Posted on 01/27/2004 8:34:49 AM PST by MarMema
A man who had served in the army tells an amusing story about a routine inspection carried out on a small base by the newly arrived commanding officer. As the full colonel walked briskly by the soldiers lined up before him, he came to a sudden and unexpected halt. Looking at a young private standing before him, the colonel shouted, "Button that pocket, soldier!" The soldier, visibly shaken by this confrontation replied, "Shall I do it right now, sir?" "Of course, right now!" was the immediate reply. In response, the soldier very carefully reached out and buttoned the flap on the colonel's shirt pocket.
For some reason, this kind of behavior is typical of us all; we are quick to condemn the errors of others, and exceedingly slow to recognize our own. Somehow, it is always easier to see someone else's unbuttoned pocket. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus condemned this behavior when He asked the question, "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, and pay no attention to the log in your own eye?" (Matt. 7:3) as well as when He commanded, "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you." (Matt. 7:17).
This fundamental principal of the spiritual life is a great benefit to us all. When it is not respected, it leads to animosities and resentment from those who find themselves the objects of our stern judgements. At the same time, it deflects our attention from the desperate need to correct our own numerous shortcomings. We need to take care, therefore, that we not pass judgement on others, and use the time thus gained in the useful pursuit of buttoning our own pockets!
The Gospel lesson today tells of two people who criticized. The Pharisee criticized the Publican. The Publican criticized himself. The Pharisee who criticized others was condemned, even though he conformed strictly to the Jewish Law. The Publican who criticized himself was saved, even though he had cheated many people in the past. There is a saving quality in criticism when it is applied to ourselves and a damning quality when it is applied toward others.
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. God gave us the ability to criticize in order that we could apply it to ourselves and not to others. The only person you really know well enough to be able to criticize properly is yourself. Yet most of us are umpires at heart; we like to call balls and strikes on someone else rather than on ourselves.
How easy it is to judge others. How easy it was for the Pharisee, a religious leader, to look down upon the Publican, a despised tax collector, and say, "O God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector!" How did he judge him? What did he know of the struggles that tax collector had made to better himself? What gave him the right to be so arrogant and proud? What do we really know about many of the people we judge so blatantly? What do we really know about their hopes and dreams? And most of all, what do we know of their struggles?
Thomas a Kempis wrote in The Imitation of Christ, "Study always to be patient in bearing other men's defects, for you have many in yourself that others suffer from you, and if you cannot make yourself as you would, how may you then look to have another regulated in all things to suit your own will? We would gladly have others perfect, yet we refuse to fix our own faults. We desire others to be strictly corrected for their offenses, yet we will not be corrected.... And so it appears evident that we seldom judge our neighbors as we do ourselves." We have a double standard.
St. Makarios of Egypt once said that his life was like an onion. He kept peeling off layers of skin each day. He called these layers: anger, envy, fear, anguish, anxiety, hate, lust, laziness, greed, judgementalism, and so forth. One by one, these layers had to be shed before one could reach the innermost chamber of one's heart. There, in the innermost chamber, one finds a crawling serpent nestled in comfort. The serpent's name is self-love and self-pity. This serpent has invaded and wounded the soul's most vital organ, the heart. "The snake cannot be killed," says St. Makarios, it can only be controlled through ascesis, watchfulness, prayer and the Holy Spirit. St. Makarios was so busy shedding the many layers of sin from his own life, so busy coping with this snake of self-love and self-pity in his heart, that he had no time to criticize the faults of others. All he could say was, "Lord, be merciful to me the sinner."
What a difference it would make in our lives if we would begin with ourselves. If we would repent without waiting for another to repent first. If we would seek forgiveness, without waiting for others to seek forgiveness first. If we would take the blame instead of casting it on others. If we would not see so much the faults of others as much as the fault that lies within us. How different our world would be! How different our homes! How happy our marriages! How different and how wonderful our friendships! How gentle our judgements and how gracious our relationships to other people!
The difficulty is that while most of us are eager to reform our neighbors, few of us are so eager to tackle ourselves, the one and only person in the world that we can change, the one and only person in the world which we can conquer for Christ.
If we must criticize, let us criticize first our own imperfections and shortcomings. If we must fight, let us first fight our own sins and weaknesses. If we must destroy, let us destroy first our own ignorance and prejudice. If we must condemn, let us condemn first our own self pride and arrogance.
As we are approaching the Great Lent, allow me to conclude this morning with the well-loved Lenten prayer of St. Ephraim, the Syrian:
"Creator and Ruler of the Universe: Take from us the spirit of Apathy, Cowardice, Lust for Power, and Idle Talk; and give us rather the spirit of Purity, Humility, Patience, and Love. Grant us eyes to see our own errors, and the wisdom not to judge our brothers and sisters."
Amen.
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