POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - False Judgement
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Today, we will talk about false judgment. A false judgment says more about us than it does the other person.
It is like when we point at someone, three fingers are pointing back at us.
We can learn a lot about false judgment when looking back at history.
A six-year-old lad came home from school with a note from his teacher. The teacher had judged the little boy and decided he should be taken out of school. She thought he was no good. He was too stupid to learn.
That boy was Thomas Alva Edison.
Alfred Tennyson’s grandfather gave him 10 shillings for writing a eulogy for his grandmother. Handing it to the lad, the old man said, “Well, from what I can judge from your writing, this is the first money you have ever made for your poetry and it will certainly be the last.”
Benjamin Franklin’s mother-in-law hesitated to let her daughter marry a printer. There were already two printing offices in the United States and she judged that the country might not be able to support a third one.
In 1933, a book was published which contained one of the biggest misjudgments in history. In this book, Dorothy Thompson related that it took her just 50 seconds to size up Adolph Hitler. She said he would never become the dictator of Germany. “He is a nobody, and will never amount to anything,” she said.
In 1865, the Chicago Times judged Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. They said, “The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, dishwatery utterances of a man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States.”
It is unbelievable how we, as individuals and as a society, have misjudged in the past. In many public speeches, Daniel Webster expressed his doubt concerning the ultimate success of American railroads. He wrote down his judgment that a train would never get moving on rails. If it did move, if there were frost on the tracks, it could never come to a stop.
In 1865, in Concord, Massachusetts (the home of Thoreau), they banned “Huckleberry Finn.” The very smart people of the town judged it as trash suitable only for the slums.
In 1929, Russia blacklisted “Sherlock Holmes” for its disgraceful conduct in writing. They said it should never be on the shelves of our good homes.
In 1939, China banned “Alice in Wonderland.” They judged those animals should not use human language. “It is disastrous,” they said, “to put animals and human beings on the same level.”
If you think about society today, who is the one judge in a society that is not a judge? Do you know who it is? It is a baseball umpire. There was one time, when Babe Ruth was thrown out of a game. He walked up to the umpire and said, “Ump, there are 40,000 people here in the stands who all know the truth that I am not out.”
The umpire looked him straight in the eyes and said, “That may be so, but mine is the only opinion that counts.”
When we judge another person, when we make a false judgment of someone and then hold that judgment throughout our life, we say the same thing. We say, “Mine is the only opinion that counts.”
I have a little plaque on my wall at home. It says, “Not my will, but thine be done.” Imagine if we transferred this to judgment. Not my judgment, but, God, Your judgment be done.
We are going to be brave enough to go inside our own minds and look anew as if for the first time. Rediscovering that some of these verdicts we have handed down on people and situations may be wrong, we become willing to turn those around today.
C.R. Hembry wrote this:
I Dreamed of Heaven
I dreamed death came the other night
And heaven’s gates swung wide.
With kindly grace, an angel ushered me inside.
And there to my astonishment
Stood folks that I had known on earth.
Some I judged unfit, of little worth.
Indignant words rose to my lips
But never were set free.
For every face showed stunned surprise.
No one had expected me.
This is the story of Michelangelo. He went to a rock quarry looking for a certain big piece of rock. He got it, but the person who owned the quarry said, “No, you don’t want that piece of rock; it’s no good. It is not worth anything.”
Michelangelo said, “Well, if that is the case, I want a discount.” He got the discount.
When he took the rock home, those he passed said, “You can’t do anything with that piece of stone.”
He said, “You judged wrong. There is an angel trapped in that stone.”
They looked at it and walked around it. They said, “There is no angel in there; that is a piece of rock.”
He said, “You wait and see.” He brought the angel forth from the stone that no one else wanted.
I think about that a lot when I am tempted to judge someone I might not like in the moment. I see that person and, in my mind, I walk around them and I say, “You know, this is just an old piece of rock.”
Then the voice inside of me says, “Oh no, there is an angel trapped in there.” I may be the only one who can let her out IF I so choose. If I do, inside my mind, there will be a masterpiece.
I want to share a story this morning that Richard Regan wrote. He wrote this story at a time when he was sitting in a restaurant with a lot of his friends. There was good conversation, everyone was happy. The restaurant was right on the town square. Everything was fine, until they looked out the window and saw a bum come into town with a knapsack and all his worldly belongings on his back. He was holding a sign that read, “I will work for food.”
All of the people in the restaurant looked out the window and said, “What is this? This man is up to no good. We ought to call the sheriff. After all, he does not belong here.”
They sat around and even the ones who were members of a church group sat there, and the conversation shifted 100% to judging this man that they didn’t even know, who was outside the window in the town square.
Just last Sunday, the preacher had talked about judging. Richard decided maybe the preacher was right. As he went out of the restaurant and got into his car, he had a nagging feeling.
“Have you ever had God give you a nagging feeling that you should do something?
“The minister said if we would just look into people a bit more, if we would question in our own minds, we would find something to love, if we took the time. The minister said so often we have a file cabinet up here (point to mind) and it is a file cabinet of gray mass. We find someone and we form a judgment. We do not just shut the file; we put Crazy Glue around the edge and make sure it is sealed tight. We then put it in our file cabinet with our sealed judgment, the sealed fate of that person. We close it, lock it, put a padlock on it, put Crazy Glue around the outside, and then we bury it deep in the recesses of our own minds.”
Richard decided he was going to go beyond what he had done all his life. He went over and talked to this stranger. He was hesitant because he still judged the man. He thought perhaps this man would harm him. He found the man where he was standing on the stone steps of the church on the town square. He talked to the gentleman. He said, “Are you looking for the pastor?”
The man said, “No, not really, just resting for a moment.”
Richard said, “Have you eaten, today?”
The Man said, “Oh yes, I ate something this morning.”
Richard said, “Would you like to have lunch with me?”
The man said, “Do you have some work for me to do? I would be glad to work for my lunch. I’ll do anything.”
“No work,” Richard replied. “Just come with me. I would like to get to know you.” So they went together into the restaurant where the people had judged this man so harshly just a few minutes before. They sat down at a table and it was as if every ear was listening to the conversation to see if they could find out what this stranger was about.
They listened as he was questioned. “Where are you headed?”
“St. Louis,” was the answer.
“Where are you from?”
“Oh, all over, but mainly from Florida.”
“How long have you been walking?”
Everyone in the restaurant listened. “Fourteen years,” was the answer.
Richard sat there and stared at the man. He realized he had met someone very special. Someone he did not expect to meet; someone his eyes had not told him about.
Then the man unbuttoned his coat and on his red tee-shirt was printed, “God the never-ending story.”
Daniel’s story began to unfold. He told about how he had been walking for 14 years for God, and how he had stopped in Daytona Beach 14 years earlier. He was a drunk, a drug addict, and an outcast of society. He saw some people raising a tent. He thought it was a circus, so he went over and said, “Can I have some work?”
They said, “Sure. We’ll put you to work.”
It ended up being a tent revival. During the evenings, he would listen. He wouldn’t want to, but he would listen, anyway. He listened and started to realize his life wasn’t working.
He decided to give his will over to God. He became a new man.
He said, “God what do you want me to do with my life?”
God said, “Keep walking. Keep walking and find people to help. Say an encouraging word. Give them a Bible.”
He concluded, “That is my story.”
As the entire restaurant listened, they were quite shocked by the incredible, articulate eloquence that flowed out of the man’s mouth and the wisdom and deepness of his soul. They also noticed beyond what their eyes told them in the beginning. There was energy coming from this man. It was a love that just filled the whole place that everyone could sense. They wanted to be close to this man.
So they ate lunch and the whole restaurant enjoyed his company. Then the question was asked where he was going now. He said he had been told in his prayer it was time to go to St. Louis. Someone there needs a Bible. He will meet them on the road because God will arrange the meeting.
Richard said to the man, “Would you like a Bible to add to your backpack? I’ll get you a Bible if you would like.”
The man said, “That would be very nice. I can always use an extra Bible.”
They went into a bookstore and found just the small type of Bible that the man liked to carry and give away. Then the time came for the man to depart. They stood there on the town square and it had started to rain.
Richard realized his life had been profoundly changed in the two-hour time. There was a presence that radiated from this man and the mission he realized, sensed, and loved. He said to the man, “How long has it been since anyone gave you a hug?”
The man said, “It has been a long time.”
Richard said, “Would you be threatened if I hugged you?” They embraced on the town square like brothers departing.
The man said, “I love you.”
Richard said, “I love you, too.”
As they were departing, the man turned around, waved, and said, “God bless you.”
Richard shouted, “God bless you, too.”
The man walked a little bit further, turned again, and said, “If you ever think of me, will you pray for me?”
Richard said, “Oh yes, I will. I promise.”
Richard went on to work and when he left work at 5 o’clock that evening, he noticed it was starting to get dark. He noticed there was a cold wave that had blown into town and there was a brisk breeze. He opened the car door and as he sat down in the seat and moved it back, he looked down at the emergency brake to release it, and he noticed two old worn work gloves in his car. He thought about how cold it was and he hoped the man could keep his hands warm some way.
Then he realized this was a prize gift. He thought, “If I found something of this man or about this man, every time I look at it, I will pray for him.” That was 23 years ago. Richard now keeps those gloves on his desk. Every time he sees those gloves, he will remember about the touch of one person and what it does in a person’s life. And also, something much more important: it is a reminder to him, and it is his active prayer that he will never judge with a snap judgment again. He will give the benefit of the doubt to everyone. He will take the time to get to know someone and take the time to love them.
(Pause)
As you watch a magician saw a woman in a box in half, on stage, your eyes are telling you there is a woman who is being sawed in half. As you watch the magician put blades down in the box, all over and from all sides, your eyes tell you there is a woman who is being hurt, on stage, right in front of you.
The only reason you do not get up and rush to the stage in front of the thousands of people is that your mind is also telling you this is an illusion. You have a connection with your mind and your eyes. If your eyes were to rule, you’d be up there, on stage, saving that woman, no matter what it took.
Our mind is connected with our eyes, and we stay in our seats. We have to tell ourselves that no matter what, it looks like it is an illusion. Sometimes, when we make a snap judgment, we need to have that connection with our eyes and our mind, so we can constantly tell ourselves this may be what it looks like, but this is not true. Take time to discover the truth in this.
For centuries, we believed the earth revolved around the sun because that is the way it looked to our eyes. We had to have proof as a society that this was not the case. We stand still and everything revolves around us, yet to our eyes, it looks quite different. To societies, through eons of time, it looks different.
When we realize this, we realize most of our world is not visible to our eyes, audible to our ears, or to our touch. The fact is most of the universe exists not in a three-dimensional world but exists way beyond our physical senses. This is exactly where the things that matter most in your own life exist in your spiritual journey on this dawn of a new day.
I am going to ask you a question. Where is kindness? Is it there on the town square? Is it right here in front of you, on the stage? No. It is not in a three-dimensional world. Where is the love in your life? It is beyond the three dimensions. Where is God? It is beyond our three-dimensional world. Everything that matters is beyond what we can see and what we can touch. The real magic in your life is invisible to you. We just have to be brave enough to find it. So often, when we judge another person, it is like setting the margins on a word program. Sometimes we set them in very close. When we do that, it is like blinders on a horse. We can only see what we choose to see, even if it is seen wrongly and we cannot expand our view to see the real view of the person.
Your lower human mind can be like a bad neighborhood. You should never go in there by yourself. Call God to go in with you. This is the area where we can hate, and we can kill. We kill people with ideas inside of our minds. We write them off and seal the file once and for all. It should not be that way. As God’s children, we should open up the file and let it breathe in the light of day.
Today, as a society, we are still judging even though our foundations dictate that we are innocent until proven guilty. We have trial by media. We are all part of the jury, and we shout our verdict across the screen as if they could hear us. We have Court TV, and we sit there and say this person is guilty, and this person is innocent. We have the TV talk shows where the whole audience is the jury. They are shouting at the person, “You’re wrong!” I have even seen fights in the audience between two people who thought they each were right.
I wish we were as fascinated in a positive way with our own lives, as we are with the lives of those who are in the media. One of the big ways that we judge ourselves is this way. We judge ourselves as a critic. We constantly talk to ourselves and say, “No, because you did that I am going to seal your file, forever.” It is true. I have seen many people do it.
It is like people that slow to see an accident. Even though they are revolted by the appearances, they cannot help themselves but be attracted to it.
Instead of being a critic, we need to become a coach. Say, “Now, you may have not done that correctly, but you can do better next time. If you go with God, everything is going to be OK.” In others’ lives, we become a judge by becoming a whiner, sniper, and manipulator.
In the Bible, Matthew 7:1-2, Jesus is speaking. “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment, you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.”
We know God is love. God is not sitting here with a tally sheet on you. God is loving you. So, what judged you in the moment? When you judge another, you say more about you than you do about the person you judge.
Who was really judged, the people in the restaurant or the man in the town square? It was not the man in the town square; it was their concept of the man in the town square, and that was completely different from him, because they did not know him. They had not taken the time to know him, yet they knew themselves and they voiced that knowledge. Instead of becoming the light of the world, they became the darkness in the moment.
Jesus continues talking: “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 neighbors eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)
This is saying the same thing. It is saying the problem is with the one who judges, not the one being judged. When you are not using righteous judgment, you have not taken the time; you have just come to a fast conclusion.
A special speaker came to a church; he stumbled all over himself in his talk. His thoughts were disconnected. It just was not a great lesson. One of the members said, “I don’t think this man should have been allowed to talk to us. I think it is a disgrace that our time was taken for this man to talk to us. This is terrible and I am going to complain. I am going to the powers that be and I am going to say, ‘Don’t you bring us any person like this anymore, because this was just a lousy talk.'” He said this in the hallway so everyone could hear him voice his judgment, his opinion, and what he was going to do to fix the man and the situation.
He was then told, gently and with love, “This man cared so much for us that he came in to speak, even thought that very morning he had been told his son had been killed in a traffic accident. He cared so much for us and he had so much love for us that he wanted to be there, even if he could hardly even stand up. He wanted to be there and to give to us.”
That changed that man’s life, forever away from false judgments. He said, “From now on, I am going to know the facts. “I am going to know what I am talking about, before anything comes out of this mouth; and hopefully, before any opinion forms in my mind.”
It has been said, “What you do not see correctly with your eyes, don’t invent with your mouth.”
Another old saying is, “There is no need to burn down the barn to kill some fleas.” Many times, we have just a few things we do not like about a person and then we just set fire to the entire concept.
As children, we judge everything to be our parent’s fault. We blame it on our parents. Later in life, we blame it on others. It is their fault. Yet, it goes back to Jesus Christ’s words about the judging person taking responsibility. We have to look in the mirror and say, “Wait a minute, I am going to take the log out of my eye so I can see clearly.”
A critic is someone who thinks they know the way, but can’t drive the car.
You have seen signs and license plates reading, “God first.” I have seen this statement various times in several states. I suppose that is the core of our belief, putting God first, but what does it mean to put God first? How do you actually do it? Put love first, because God is love. Religion is not just a Sunday morning thing, as good as that is, we must move beyond just church-iality, to personal spirituality.
Spirituality is something you have to have within you, every moment of the day. You have to have it with you in the restaurant on the town square. You have to look out the window and put God first, instead of putting your lower human mind first. You think, “You know, even though I don’t know you, stranger, I love you.” Everything changes and life becomes bliss. That person out there in the town square has no idea you have changed your concept of them, but you know, because you have changed.
You have found a spiritual secret to happiness.
For those judgments you have made in the past, here is what I am going to ask you to do: visualize, in prayer, the opposite of the judgment. In other words, open the file, even if you have to get a strong glue remover. You know the ones you have judged in the past. I am asking you to be brave enough to walk the walk, talk the talk, and to take action. Open up these files and look again. This time, instead of saying, “I was right,” say to yourself, “No, this is not the way it is and I am going to visualize the opposite.” What if you say that to yourself and then you see yourself making the absolute right judgment?
Remember, God first. You are agreeing to go the extra mile and with God’s help, with God’s teamwork, with God’s partnership, you are going to love this person. The higher your opinions of others – the higher your opinion of yourself.
Join me in a closing prayer.
Let us pray:
Today, dear God, I ask for Your help. I know I am under Your law of Divine justice. Your law of Divine judgment always works to perfectly equalize, to harmonize, and to establish equality and order for all.
I refuse any thought or belief that negates this truth. I hold firm to my faith in your power, God, and in Your justice. I have a deep and abiding feeling of peace and wellbeing. God, I am under Your law of Divine justice and everything in my life proves the working of this law. Thank you. I place You first, God. I place love first in my life.
Thank You, God.
In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.
God bless you!
PRAYER / MEDITATION____________________
This is the dawn of a new day in your spiritual life.
Like birds that sing to celebrate the break of day, we sing a song of praise as we celebrate this new dawn in spiritual consciousness. Our song is one of peace, prosperity, and love. It is a song of harmony, as we unite our hearts in this time of prayer.
Rest in the silence of prayer …
In Your loving presence, God, every moment is a new beginning. I am filled with Your life and Your love. Before each new dawn, the earth is peaceful and calm.
As I begin my prayer time, I, too, am peaceful and calm.
This is my quiet time. It is a time to regenerate and reflect. It is my time to relax and to experience the dawn of a new peacefully and joyously day in spirit, a new day in faith.
I take a deep breath and I release. I relax, aware of God’s sacred presence. I am peaceful, relaxed, and confident. I gently release the questions of my heart, trusting the answers I seek to be there. For God is there. God, You are the true light. I have faith in You, God, to gently guide me and those I care about.
Rest in the silence of prayer …
Right now, in prayer, I experience a new dawn, a greater understanding of my spirituality and myself. With this understanding comes a more attuned consciousness, a heightened spirituality, and a greater realization of Your direction in my life, dear God.
There is a new awakening in my mind and my body to the powerful, healing light of God. I acknowledge God’s healing presence and I look forward to the dawning of greater energy, strength, and vitality. The healing light of God is working in every area of my body temple, strengthening the tissues and the organs, and renewing and restoring each one.
I ask you to relax in this experience of the healing power of God.
Rest in the silence of prayer …
As we bring this sacred time to a close, I pray we are beginning to experience a new dawn and a new awareness in our spirituality. As the day dawns, once again in each of our hearts, we celebrate the light that fills us and fills our world.
God’s complete and perfect illumination surrounds each of us; the umbrella of God’s pure love covers us; God’s power protects us and leads us from harm; the presence of God watches over us, every moment of the day and the night. We are in God, and God is in us – And ALL is well!
In the name, and through the power, of Jesus Christ, we pray … Amen.
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