Luke 6:39-49 is the last section of what is referred to as ‘the Sermon on the Plain’ (as opposed to the Sermon on the Mount). Jesus was teaching his followers what it meant to be disciples. He had begun with the four blessings and 4 corresponding woes. Last week we heard that we are to love our enemies and seek good for them; and that we should forgive and not judge others.
This brings us to today’s reading, beginning with specific teaching on being a disciple ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person’ – we can’t offer others what we don’t have; we need guides and mentors. ‘A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.’ If you follow the counsel of your teacher (or guide), you may also become like your teacher.
[David Lose, Luke 6:39-42 | ...In the Meantime]
“Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?”
[Luke 6.41]
I am reminded of that song, ‘O Lord it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way!’
[ Mac Davis, Oh Lord It’s Hard to be Humble, 1980]
This is a continuation of what Jesus said about judging others. We seem to find it easy to notice other people’s faults and hard to acknowledge our own. Some people believe that what annoys us in someone is a trait or aspect of ourselves that we deny. That may be true in some circumstances, but probably not all. Either way, if we are blind to our faults, and focus too much on another person’s perceived faults, are we really reflecting God’s unconditional love in our relationship with them? The pit we might find ourselves falling into could very well be hypocrisy!
Jesus then moved on to speak about fruit, the things we do and say, and how we treat people. Matthew included a bit more information: ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.’
[Matthew 7.15-16]
We can read ‘false prophets’ as people claiming to be disciples or teachers. The ‘fruit’ that ‘good trees’, good disciples, produce are ‘the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’
[Galatians 5.22-23]
Jesus then went on to challenge his listeners, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I tell you?” Anyone can call Jesus Lord, claim they’ve been converted or saved, but it’s by their ‘fruits’, by living as Jesus taught, that they actually declare him their Lord. So, what do all these teachings mean for us, especially as we prepare to begin our Lenten journey?
Recognising that it can be quite hard to identify or own up to our failings or weaknesses,
Lent encourages us to take some time to do this; to spend some time in self-reflection and think about what might be limiting our relationship with God. Do our lives reflect God’s love? Is there something more that we could be doing? And how are our relationships with others? Do we love our neighbours and our enemies as Jesus taught? Do we recognise that they are all created in God’s image?
Paul offered the early church several guidelines for this. My favourite is:
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am
nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or
boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or
resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
[1 Corinthians 13.1-8]
When Jesus spoke about good trees and bad trees, he did not say “once a bad tree, always a bad tree”. People can change, just look at how much Saul changed after his encounter with Jesus! Our passage from Isaiah is a great encouragement: ‘My word shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle.’
[Isaiah 55.11, 13]
This Wednesday, as you begin your journey through Lent to Jerusalem, perhaps you might reflect on where you need God's redeeming love: in your life; in your relationships; and in your community? And, where do you share God's redeeming love: in your relationships; and in your community?
Sermon, 8th Sunday after Epiphany
2nd March 2025
The Rev’d Alison Wooden