Blind Spots

We all think that we understand what's going on, don't we? And we make judgments based on what we THINK that we know. The trouble is that we don't know as much as we think we do, and that's part of the reason that Jesus tells us not to judge people. This sermon discusses some of that judging that Jesus warns us against.

I drive a lot during my daily activities, all along the I-75 corridor from Sidney to south Dayton. Much of that driving is on the interstate. I-75 is fast, convenient, and gets me where I need to go. It is also fairly safe, considering the thousands of cars that travel I-75 on a daily basis. I am very aware, though, that the accidents that do happen can be deadly; so I try to be a safe driver. But I know that my car has a blind spot; and so does almost every other car on the road. If a car happens to be cruising in my blind spot, I can’t see it. I sometimes start to change lanes, only to hear a loud “honk” at my side. Yeah, the adrenaline really flows then! I do my best to drive my car safely, but I try my best never to forget that I have a blind spot.

Our lives have blind spots, too. Jesus calls them “logs in our eyes.” They’re things that we can’t see because we simply don’t have enough knowledge about them. And we don’t even know that those blind spots are there! Here’s an example that we can all relate to. You need a to replace your car, and you decide to buy a used one. What kind of information do you need to make a good decision about your purchase? Price, of course, and style. You sit in it to find out if the driver’s seat is comfortable. Then you look around you. Is the visibility good? Does the car have enough interior room? Does it have a convenient cup holder and a good sound system? (I always need that information!) OK, price is good, style is good, and everything else checks out. So you buy that used car. Later, you discover that it was once in a bad accident and the frame was permanently damaged. Oops! You didn’t know about its driving history! Your decision, the one that you made to the very best of your ability, wasn’t such a good one after all; because you had a blind spot.

We all have blind spots! Every one of us makes judgments without having all the information that we need; and we do it all the time. Whether it’s buying a new car or choosing a breakfast cereal or deciding which candidate to vote for in the midterm election, we all have blind spots when we make decisions! Unfortunately, we usually discover our blind spots when it’s too late to change anything. How many times have we said, “I’ll never do that again!” Experience teaches us not only to recognize our blind spots, but also to take action so that those spots aren’t so blind in the future!

Blind spots are especially troublesome when we’re making judgments about other people. That’s what Jesus was talking about when he told us to pay attention to the logs in our own eyes before trying to help other people to get the specks out of theirs! We are so quick to judge other people’s character and behavior, sometimes for the smallest things; but we seldom realize that we are looking at those people through our own log-obstructed glasses. Look, here’s what I’m talking about. Have you ever made any judgments like these? A speeding car comes up behind you on the interstate and cuts you off with just inches to spare. What a jerk! The woman next to you in the grocery store checkout line is using food stamps to purchase chocolate cake and soda pop. I’ll bet that she’s a welfare cheat! And when you’re renewing your driver’s license, the woman at the License Bureau is so rude to you that you consider calling her boss and complaining. What a grumpy old witch!

Sure, you’ve made judgements like those; we all have! But let’s take another look at those situations and add just a little bit more information to each one of them. It’s true that the man driving the speeding car is driving recklessly. The reason is that he is trying to reach the emergency room to be with his wife. She suffered a sudden heart attack just about a half hour ago, and the doctor isn’t sure that she’ll make it. Do you still think that he’s a jerk? The woman using the food stamps to purchase cake and soda is buying them so that the family can celebrate their daughter’s fifth birthday. A look at the rest of their shopping cart – generic corn flakes, plain white bread, and cans of corn and peas – tells you that they don’t buy extras very often. And that woman at the License Bureau who was so rude? She just found out that her office is closing in two weeks, and she won’t have a job after that. She is so worried about how she will care for her family that good customer service is the last thing on her mind!

There’s a lot that we don’t know, isn’t there? The logs that are in our eyes are huge, and the blind spots that they create are enormous. Not one of us can see clearly! The only one who has no blind spots is God. God is the only one who knows who we really are. God is the only one who knows how our experiences have formed us. God is the only one who really knows why we do what we do. And the good news of the gospel is that, because God has all that knowledge, God cuts us a break! The Bible calls that mercy. Because God knows everything about us, God understands why we do what we do. God understands that while we are free to make choices in our lives, we all too frequently behave the way we do because of what we have experienced. God understands all of that, and chooses not to condemn us for it, but to be merciful. Until we know as much about one another as God does, maybe we should show mercy to one another, too.

And if we want to stop judging one another, a good place to start is by taking a good, long look at the cross. Jesus hung on that cross because of the bad judgment of human beings who had logs in their eyes. The Pharisees mistakenly believed that Jesus was corrupting their faith and wanted to steal their power. The Romans mistakenly believed that Jesus wanted to start a political uprising. The crowds in Jerusalem mistakenly believed that it didn’t really matter whether Jesus lived or died. Every one of them was wrong! They all had blind spots that kept them from recognizing Jesus as God’s Messiah. During this year’s season of Lent, could we begin to sacrifice the snap judgments that we make about other people? Those judgments may be right – but usually they are very wrong. Let’s admit that we all have logs in our eyes; and let’s not give those logs the power to separate us from one another. Jesus went to the cross and rose on Easter morning so that we all might be one body! Let’s use that Easter power to be reconcilers and peacemakers! And my guess is that once we have gotten the logs out of our own eyes, we won’t even care about the speck in the eye of someone else.