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 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 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus is giving what is known as the Sermon on the Plain (starting with Friday's reading).  The content is similar to that in the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 5 - 7), as undoubtedly Jesus preached His gospel in many places.  On Saturday, we read that He taught, "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." 

 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."  My study Bible notes here that Christ does not judge anyone (John 8:15, 12:47).  So, says St. Cyril of Alexandria in a commentary on this passage, "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."    There is clear encouragement toward discipleship here; that through discipline and practice, we are called to better things, even to change ourselves -- to make the tree "good" and therefore to produce good fruit.  He disparages hypocrisy, and says that we can and must do something about it.  If we can remove the plank from our own eye, we can remove from the heart that which does not bring out good.  And this He calls us to do.

 

 "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 comments that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (James 2:24).  Again, as above, let us note the emphasis Jesus places on doing, exhorting us to put our effort into living the gospel.  Indeed, the warning here is that if we do not do so, we risk ruin.

In today's reading, Jesus exhorts us to realize our capacity for change, for transformation.  If we look back on His Sermon on the Plain, we see His plea for us to realize a type of freedom in our capacity to choose not just what we do, but how we will think, what our habits will be.  In Saturday's reading, He taught, "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," and He goes on to give many examples of such behavior.  He encourages us to think beyond our immediate reflexes, not to simply imitate the world, but to have the capacity for choice, always ready to do the "better" thing.  This is a deep emphasis on freedom, the opposite of slavery.  In today's reading, He again emphasizes that we are not simply slaves to our impulses, to the ways that others have treated us, to the things we learn from the world.  He calls us, in fact, to be quite different from that, and to exercise the powers we have for choice, even if it is to change what we are inside.  There are a lot of people who question even the capacity for change, who will tell you they are just born a certain way, or who will make excuses even for abusive habits that harm others, for the inability to learn to deal with behavior that simply acts out something destructive, like anger.  But even if we were born into a life in which we have faced abuse, or the "language" of anger surrounded us as children, we still have choices -- and this is the depth of assertion that underlies Christ's teachings here.  We might be used to constant criticism, or we're surrounded by people (perhaps on social media) where constant criticism, and attacks upon those whom we don't like, are the fare of the day.  But what Jesus calls us out on is our hypocrisy.  Do you think someone else is abusive and hateful?  Try looking into your own mirror, finding the "plank" in your own eye that blinds you to yourself and your own behavior.  Even if criticism is helpful, it really isn't helpful unless it's from someone who has been there and done that, and and dealt with their own issues on the subject already.  He expects His disciples to struggle with their own impulses and toxic behaviors -- because that's really the one way you can best "see" to help others do the same.  Jesus teaches us, "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."  What does that mean exactly, how shall we take it?  We're the "trees," and it's our job to think about the dead branches in us that produce nothing; that is, the bad habits that produce toxic or harmful effects, the dead ends that go nowhere and create nothing good -- of the kind of lasting value that He wants from us.  He tells us that "every tree is known by its own fruit," and that "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."   When He speaks of the heart, He speaks about the depths within us, the center of who we are.  He's asserting that we can thread out the impulses that cause harm, and in so doing we will build our own capacity for doing good -- especially in the things that we say to others.  It depends upon which is our treasure -- that out of that particular abundance our mouth will speak to others.  How many people today have this consciousness of self-discipline?  Jesus encourages compassion at all times -- even when criticism is seen as a good and instructive thing, it is only certain to be so if it's done with the compassion that comes from having gone through the same struggle, correcting our own bad habits that we can see in others.  To love one's enemies is to see them as human beings, even when they are causing harm to us.  This is a very tall order, and yet Christ confidently asserts that this is what He wants of us, clearly asserting that we are capable of such.  He returns to the emphasis on what we say to others, encouraging us to an inner change that will have an effect on what comes out of our mouths, what we produce with our lives.  Finally, there is the assertion that all of this is of such importance that it is something more than simply elective on our part.  Unless we build the houses of our lives upon the foundation of His teachings, He assures us of ruin.  For it is His way only that is certain, that will stand us in good stead when the storms of life come, that will help us to endure -- for we've built ourselves up upon a sure thing, and not an abstract fantasy.  Ultimately, everything in Christ's teachings leads us back to love -- and specifically the love He teaches, that comes from Him, that is rooted in God.  For this is the foundation for our capacity for compassion, for compassion for the changes we need to make, resting assured that we do so embraced not by condemnation, but by the love of God and God's compassion and mercy for us.  It is this that is the foundation for a sure life, the one thing that will remain when life can challenge everything else.  We need the flexibility to change in His way, to adapt to life by following where His love leads, and to let go of what doesn't work and what ends in futility.  He teaches that we have the freedom and the capacity to do so -- and that the one thing necessary is to rest within the trust of His love to guide us through.  Let the world hate; we are guided by a different spirit, and we take confidence that we can grow in His better way.  We have good things to build up, that the world needs as well as those whom we love and who depend upon us.  Let's not waste time on anything less, for we build our house on His rock of  faith.  Even when the world seems to be filled with the blind who lead the blind, we are still called to see by His light, and to live by His currency of love.  In his great discourse on love (1 Corinthians 13), St. Paul tells us, "Love never fails," and that it is the completeness of love which we await.  St. Paul writes, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."  This is the rock upon which Christ asks us to build our lives.