in his eye – he was disorganized. The other, however, may have had a two-by-four in his eye: his children were rebellious and out-of-control. But he was more concerned with his brother’s speck of a problem than he was with his own two-by-four.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Look at your own faults before you look at anyone else’s.

This is exactly the kind of attitude Jesus warned against. Before you judge others, or condemn others, or criticize others, look at yourself. Fix your own life before you try to fix everyone else. Look at yourself closely and ask, “Am I in a position to offer criticism?” When you ask yourself that question with a sincere heart, 9 times out of 10 you’ll discover that you have a plank in your own eye to deal with first.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

If you’re not on the jury, don’t try to reach a verdict

Look at your own faults before you look at anyone else’s.

The third thing Jesus tells us to do in order to walk like we want others to walk is:

3. Limit your advice to “Do as I do.”

Jesus said,

(v. 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.

It’s not that Jesus wants us to abandon the idea of helping someone become a better person, it’s that he wants us to do it with integrity. The person whose attitude is “Do as I say and not as I do” has no credibility with the person he’s trying to help. This is why some parents have no influence over their children. When your children know that you called in sick at work when you’re not really sick…when you tell the ticket clerk at the movie theatre that your son is 11 when he’s really 13…when they witness you telling a white lie to your spouse… when you order the “single trip” plate at the buffet restaurant but go back for more — these things add up. And then you wonder why they laugh  at the idea that he shouldn’t lie to you about where he is going when he leaves the house. When you advise or correct someone, if the underlying theme is not “Do as I do,” then you have no right to say what you’re saying.  This makes parenting, and any other leadership position, hard work—because it calls us to greater accountability. If you want to give anyone any kind of corrective advice, in order to avoid self-righteous hypocrisy, make sure the underlying theme to your message is “Do as I do.”

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

If you’re not on the jury, don’t try to reach a verdict

Look at your own faults before you look at anyone else’s.

Limit your advice to “Do as I do.”

The last statement Jesus makes in this passage:

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

– what we call “the Golden Rule” – leads us to the fourth point Jesus makes about walking as we would have others walk.

4.  If you want people to be nice to you, you need to be nice to them.

Some look at this statement of Jesus and believe that He’s saying “don’t do anything bad to someone” – or “don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you”.   While this is commendable, it’s not exactly what Jesus is teaching here. An example of living by “don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you” would be – if you’re walking down the street, and you see someone who has fallen down, and you say to yourself, “If I had fallen down, I wouldn’t want someone to kick me in the head and laugh at me, so I won’t do that to this person.” and you continue on your way. People who live by this “don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you” rule are pretty decent people. But – are they really living as Jesus taught – walking as Jesus taught?

I don’t think so.

Jesus didn’t say

“Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you”

Jesus said:

do to others what you would have them do to you

In other words, Jesus isn’t saying what we should not do – He’s saying what we should do. Instead of thinking we’ve pleased Jesus by what we did not do, we need to follow Jesus by what we do.

do to others what you would have them do to you

This commandment plays out much differently in life than the “don’t do” idea. If you’re walking down the street and you see a man who has fallen down, you might say to yourself, “If I had fallen down, what would I want someone to do for me? Pick me up, brush me off, say a kind word, make sure I’m ok, help restore my dignity, and on and on.” So, instead of just not kicking the guy when he’s down, you make an effort to pick him up.

Do you see the difference?

Jesus is saying that we need to do what we can to treat others in the way we want to be treated. If we are going to walk like Jesus taught, we need to be sure we are living in ways we want others to live – or walking like we want others to walk.

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

Walk Like Jesus Taught: Walk Like You Want Others To Walk

If you’re not on the jury, don’t try to reach a verdict

Look at your own faults before you look at anyone else’s.

Limit your advice to “Do as I do.”

If you want people to be nice to you, you need to be nice to them.

4 things to remember when you are trying to walk like Jesus taught – and trying to show others how to walk like Jesus taught.

So – now we have 7 steps to walking like Jesus taught:

Walk in God’s blessing

Walk like Jesus walked

Walk in righteousness

 

Walk in love

 

Walk in true righteousness

 

Walk in trust

 

Walk like you want others to walk

 

If we can live our lives in Jesus’ ways – especially not trying to be the jury in peoples lives, looking at your own faults before you look at anyone else’s, limiting your advice to “do as I do”, and treating others the way we want them to treat us, we will be coming a long way towards being the people God has called us to be – living in the ways Jesus wants us to live – walking in the ways Jesus wants us to walk. Amen.