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Tuesday, March 21, 2017

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    Tuesday, March 21, 2017

    By Bryon Shaw | Lent - 2017 | 0 comment | 21 March, 2017 | 0

    “But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and

    never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat, so I could celebrate

    with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with

    prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him (Luke 15:29-30)!”

     

    The older brother’s sense of injustice and his anger have led him now into a very

    dark place, a place from which he now does something that is both understandable and

    appalling: He objectifies his own brother. Pay careful attention to the language here. “But

    when this son of yours who has squandered your property…” The older son does not call

    him “my brother,” which would still indicate personal connection and relationship, but

    instead calls him “your son.” He is now separated and distant, so that he cannot even

    rejoice at his brother’s return.

     

    The problem of objectification is everywhere. It’s what happens when our mental

    apparatus comes to think of any human being as though they were an ‘it’ rather than one

    created in the image of God. Lust accomplishes this. So does greed. But judgment may be

    the wicked form of objectifying there is. Rush to judgment (or move slowly to judgment)

    and you come to see a person only for their failures. Your mind will latch on to all that

    angers you, overlooking whatever positive qualities they may have. You place a frame

    around them that exposes only the muck and the sludge.

     

    This is why Jesus frequently warned his disciples, “Do not judge.” He repeated this

    command on many occasions and in many different ways. He warned about judgment in

    parables and in direct discourse. “Judge not, lest you also be judged.” It’s difficult to get

    more direct than that! Remember, there is tremendous liberty in letting go of the burden of

    judgment. Judgment is God’s work, not ours. As many people have reminded us, judgment

    is a burden far too great for any person to carry.

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