"Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." -- Luke 6:37-38

As people, we love stories.  Whether books, movies, someone telling a story, a game... whatever... we love stories.  And good stories often pit a good guy against a bad guy-- a good person or group against a villain or evil force that threatens destruction-- something or someone that people can rally against together.  For the story to be good, the villain has to be really good-- that means really, really, bad.  And when you have a great villain, the audience is united.  We want more than anything to see that bad guy go down.  He doesn't deserve any mercy... and we want to see him hurt when the good guys take him... we want to see karma in action.

Caricatures are easy to get our heads around.  But in real life, we don't deal with caricatures.  We deal with people who are much more complex.  Jesus' instruction in this text is for us... not the bad guys, not the good guys... but us, who are a mixed bag of all of it.  And while we're complex creatures, the teaching is quite simple.  If you want to be one of the good guys, then don't judge or condemn.  Forgive and give.  Whatever measure of goodness you share, that will be the measure given back.  It's karma.  It's "what goes around comes around".  If you want a friend, then be a friend.  So simple... simple-sounding that is.

Readings:  Deuteronomy 2:1-3:29; Luke 6:12-38; Psalm 67:1-7; Proverbs 11:27