The Log & The Speck: A Reflection on a Conversation

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For the judgement you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” - Matthew 7:1-5
 

Dear siblings in Christ,
             The above quoted scripture is one that I don’t often quote or point people to, especially since I doubt it will come as  surprise to any of you that I gravitate towards the passages about loving our neighbors and focus much of my preaching and the way in which I live my life with a focus of sharing and showing God’s love out in the world. But today as I sat down to write this letter, I couldn’t stop thinking about a conversation I recently had. A conversation that I had with an individual who is not connected to our congregation but had a religious background and beliefs. Through our conversation, I can safely say that we came to an understanding that we have a slightly different understanding of theology and have differing beliefs on how we are called to love all of our neighbors no matter who they are based on what and how we have learned to read and understand the Bible.
             This individual made a comment about how we as Christians are called out into the world to share the Good News by calling for others to repent of their sinful ways and lifestyles. And yes, there are times when we repent and encourage others to do similarly, like when we together within worship speak the Confession and Forgiveness, where we share out loud that we are each flawed humans and we have fallen short, and messed up, we have hurt ourselves, we have others, we have hurt creation, and/or we have hurt God through our actions, words, and deeds. We have hurt our relationships with ourselves, others, creation, God in ways that we are aware of and in ways we are not aware of, and we confess this truth and ask for forgiveness for all the ways in which we have fallen short. We as a Christian Lutheran congregation do this regularly. And yes, there are instances within the Bible where people are called to repent, like how John the Baptist announced the coming of the Lord and encouraged those who came to hear him to repent and how when Jesus sent his disciples out to surrounding villages of the Sea of Galilee and instructed them to do as he has been doing, giving them authority over the unclean spirits, to heal, to pray with, to share the good news of God, and proclaimed all should repent.  But more than just these orders, Jesus also told his disciples that if any place would not welcome them to shake off the dust and move on, not to try to double down and make the people listen to what they were sharing but to simply move on from where they were (Mark 6:6-12). To repent means to turn back to God, to return to that relationship and acknowledge how we have fallen short, but as Lutheran’s we trust and believe in the power and love of God through Jesus’ life giving act of dying on the cross, that we all have been forgiven through the expansive and unexplainable mercy, grace, and love that God freely gives to every person, regardless of if we have repented or strongly encouraged others to repent. 
           The conversation that I had was centered primarily around the individuals belief that certain people (the LGBTQIA+ community) are sinful for being exactly who God created them to be. We at Saint Paul's understand that a person being exactly who they were created to be is not a sin, in fact it is a more true reality of how God has created the world is such diverse ways. Even though the individual who I was talking with did not come to believe similarly, I am still struck at the insistence that it is our job as Christians to insist on another’s repentance, without taking a critical look at ourselves and seeing where in our own lives we have fallen short and sinned, causing hurt within our various relationships with ourselves, with others, with creation, and with God and repenting for our own actions, words, and deeds and continually asking for the forgiveness that God gives freely thanks to Jesus’ life giving death and resurrection. It is not our job to lead others to repentance, it is our job to share and show God’s love for all people, and trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in and through all people and it is the Spirit who will lead people to repentance, not us flawed humans.
              As we quickly approach our country’s election day in November, I can’t help but think of how often we may run into similar conversations (not necessarily about the same topic) casting blame and calling for other’s repentance or admittance of wrong doing. I feel like I will be drawn again and again to the passage about removing the log from my own eye before pointing out the speck in others, or maybe I will have the courage to encourage others to check for the logs in their own eyes and I invite you all to join me in this practice, especially in the coming months and continue to remember that our call as Christians is to share and show God's love with our neighbors throughout the world.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Tamara Siburg