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And He spoke a parable to them: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.
"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."
- Luke 6:39-49
Currently, we are reading through Jesus' Sermon on the Plain in Luke's Gospel. On Saturday, we read that He preached, "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." See the earlier part of the Sermon in Friday's reading.
And He spoke a parable to them: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." My study bible says that "Christ does not judge anyone (John 8:15, 12:47). Therefore, 'if the Teacher does not judge, neither must the disciple, for the disciple is guilty of worse sins than those for which he judges others' (Cyril of Alexandria)."
"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye." This seems to be a very wise saying about what we are to be concerned with. Jesus seems to be saying that there are certain things that are our business, and other things that aren't our business -- judging others is really not our business. But dealing with our own problems is quite another story. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gives a recipe for Church discipline (see Matthew 18:15-20). It lays out a framework for complaints by an offended party, and a gradual expansion of the complaint if it is not resolved at more personal levels. But it seems to me that if discipline includes constructive criticism in Jesus' plan, then there is room for a discipline in the Church wherein a more experienced believer may help "remove the speck" in the eyes of others. But the wisdom here is that this is only possible via someone who has struggled with their own flaws -- and greater flaws than the ones they see in others. He doesn't tell us not to help "remove the speck" but there's clearly a law at work here about healing ourselves, facing our flaws and imperfections and the spiritual struggle that we must go through first if we are to be able to assist others. Otherwise the plank in our own eye leaves us blind. There's also a powerful assertion here that none of us is without flaw, without our own problems which are our business to face and struggle with in a proper way. And this is our ongoing work in faith. This is part of the discipline of the teacher to which Jesus referred earlier.
"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Why do we struggle in our faith to deal with our own blindness and other flaws? Because of the "good treasure" we must have within ourselves in order to bring out what is of true value into the world to others. Jesus is giving us a warning about the importance of taking care of "our own business," so to speak. Again, discipleship involves dealing with our own flaws and shortcomings, ways of thinking that need changing, in faith, with Him.
"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great." My study bible says, "Hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24)."
The pursuit of spiritual discipline constitutes a great and long history of the Church and its frameworks and institutions, to say the least. In the early years of Christianity, hermits and other individuals ventured out into the desert places in order to experience the kind of struggle similar to Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. There is a long, long tradition of reliance upon God, and facing one's own "demons" and temptations, stretching back longer than the history of Christianity. These desert monks eventually went on to begin to form and shape the first monasteries and monastic rules and orders. Through the centuries of Christianity, monasticism has formed and shaped itself in a variety of ways, and continues to do so, but is still rooted in the Desert Fathers and Mothers. (Many of their sayings have been collected and are easily available in popular books; here's a web page with some samples.) These men and women went out into the deserts to focus solely and completely on the spiritual life they felt Christ led us to -- on the challenge of becoming true disciples, and dealing with the "planks in their own eye(s)." Their emphasis on humility is exemplary. Most of us do not have such a capacity for this type of devotion -- we have other responsibilities and other lives to live. But there is one great story from the desert tradition, of a monk who feels himself to have become very holy indeed, filled with the virtues of humility. He's told by his abbot that the abbot knows of a man more holy than the monk. They walk out of the desert and into a big crowded city, full of the temptations and distractions of city life. Finally, they come to a cobbler's shop, where a man is inside, working at his trade of making and repairing shoes. (And we understand this to be considered a lowly occupation, as "shaking the dust" off of the soles of shoes was an insult.) But as the man worked, he continually sang what is known as the Trisagion or Thrice-Holy Hymn ("Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal"). And with this joy he lived his life, did his work, and lived among the world inside a bustling city. The abbot said to the monk, "This man is holier than you are." It's a great lesson and expansion on Jesus' saying about the plank in our own eye. And the point to being like our Teacher as much as possible is to be united with the Teacher, close to the Teacher. To do that, we must be like Him, and consider the same things He taught to be the most important guideposts to the ways in which we will live our lives. It doesn't matter where we are or what we do; it's the closer walk in discipleship and our desire for that which truly counts. Are we prepared to live out what He teaches? Do we actually do what He says? Let us consider the internal focus here, what it means to refrain from judging others but to desire wholeheartedly the type of humility that is required to deal with the planks in our own eyes, the things that keep us from truly seeing, His way. Let us consider that our prayers before God are those things we hope will always lead us in the right direction, to cast off the things we don't need, to hold fast to the true treasure in our hearts. His Way is love; in the end this is what we are to learn. We note also that humility isn't the same thing as pure self-denigration, any form of masochism. Humility before Love doesn't countenance that; what it does give us is true spiritual health; the discernment between the branches that must be discarded and the real good treasure of the heart.
