Preaching January 2023 (James 4:11-12)

January 23^rd Evening Prayer

Topic: James 4:11-12

Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor?

When we place ourselves as equals to the law or being above the law, we judge unjustly, and it is sinful. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge.

To demonstrate, here’s a story of St. Moses the Black, from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers[1]: “One of the monks at Scetis had faltered in his vows, and a council was put together to determine his punishment.  Moses was summoned to take part, but he refused to go.  When asked again, Moses consented to attend, but as he set out, he picked up a basket and tore a hole in the bottom.  Filling the basket with sand and slinging it over his shoulder, he began the walk, and the sand trailed out behind him.  As he approached his destination, a group of monks came out to meet him, and seeing the trickling sand, asked, ‘What is this, Father?’  Moses replied, ‘I carry behind me my many sins where I cannot see them, and I come to judge the errors of another.’  On hearing this and understanding the symbol, the monks promptly forgave their brother and repented of their own sins as well.”

We know that God’s ways are not the world’s ways. Unfortunately, most of our culture have been brainwashed by its message of feel-good self-justification that contributes to a culture of resentment. So, we hold grudges. We have self-righteous anger. We lash out. We cancel. We judge wrongly. As I used to tell my son when he was 5 or 6, if you’ve got a finger pointing out in blame, you’ve got three more pointing back at you.

One way we judge wrongly as sinful humans is judging by suspicion. St. Thomas Aquinas concludes that it is unlawful to judge from suspicion in 3 ways, I’ll mention 2 for time’s sake: First, it’s sinful for a man to judge from suspicion because, “he is being evil in himself, and from this very fact, as though conscious of his own wickedness, he is prone to think evil of others[2].” For example, I would be doing this if I struggle with a certain vice, like gluttony, so I project it onto every other person and assume they are gluttonous. Secondly, it’s sinful for a man to, “judge from suspicion when the man is ill-disposed towards another: for when a man hates or despises another or is angry with or envious of another,” how could he ever make a correct judgment?

The wisdom of the Desert Fathers and St. Thomas Aquinas makes many more distinctions about judging in general, but to summarize a few points:

YOU JUDGE SOMEONE WRONGLY WHEN:

1. You criticize him out of jealousy, bitterness, selfish ambition or some other sin, rather than seek to build him in Christ.

2. When you assume you know all of the pertinent facts and motives behind the person’s words or actions.

3. When you do not first judge you own sin before trying to help him with his sin.

4. Lastly, when out of a self-righteous spirit, you criticize or malign him.

IT IS NOT JUDGING SOMEONE:

1. To be discerning with regards to his character or teaching.

2. To speak to him (and if necessary, to others) about sin or false teaching.

3. To evaluate spiritual maturity or doctrinal views for their service in the church.

Now, let’s flip it around. What happens when we will be inevitably judged for living out our Catholic faith against the secular tide of the modern world? We must not give into resentment and bitterness. Resentment hurts our spirit in such a way that it cuts off our ability to be charitable. Therefore, we must ask God to save us from being angry. Ask Him to help us show those who judge us with the same joy, patience, charity and pity that we would grant a sick friend. We can’t treat sick people in an uncharitable fashion. We are all sick with Sin. We are all in need of the Great Physician. Like Moses the Black demonstrates for us, our bags have the potential to leak sand behind us too.

Finally, if Christ could endure insults, spitting, mocking, beatings, and crucifixion for us, can’t we endure an occasional unjustified insult for Him? We must endure this as a way of crucifying our pride and self-inflated egos. We have to remove the plank from our own eye first and die to self, then in rising with Christ in the resurrection, we will be able to properly fulfill justice and give to others what is their due.

[1] Translated [from the Greek] by Benedicta Ward ; foreword by Metropolitan Anthony. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: the Alphabetical Collection. London : Kalamazoo, Mich. :A. R. Mowbray ; Cistercian Publications, 1975.

[2] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1911-1925), online edition 2017, IIa-IIae, q. 60, arts 3-4.