Sometimes, as God works it can appear that there are errors and mistakes.
I recently heard a joke about an old lady who was mugged. And the joke goes like this…
An old lady had been mugged, and when she reported the crime to police, they called her in to their station and stood her on one side of a two-way mirror and asked her to look at the people on the other side to see if she could identify them. After looking carefully at all the faces for some time, the old lady pointed and said, “It was the short red one.” The police stared at her in surprise and asked, “Are you sure?” The old lady responded, “I have no doubt at all. It was the short red one.” “But madam,” responded the police officer, “that is a fire hydrant.” The old lady responded, “Oh dear, now I am not certain that was the man…”
And I have been thinking about that silly joke as I have been thinking about judgements. You see, so often in life we consider ourselves certain in our judgements. I think to myself that I must certainly be right about someone because I have heard what they said and understood what they wanted. And then, later, things have been revealed that have changed everything…
In Luke 11:37-41 we hear… “A Pharisee asked him to dine with him; so he went in and sat at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you.’”
The Pharisees judged Christ. They watched Him eat and ignored all the wonderful things that He said and did and focused on the ONE thing that He did not do… He had not washed His hands. And in seeing that, they used this as an opportunity to judge Him as lacking… But Christ was intentional in this. Christ was teaching a lesson – “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned.” (Luke 6:37).
And I have been thinking about that today, because it seems to me so easy to be able to judge others, and I am always so certain that I am right, when in fact I have literally no idea at all of how things ought to be done! And that lack of certainty – which is the result of my own imperfect nature – is the only true thing there is in my life at all. It really and most certainly is the only true thing.
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
Comments