Making Sense of God Matthew 7:1-12 1/13/13

Series – making sense of god – 1-13-13– seeing Mt 7:1-12

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.^{(B) 2} For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.^(C)

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

Ask, Seek, Knock^{(D) 7} “Ask and it will be given to you;^(E) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;^(F) and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹ “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts^(G) to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,^(H) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.^(I)

We think this is a scripture about judging.  This is actually a scripture about sight, vision, what we see.

We all think we see well

Examples of seeing wrong

               The blind man who saw men walking as trees Mark 8

Being shorted at the sub shop

               After my cataract surgery

What do you see normally?

The board.  The stick.

What is that………

The board is your insistence that blue is green.  That God is mad at you

Unclear, obscure, ambiguous, blurry, cloudy, confused, dim, elusive, fuzzy, hazy, imprecise, intangible, nebulous, obscure, shadowy, uncertain, unsettled, unsure, vague

That God is not love

Something is wrong

Everybody hates me

I am not loved

See the clouds instead of the sky

We focus on the speck in our neighbor’s eye so we don’t have to deal with our stuff

We point to flaws in others to make ourselves feel better

We seek to “help” others so we can avoid personal change

          The board causes

                   Pride

                   Anger

                   Hatred

                   Greed

Take the board out……..

See that there is more good than bad

More joy than sorrow

When we no longer focus on the downers, love can emerge

Romans 8 allthings work together for good to those who love god.

Lets talk about sight and God……How do we see god

Based largely on how we were raised or what we were taught

What is the flavor of your Christianity

Methodist?  Baptist?  Pentecostal?

Jesus did not come to start a new religion, but to help us experience God

Four ways to see God – Paul Coutinho – catholic priest

1.   The God who is reached thru a priest or pastor.  We find God via the mediator.

2.   The God who is pleased when we follow the rules, live by the rules.

3.   The God who is mad because you are sinful.  You are in trouble.  All the time.  You can’t follow the rules. Curtains for you.

4.   The God who is close, intimate.  Abraham was a friend of God.  Adam and eve walked with God in the cool of the day.

What is the flavor of your Christianity

Methodist?  Baptist?  Pentecostal?

Jesus did not come to start a new religion, but to help us experience God

Most of us have some kind of baggage regarding how we see god

Fun to talk with those not raised in church….

God is bigger than our labels…more than we “see”

He is not contained by our pictures, doctrines or pronouns

                   Seeing in a mirror dimly

                   My ways are not your ways

When we seek God we will find Him

          We find Jesus = a lighthouse in the fog

Its better than that.  When we stop strving, we see that he is there.

Transcending your image of God

Take the board out of your eye

What do you see

God is love

God is mystery, beyond

God is with us

It is really very simple….sermon on the mount……

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,^(H) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.^(I)

What do you see in jesus when he walks out onto the hillside to preach the sermon on the mount

Why did people follow him

When we see God as he is – no rose colored glasses

We find joy

We find gratefulness

We want to help you find a greatful heart this year………..

Weekly practice

Ushers are coming at this time……reverse offering, an investment in you

On facebook or the prayer wall

Or these cards………….