Judge Not!

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 7th of June, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

I have a guilty pleasure to admit: I really enjoy watching Judge Judy on TV.  Judge Judy Sheindlin is a no-nonsense, wise-cracking judicator of televised cases that are kind of similar to what you’d see in a small claims court.  She has a bailiff and, in the later version, a court recorder and an assistant, who happens to be her granddaughter.  And she really was a family judge before she retired.

It’s amusing and quite pleasing to watch her tear into the foolish people who come before her with claims or defenses that are utterly outlandish.  One of her favorite sayings in such instances is, “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.”  But she is an entirely impartial judge, listening attentively to both sides, asking succinct, probing questions, and then rendering a well-reasoned and explained verdict, often providing heartfelt counseling to one or both of the parties.  In other words, she does what a judge is supposed to do in matters of human law.

I’ve mentioned before that the Apostle Paul wanted to visit the church in Rome, but never got around to it.  Reading between the lines of his opening letter to the church, it is apparent that this is not one he started.  But he was anxious to go see them, so he opened his letter with an introduction and a prayer.  And then he delivered a powerful lecture on how all people do wrong in the sight of God.

In our scripture reading this morning, Paul continues this message by noting that many people who consider themselves good are also doing wrong.  Please listen and follow along to the Apostle Paul’s directive in the first 11 verses of the 2nd chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, and I’ll be reading from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 So do you think that you can judge those other people? You are wrong. You too are guilty of sin. You judge them, but you do the same things they do. So when you judge them, you are really condemning yourself. 2 God judges all who do such things, and we know His judgment is right. 3 And since you do the same things as those people you judge, surely you understand that God will punish you too. How could you think you would be able to escape His judgment? 4 God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of His kindness. Maybe you don’t understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives.

5 But you are so stubborn! You refuse to change. So you are making your own punishment greater and greater. You will be punished on the day when God will show His anger. On that day everyone will see how right God is to judge people. 6 He will reward or punish everyone for what they have done. 7 Some people live for God’s glory, for honor, and for life that cannot be destroyed. They live for those things by always continuing to do good. God will give eternal life to them. 8 But others are selfish and refuse to follow truth. They follow evil. God will show His anger and punish them. 9 He will give trouble and suffering to everyone who does evil — to the Jews first and also to those who are not Jews. 10 But He will give glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does good — to the Jews first and also to those who are not Jews. 11 God judges everyone the same. It doesn’t matter who they are.

--Romans 2:1-11 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for all the instructions for righteous living contained in our bible.  Father, we know we should be more diligent in following those instructions.  And we know we don’t always do so.  So we thank You all the more for still loving us even when we disappoint You.  Please help us be more faithful in following Your word and showing Your love to others.  Remind us that it our job to love others, not to judge them.  Help us be more like Your Son Jesus in our walk through this life.  This we pray in the beautiful name of our Lord Jesus.   Amen.

In his book, Christianity Today, Stephen Brown wrote:  “It was F.B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know:  First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin.  And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her.  We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.”

At a pastor's conference in Spokane, WA, Chuck Swindoll told of being at a California Christian camp. The first day there a man approached him and said how greatly he had looked forward to hearing Dr. Swindoll speak and his delight at now finally being able to realize that desire. That evening Swindoll noticed the man sitting near the front. But only a few minutes into the message the man was sound asleep. Swindoll thought to himself that perhaps he was tired after a long day's drive and couldn't help himself. But the same thing happened the next few nights, and Dr. Swindoll found his exasperation with the man growing. On the last night the man's wife came up and apologized for her husband's inattention to the messages. She then explained that he had recently been diagnosed as having terminal cancer and the medication he was taking to ease the pain made him extremely sleepy. But it had been one of his life-long ambitions to hear Dr. Swindoll speak before he died, and now he had fulfilled that goal.

It's easy to judge someone when we don't agree with them.  It's easy to judge someone when we don’t like their actions or words, when they make us angry.  It's easy to jump to conclusions when we're unaware of their circumstances.  We should probably be careful not to hurt ourselves when we make that jump.

Paul opens our passage this morning with the rather sarcastic question, "So do you think that you can judge those other people?"  When he says "those other people", he means all the sinners he discussed in the first chapter, all those who disobeyed and rebelled against God.  In other words, all human beings.  In the third chapter, Paul will clearly and specifically state that all people sin - all people.  But he also addresses this here, when he points out that, "You too are guilty of sin."  Which, of course, refers to anyone reading or hearing his words, including us today.  We are guilty of the same things we judge other people of, in one way or another.  We have an expression for that: it's the pot calling the kettle black.

OK, so no, we're not murderers.  But Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, said that getting mad at someone is the same as murdering them.  Who among us has never been angry with someone else?  We need to remember that any sin is disobedience to God's word, and we have all been disobedient at some time or another.

Then there's the scary statement: God judges all people who disobey Him, and that includes us as well.  If we weren't so stubborn, we could change and be obedient if we truly realized how good and kind God is to us, how quickly He is willing to forgive us and give us another chance to do right.  Nonetheless, we will be judged, we will be punished just as will those who we judge.  For God judges everyone the same.  It doesn't matter who they are.

Now Paul was merely reinforcing what Jesus had already said about judging other.  Please hear what Jesus had to say about this in what we call His Sermon on the Plain, as saved for us by the Apostle Luke in verses 36 through 38 of the 6th chapter of his Gospel account…

36 “Give love and mercy the same as your Father gives love and mercy.

37 “Don’t judge others, and God will not judge you. Don’t condemn others, and you will not be condemned. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give to others, and you will receive. You will be given much. It will be poured into your hands — more than you can hold. You will be given so much that it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you.”

--Luke 6:36-38 (ERV)

If God didn't love us and have mercy on us, we would die in our sin and suffer eternal damnation and torment.  But He does love us, and He showed His love by sending His Son to redeem us.  And all we have to do is repent and follow Jesus.

If we don't judge others, God will not judge us.  If we don't condemn others for what we see as their sinful ways, God won't condemn us for our sinful ways.  If we forgive others, we will be forgiven.

The things is, we don't need to judge or condemn anyone else.  Jesus says they judge themselves, then condemn themselves by their own actions and words.  We just need to forgive others and show mercy.  For what we give will be given us, what we show will be shown us, and more.

Don't judge, don't condemn, just forgive.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for loving us and having mercy on us, even when we sin.  We have this bad habit of judging others for the things they do, when we do the same things ourselves.  We jump to conclusions without giving the benefit of a doubt.  And then we wonder why You don’t punish them right there on the spot.  Thank You, Father, for having mercy on us, even when we aren’t very merciful, for forgiving us when we are less than forgiving.  Father, we know we are guilty of sin.  We know we disobey You.  Please help us remember that any time we point a finger at someone else, there are four other fingers of our own hand pointing right at us.  Help us be more merciful in our dealings with others, less judgmental, more forgiving.  Remind us of what You expect of us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for taking our sin upon Yourself.  Thank You for seeing our disobedience but loving us anyway.  And thank You for offering us Living Water and eternal life if we only believe in and follow You.  But Lord, we can be a stubborn people, refusing to show mercy to all, hesitating to forgive.  Sometimes we jump to conclusions, giving no benefit of a doubt.  Please help us remember that we have our own sins to deal with so we don’t need to worry about the sins of anyone else.  Please help us love as You love: selflessly, unconditionally, sacrificially.  Help us show Your love and God’s love as we reach out to others, sharing Your words and Your works, telling them all about You.  Help us carry out the mission You gave us, seeking the lost sheep and leading them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.