"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment  

you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be  

the measure you get." Matthew 7:1,2

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you are well and warm as I write this week's message with the beauty of the fallen snow piling up all around us. I am ready for spring, like many of you, but the beauty of today is breath taking.

Last Sunday was a very interesting worship experience for many of us as we used the prayers from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer - the prayer book that was used for over 100 years at St. David's. The language is beautiful for those of us brought up reading the King James Version of the Bible or who like Shakespeare, but like that kind of language or not, most of us were struck by the persistent drumbeat of judgment and grace in the prayers. Our forebears seemed to have a much greater interest or understanding of the judgment of God, how fall short we fall from God's plan for our lives, and the grace and mercy of our loving God who forgives us time and again.

We have less of that kind of language in our weekly prayers, though we do get more of a taste of it in this season of Lent. On the other hand, I notice that there's more and more language about judgment in our culture and in the way we talk about and treat others. We as a people are very quick to pass judgment on someone who has done something wrong, on someone who hurt us or wronged another, or who has a different way of approaching and living life than the life we are living. Some of it is justified and important for maintaining safe and good boundaries in our community. A lot of it, though, seems to be a justification or a prop that reinforces our personal views about life and living. Psychology has a lot to say about our need to compare ourselves to others as a way to build ourselves up. Sadly, it is a way of life that is often graceless and hurtful toward others.

Jesus is very clear about the issue of judgment. Jesus calls us to set aside our judgment, warning us that the measure we give is the measure we will receive from God and usually from others. For Jesus, judgment belongs to God and though we do have to judge between right and wrong for ourselves and for others, the graceless closing the door on others who fall short is not the Christian way. Rather, Jesus calls us to remember the forgiveness and grace we have received at God's hand and pass that forward to others - all others.

As we move toward the middle of this season of Lent when we are working on our lives with God, remember that God loves you and everyone as you and they are. God loves us enough not to leave us there, of course, but as we are works in progress so we need to remember that everyone else is a work in progress, too. Grace and forgiveness are God's gifts to us and through us to the world. Let's all lighten up on ourselves and others for God's sake and the sake of all.

Grace and Peace,