The essence of failing to respond to God’s will and the tendency we have to judge those who – we believe – are heading straight to hell … are captured in today’s readings.
From the Old Testament story of a stubborn nation ignoring what it had been taught and, instead, succumbing to the secular “order of the day,” to the New Testament teaching from Jesus to stop judging each other.
These passages reflect so much about what we see happening today we often forget how important it is to pray for each other, love each other and speak the truth with kindness and compassion – rather than vitriolic language, fiery passion and, of course, Tweets and Facebook posts.
It can be a delicate balance, but Scripture gives us a great example on the need for constant compassion and prayers for mercy that we need to embrace in our own hearts, no matter our circumstances.
Dial it back to the days of Moses and picture him walking down the mountain, the stone tablets with God’s commandments in his arms. He looks and sees the people have turned against God.
Moses had every right to be angry as he came down from that mountain.
Those ungrateful people … with so little faith. They had called out for help while enslaved in Egypt. Moses led them to freedom, but they whined when times got tough and food was scarce. Some even wanted to go back to Egypt. But Moses led them through the parted sea to yet another place of freedom.
Finally, at the base of the mountain where God promised to deliver them a set of laws – the ultimate recipe to live a good life on earth and rest eternally in the peace of heaven – they became impatient, were led astray once again and turned sinful, fashioning that famous golden calf.
That did not end so well for many, as Moses cast the stone tablets into their midst and inflicted his own form of punishment – tossing the stone tablets to the earth, which opened and swallowed those who had turned their backs on God.
How many times have we felt such anger at those we love. Our kids. Our co-workers. Our neighbors. Our fellow Christians. Our country. Despite the warnings and the common sense “God gave a goose” (as my grandmother used to say), they seem to constantly do the wrong things.
Take for example the youngsters we warn to stay away from drugs and chasing a life of crime. They often end up dead or in prison. Or the man who cannot control his drinking and ends up behind the wheel of car headed to disaster. The growing number of drivers who insist they can read their cell phones while driving down the highway, only tragically to learn otherwise.
We get so angry. We often yell at the evening news. We condemn a generation of people who seem to be on the wrong path.
Moses could have done the same, but instead he got his anger under control and went back to the top of the mountain to plead for mercy from God.
Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.”
The LORD answered, “Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book. Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you. My angel will go before you. When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
GOD SAID: Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book.
GOD DID NOT SAY: Forget it Moses, you are all corrupt and condemned. BAM! Be gone!
In today’s world that seems divided over so many issues, it’s easy to get caught up in the notion of condemning an entire nation, an entire race, an entire religion … but Jesus reminds us today that it isn’t up to us to do any condemning.
“When it is time for me to punish, I will punish …”
And Jesus reinforces this in today’s Gospel:
How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
As we continue to fight the good fight of leading people closer to God – as opposed to embracing a culture that seems to be losing touch with His laws and His ways – let’s remember to avoid painting condemnation with a broad brush over a single group of people.
Let God do the judging as He sees fit.
