Judgment Day -- Sermon #8 on the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 7:15-23

“Judgment Day!” Don’t these words sound ominous? Perhaps suggesting the end is near, they create in us the urge to get our affairs in order, just in case. If Hollywood is any guide, judgment can take many forms. You might remember that the 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds caused a nationwide panic as people pondered their fate in the face of a Martian attack. Maybe you remember the 1980s TV miniseries entitled The Day After, which may not have caused a panic, but did reinforce our fear of nuclear annihilation during the height of the Cold War. Then there are the movies and miniseries about earthquakes, volcanoes, asteroids, climate change, and even a Mayan calendar, all themes that are suggestive of divine judgment. And if that’s not enough, when a war breaks out or a major disaster hits, the TV preachers announce that this is a sign of divine judgment. Yes, a certain amount of anxiety over our impending doom seems to continually ripple through our world – whether the cause is of divine or human origin.

When it comes to the issue of divine judgment, there are plenty of biblical texts to ponder. There are texts that speak of divine wrath, judgment, punishment, atonement and more. For those of us who affirm the principle that God is love, this can be a bit disconcerting. Even if we affirm that God is also a just God, all of these texts that deal with wrath and judgment can be a bit overwhelming. So what should we make of these words about judgment and justice?

In our text this morning, which is drawn once again from the Sermon on the Mount, we hear two different, but related words. The first speaks to the importance of discernment. Even if we’re not supposed to take up the job of being a judge over others, we must discern between good and evil, light and darkness. The second word speaks to divine judgment. This is a task that we dare not take up, for we’re not equipped to handle the job. But, Jesus seems to believe that we need to be aware of the judgment of God, and the basis upon which God makes this judgment.

1. The Fruit and the Trees

Although it might not be appropriate for us to be judges – unless we are without sin – that doesn’t mean we should be naive about the world in which we live. There is a place for discernment in the Christian life. As they say, don’t believe everything you hear (or read in an email). For instance, if someone from Nigeria sends you an email asking for you to send a $100 check in exchange for a million dollars, you might want to be just a bit skeptical. And if you get an email from a bank – especially if it’s not your bank, asking for your personal ID, you might want to hit the delete button. And if someone sends you an email suggesting the President was born in Kenya or Indonesia, you would be wise to ignore it as well.

As Jesus reminds us, we live in a world where vicious wolves like to dress up as sheep. Therefore, as he says in another place – “be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). In other words, don’t let yourself be taken for a fool.

The good news is that we can discern the difference between sheep and wolves, false prophets and prophets of God. Jesus says – look at the fruit of their lives. After all, good trees don’t produce bad fruit. So, don’t expect to find grapes growing on thorn bushes and thistles that produce figs. These are weeds that are destined for the fires.

When it comes to discerning the good fruit from the bad, we might want to use the Beatitudes as a guide – think of the kinds of people who grieve, are humble, merciful, peacemakers, and more. We might also look to Paul’s description of the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. On one hand there’s the flesh or our selfish desire, which lead to hate, violence, immorality, jealousy and drunkenness. On the other there is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against these signs of the kingdom, Paul says, there is no law (Gal. 5:16-26). If we attend to these qualities of life, then we’ll know the difference between light and darkness, good and evil.

2. Divine Judgment

Even if we’re called to be discerning but not judges, God does have the job of being the judge. Scripture has a lot to say about judgment, though as we learned last week, we can trust in the judgment of God because of God’s character. We start with the premise that God is love and that God is good.

As we consider this word from the Sermon on the Mount, we hear Jesus say that on that day – judgment day – not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a prophet or a preacher or that you cast out demons in the name of Jesus – if you don’t obey the will of the Father, then on the day of judgment you’ll hear the words: “I never knew you: Go away from me you evil-doers.”

The basis of this judgment isn’t revealed in this passage, but we can turn to Matthew 25 to find out more about divine judgment. In that passage, we hear Jesus speak of God dividing sheep from goats based on how they treated the least of Jesus’s brothers and sisters. Did they feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, or visit those who are sick and in prison? It’s on this basis that Jesus decides who enters the realm of God and who experiences punishment. We may not like this word, but it’s there for us to wrestle with.

When it comes to the matter of divine judgment, the Scriptures often focus on social structures and relationships. Even when the focus is on sexual immorality, it seems quite evident that the issue is one of exploitation of the other. Sometimes we dwell on the idea of punishment, but that’s not the point of divine judgment, which is focused first and foremost on reconciliation. Rather than focus on satisfying God’s honor, the focus is on setting things right, what some call restorative justice. Consider this word that Jeremiah gives to the son of Josiah:

He (Josiah) judged the cause of the poor and the needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? Says the Lord. But in your eyes and heart are only your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence. (Jer. 22:16-17).

According to Jeremiah, King Josiah understood that his primary role as king was to protect the weak, the poor, and the marginalized, but the son of Josiah ruled through oppression and violence, something God would not bless.

If the ultimate purpose of divine judgment, is focused on setting things right and reconciliation, then our call as Disciples to be “a movement of wholeness in a fragmented world,” fits this calling very well. We may not be judges, but we can participate in God’s work of healing and reconciliation, an effort that extends beyond this world to the cosmos itself. As theologian Jürgen Moltman puts it, God is concerned about the “universal reconciliation of human beings and the bringing again of all things into the new eternal creation.” This is because, as Moltmann puts it: “otherwise, God would not be God.” [Jurgen Moltmann, The Sun of Righteousness Arise! (Fortress, 2010), p. 141] Since God is intent on reconciling all things to God’s self, we needn’t fear the day of judgment. Even if we don’t know how or when all of this will happen, we can live in the hope that God will reconcile all things to God’s self. But not only that, but we get to participate in this act of God by being Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation. Our primary calling in life is to bear witness to the world in our words and deeds that God is present in our midst working out our salvation, which is what it means to be reconciled (2 Cor. 5).

None of this is easy. This path is full of twists and turns, which is why we’ll be tempted to either take the easy way or simply give up. If we wish to participate in this work of God in the world, then we must keep focused on Jesus. That’s because he knows the way and is willing to reveal it to us – that is if we’re willing to discern the will and purpose of God.

The biblical picture of judgment day might not be as dramatic as the typical Hollywood production, but it’s a reminder that God is committed to making things right. So, when judgment day does come, if we’re paying attention, then we can join with all of the creation in praising God, shouting out:

Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!

The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.

He will judge the peoples with equity.’

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

before the Lord; for he is coming,

for he is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

and the peoples with his truth. (Psalm 96:1-13)

 
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Troy, Michigan
5th Sunday of Lent
April 3, 2011

Open My Eyes that I May See -- a Lectionary Reflection

1 Samuel 16:1-13



Ephesians 5:8-14


John 9:1-41

Open My Eyes that I May See

In the words of that old gospel song we pray that God would open our eyes that we might see God’s will so that we might be set free.

Open my eyes, that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me;

place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now, I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see,

Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine! (Clara H. Scott, 1895)

This is our prayer; that God would give us discernment so that as we make our way through life; that we’ll know what is good and right, decent and holy. It is a prayer that invites us to look inwardly to see where there is light and where there is darkness, for what goes on inside us influences the way we act and react in the world. But, we also seek God’s wisdom so that we might see the world as God sees it, seeing both the light and the darkness that is present in the world.

As we move through Lent, drawing closer to the events that transform the story of Jesus – first the cross and then the resurrection – darkness and light, death and life – our own vision of ourselves and of the world is being stretched. So the question is – are my eyes open to see what God sees.

In the three texts for the day, something of vision and perception is present. There is a word here about discerning the call of God and a word about blindness to the things of God, and in the midst of both there is a reminder that darkness and light are present in our midst.

As we ponder the story of David’s call to be leadership in Israel, his anointing by the prophet Samuel, we are reminded that God looks at things differently than do we. God sees the heart, where too often we simply focus on the surface. We see the good looks and the charisma, but fail to see the darkness that may underlie that charisma. According to 1 Samuel, God had rejected Saul as king. Thus, the spirit of leadership in the community had been removed. Saul was now on his own, without the benefit of God’s guidance. With that removal of the Spirit, God leads Samuel on a quest to find a new king, and so Samuel is sent to the house of Jesse of Bethlehem. When Samuel arrives, the leadership of the town is concerned – Samuel represents the government, or so they believe, and so they want to make sure that he comes in peace. Having assured them that his purpose is peaceful, Samuel invites Jesse to come and share in a sacrifice to God, which seems to be a ruse to confuse Saul, who like Herod centuries later, is concerned about pretenders to the throne.

When Samuel gathers the sons of Jesse, he’s rather impressed with the oldest. He’s strong and tall and good looking. Just what you’d want in a king, but God doesn’t buy it. No, as Samuel prays that God will open his eyes, God gives him a word of advice: “Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.” No, while mortals look at outward appearance, God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Too often we are blinded by what we see on the surface, but God can see below the surface. And so, from Eliab on down to the youngest of the seven sons that Jesse brought before the prophet, no one meets with God’s approval. Finally, frustrated with his task, and seeming failure to see into the heart of the one God had chosen, Samuel enquires of Jesse – do you have any other sons? And Jesse says, just one more, the runt of the litter, the one we’ve sent out into the fields to tend the sheep. You wouldn’t call him, would you? That’s why I didn’t bother to bring him, but Samuel said – go get him, just in case, and when he saw David, he knew. What is interesting in the text is that the outward appearance is noted. He’s ruddy in complexion and handsome. It’s hard to get away from the surface, but while the author seems stuck, God makes the choice, and Samuel anoints David as king, and then the Spirit that had lifted from Saul, settles on David – from that time forward. Saul may still have the throne, but in the eyes of God and Samuel, whose eyes God had opened, David is now the king.

If God opens the eyes of Samuel, God can also open our eyes to the darkness and the light that inhabits our world and our own lives. In the Ephesian letter, we read that while once we were in darkness, now in the Lord we live in the light, so we should live as children of light. The fruit of living in the light, is found in all that is good and right and true. Although the Ephesian letter likely postdates Paul’s life, this sense of living lives that are reflective of the light and not the darkness, reflects in many ways the word given in the Galatian letter, where Paul speaks of the contrast between life in the flesh (not to be confused with the physical life, but an orientation toward pleasing our own urges and desires at the expense of others) and that of the Spirit. I needn’t mention the expressions of the flesh here, but it is worth noting that the life of the Spirit (Light) is expressed in such behaviors and attitudes (fruit) as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Against these Paul says, there is no law. (Gal. 5:16-25). In this particular text, the call is to expose the deeds of darkness by exposing them to the light of God, because everything that becomes visible becomes light. Our prayer then is that we would be discerning, so that we would be able to see that which is good and right and true and live accordingly.

Finally we come to the story of the man born blind. As is true of many of John’s stories, this is a long one, and it has many points of entry, some of which are problematic. We can see in it the debates that are occurring late in the first century between the early Christians and the Jewish synagogues. The Pharisees are the nemesis of Jesus, and the people fear them because they fear being cast out of the synagogue if they name Jesus as the Messiah. As we read this text we need to be aware of this late first century struggle for the soul of Judaism. In the end Judaism and Christianity will part ways, and the result has not always been a happy one. If we can separate out that argument and not see this as pitting Jew against Christian, we can see in it a word opening blind eyes. The word here reflects some of what we see and hear in Ephesians – it is a word about light. In this case, Jesus declares himself to be the “light of the world.” If we want to have our own blindness healed, then we must allow Jesus to provide that healing. In this passage, he takes his spittle, mixes it with dirt, and applies that mud to this man’s eyes, and then telling him to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam.

It is interesting that in this story, after the healing, which people question, Jesus is no where to be found. It is only after the man is excommunicated that Jesus appears again and invites him to be his disciple. Again there is much involved here about exclusion from the synagogue, but maybe we can hear another word about our need to wrestle with the call of God. God can open our eyes, but we must still be willing to see as God sees, if we’re to benefit from this healing presence.

As we hear this word from these texts that speak of opened eyes, may we commit ourselves to seeing things as God sees them. If necessary, let us pray that God will bring healing to our own spiritual blindness to the darkness present first in our own lives, and then to the darkness that clouds the world in which we live and serve, knowing that our path must be lit by the one who is “the Light of the World.”