6:37
This is one of the most abused verses in the Bible, often used to say that we should never say that someone has done something wrong, or that some types of behaviour or lifestyles are wrong. This is not what Jesus is saying. Indeed the sermon itself contains approval and disapproval of various attitudes and actions, as does the whole of the New Testament and Bible. So what does it mean? It means that we cannot judge how bad a person is, and cannot consider someone else better or worse than ourselves. And we must not condemn others, ie completely write them off. For if person X is a write off, then so are you and I. None of us is worthy on our own merits, and no one is beyond redemption by the blood of Jesus. We are to have an attitude of forgiveness, and forgiveness requires recognising that something is wrong, otherwise there is nothing to forgive!
6:38
We are to have a generous attitude in all manner of ways. We are to forgive others, we are to give generously to others. Now if we give in order to get then we have lost the plot and do not understand the heart of God, but the Old Testament has several verses that say if we are generous towards others we will be better off. We need to understand how God’s “economy” works, and to understand the heart of God. Our God is a God who delights to give, so we should be people who delight to give. The world tells us that we need to look after ourselves above all else if we want to be rich and to get on. Jesus tells us that we need to look after others and that God will provide richly for us. This is no guarantee of material wealth in this world, there are many poor Christians in the world, and sometimes we will suffer for Christ’s sake. But we need to live as people who know that God is our source of well-being.
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