What You Don’t See Is As Important As What You Do See

1 Timothy 5:17-25

We find an apt description of the human condition in our epistle reading for today. “The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there. So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden” (1 Timothy 5:24-25). It would appear that the expression “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is correct, at least as far as the author of 1 Timothy is concerned. There are people who act with great kindness and generosity but who prefer to remain anonymous. Likewise we sometimes learn of a person’s misdeeds and are shocked by them. “He seemed like such a nice guy,” say the neighbors. “I never would have dreamed.”

But it all comes to light eventually, the good and the bad, the evil and the righteous. The wicked will be held accountable for their deeds, and those who bless others with their works will themselves be blessed by God. Yet while I strive to do good things and to be a help and comfort to others, I also realize how often I fall short of what God intends of me. And I’m not alone. We’re all pretty much like that. Perhaps the reason you can’t judge us by our covers is that the contents seem to change to one degree or another. So perhaps the real lesson of 1 Timothy 5 is that we should not be quick to judge one another. Yes, some sins are obvious. But human beings are complicated pieces of work and it may be that the guy that sins today is going to turn around tomorrow and do something noble and godly. And we may never know about it. (Remember Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin’s classic, in which Elizabeth Bennet is astonished to learn that Mr. Darcy is actually a decent human being after all?)

Ultimately God is better suited to judge us than we are to judge one another, because even the most “normal” of lives are nuanced, falling somewhere between the good things we wish to do and the bad things we fall into all too often.

Prayer: Lord, forgive our sins and help us to live with generosity and compassion all our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.