Here is the worst: Following popular religious prejudice, which regarded all illness and misfortune as being the result of sin somewhere in the family tree, the blind man and his parents were blamed for his blindness—he was dismissed as just another example of God’s abstract law punishing moral imperfection. Jesus was judged as a sinner because he broke the Law of Moses by healing the man on the Sabbath. Daring to speak truth about Jesus to the Pharisees, they became engaged and barred the formerly blind man from the synagogue forever. Blaming, demonizing, rejecting, excluding from the life of the community—the story of the blind man healed by Jesus, which after all, one would think was a wonderful event, is full of the primal sin: Judging. Judging is the sin of the world, the mother of all sin, everywhere present, the core of the human problem of broken relationships, failed communities, violence and war.
It is the worst. The sin of the world is exposed in all its horror on Good Friday when Jesus’ self-righteous judges rejoiced at his suffering and death, like families who delight in witnessing the execution of a criminal on death row. In Jesus’ case, since God didn’t intervene and save him from the Cross, everyone, even some of his own disciples, thought the judgment was confirmed: See, Jesus was a false Messiah, was a blasphemer, a corrupter of the common folk, a transgressor of the laws of God: see, he died. See, we knew it all along: this man was wrong, wrong, wrong. In that hateful act and attitude, we see the mother of all sin: by condemning someone and getting rid of them, especially by having them ritually killed, we think we feel better. In our day it is called closure. We have to kill the criminal before we can feel better. We have to have an enemy, someone to blame, hate, get rid, in order to have life go on again.
This problem both fills the news and is as close as our neighborhoods. I go for walks in Antelope along a street called North Loop. Prior to 9/11 every morning I greeted neighborhood Sikhs, pretty easily identified by their beards, and turbans, and flowing cotton clothes, who were out walking like me. After 9/11 they disappeared. Why? Some people thought it appropriate to curse and even attack Sikhs, in the misguided judgment that Sikhs were enemies. And they did this, supposing that their violence and enemy seeking was a way of honoring a commitment to America! This is worst of the human condition.
What is the best? The Holy Spirit calls, gathers and enlightens the church on earth to say No to the way of judging and violence. The Church exists to show the world as clearly as possible that Jesus way of non-judging and non-violence wasn’t wrong, he was proven right. On Easter morning Christ was vindicated. His non-judging ways, his friendship with sinners, his breaking of the Law of Moses for the sake of others, all was now seen as a part of the work of God to bring healing into the world, to create a new world.
The longer I live and try to understand the ways of Christ, the more I learn, often painfully, how nothing is more important in life than suspending all judgment, bias, and prejudice in order to encounter the real person in front of me. Just as Jesus would not let the disciples or the Pharisees get away with quick and easy dismissal of others based on current prejudice, so Jesus’ life in us liberates us from the core sin of judging, and invites us into ever deeper experiences of community with others.
Let me tell an embarrassing story on myself. Some years ago, on the high recommendation of others, Sue and I thought we’d try out a certain Mexican restaurant in the area. When we got there, it looked like a hole in the wall kind of place. Our server turned out to be a middle aged woman, who spoke with a strong Mexican accent. In my mind, I thought, how sad, that a woman her age cannot find work better than this. How much this poor immigrant woman must suffer to provide food for her family, I said to myself. But God was gracious and opened up a conversation with her. It turns out that she worked at this restaurant because a family member owned it and she enjoyed helping out. She herself had an architectural degree, her husband was, if I now remember correctly, a neurosurgeon. Turns out that in my blindness and bias, I knew nothing of her reality. I had to be healed of my prejudice, in order to meet her as real person.. Jesus’ life in us opens our eyes to him and to our brothers and sisters on earth.
And thank God for forgiveness! There is a little saying I’ve seen on bumper stickers and plaques: "Please have patience: God’s not finished with me yet." The life of faith is never about being perfect. And Christianity is certainly not about self-righteously sniffing out the sins of others! No, it is about being forgiven, healed, and restored by grace to fellowship with the Eternal Source of life—to real community with one another. We are simply human beings, a work in progress, made new by the grace. So is everyone else. Therefore, our judging and condemning of others is never appropriate.
A group of monks were angry with one of their brothers. He was, they believed, an obstinate sinner, who just wouldn’t change his ways to conform to their ideals of righteousness. So they sent a request to the great spiritual leader of their day, Abba Moses, to come and straighten out the sinner in their midst. Abba Moses refused to go and do that. So the monk decided to set up a tribunal and call their brother monk to task in front of the whole monastic community. And they wanted a real authority figure there to shame the sinful brother. So again they sent for Abba Moses. When he heard what they were planning, he decided to go and meet with them. The day of the tribunal came, and just before the council was to meet, they saw Abba Moses walking wearily into the courtyard of their monastery, carrying an old bucket full of holes and loaded with sand which was running out of the bottom and leaving a trail behind the great leader. They bowed and greeted Abba Moses, and asked, "Abba Moses, we are honored to have you here. But what is the meaning of this bucket of sand?" And he said, "My multitude of sins trail behind me always, like the sand running from this bucket, and yet I am here to judge the sin of another." And with that, they were ashamed and realized their own sin. And tribunal was canceled and they were reconciled with the one they had been condemning.
The great old gospel song confesses, "Just as I am, without plea." Our only hope is the mercy of God, that is what we confess. If it’s like that for us, then isn’t like that for everyone else? And who then are we to condemn or judge anyone else? Let us remember, therefore, that the good news, the best news, is that Jesus lives in us to give us new sight and kindness:
Judging goodness and badness is not the basis for real life, but only the mercy of God. Amen.