Now that I'm retired, I realize more than ever before that I've lived with log-impaired vision all my life. I didn't need Jesus to tell me. For over 40 years, my wonderful and patient wife has reminded me daily of my malady. I've had faithful parishioners who had to take me aside and ask me to look again before I started to promote the latest and newest program to renew the congregation. My last call was to serve as a college pastor, and if anyone can spot logs in a person's life, students can do that without any hesitation.
The Gospel writer of Matthew was keenly aware of his Jewish-background audience. The "law" of the Old Testament prompted people to measure life in terms of good deeds vs. bad deeds. What Jesus proclaimed was a new way of looking at our lives as well as the lives of our neighbors. Not condemnation, but mercy. Not judgment, but grace. Is it any wonder that we call the Gospel "good news"? What sustained me during 40 years of ministry was not the vision of myself being better or smarter than others, but rather to begin each day refreshed by the mercy and grace of God given to me by what Christ did on my behalf.
Maybe that's why folks are so quick to judge and condemn their neighbors. They have not yet experienced or placed their faith in the grace of God. Might these days be for you a time to check your vision once more. Logs mess things up more than specks. Put on the "glasses of grace" and it will make a big difference to those around you.
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