Lord of the Streets
November 26, 2023
Proper 29 (Christ the King), Year A
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 95:1-7a
Matthew 25:31-46
Trust: Judgement and Mercy Given Out of Love
When my kids were too young to talk very much or reason much at all, I would give them medicine when they were sick. They might ask what it was for, I’d tell them it was to help them feel better from their cold. They’d basically say, “Ok, Daddy,” and they’d drink whatever medicine it was. It occurs to me, that’s a good amount of trust. They didn’t know what it was; they didn’t know what it did. I said it was to help them out, and so they took it. They trusted their dad.
They’re older now, and they can definitely talk and reason things out. For the most part, I can explain why advice I may give is a pretty darn good thing to follow, and they can understand why they would, or in some cases, wouldn’t follow that advice. Even now, however, there are still sometimes when they wonder why, and the answer is, “I really can’t explain it all. You kinda just gotta trust me.”
We can look at the Gospel in a similar way. Sometimes we really understand the ways of God and what Jesus is teaching us. Other times, we don’t really understand it all, and we kinda just gotta trust God. Today’s passage on the judgement of the nations is one of those passages where, rather than figure it all out, we kinda just gotta trust God. Here’s why.
In the story Jesus
tells, at the end of time, all of the people of the earth will be gathered
before God, and Jesus will separate them out into sheep and goats. The goats
will be sent to eternal fire. The sheep will be welcomed into God’s kingdom.
The determining factor in these two outcomes is how we treat one another here
on earth. This is pretty clear throughout scripture, that God judges us based
on how we treat one another. As we heard God say in our Ezekiel reading,
I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
So, from these
passages, we can see several important truths:
We are all, at some point, going to die. The world will, one day, end. How we live our lives is vitally important. We are all immeasurably loved by God. We are all loved by others. How we treat one another matters greatly in this life, and how we treat one another determines how we will be judged by God.
Are we harming one another? Are we caring for one another? Do we push with flank and shoulder and assert our will over others? If so, God has promised judgement upon us. Do we care about people other than ourselves? Do we help one another out when we’re in need? If not, God has promised judgement upon us. If we’re going to take our faith seriously, then we need to take seriously God’s judgement for how we treat one another. After all, God takes it seriously, seriously enough to endure the hardships we place on one another.
“Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:23-24) Jesus is the one sitting on the judgement seat, separating us into sheep and goats, and Jesus is also present in our lives, receiving the blessings we give one another and receiving the hurt and harm we give one another. So, how we treat one another matters greatly.
At the same time, God became human and died on a cross for our sins, giving us grace and forgiveness for all of the ways we harm one another.
Those seem kind of in conflict, don’t they? God gives us grace and forgiveness for all of the ways we harm one another, and how we treat one another determines how we will be judged by God.
We could try to put a bow around this conflict, explain the seeming contradictions away to make it all work out very nicely. Many churches and preachers have done this over the centuries. We’ve got all kinds of ways of fixing or relieving the tension between God’s judgement of us based on our actions and God’s forgiveness and grace. The problem is that when we explain this in ways that remove the tension, we tend not to take the whole story seriously.
We end up talking about grace only. Because you believe in Jesus, you have grace, and any terrible things you’ve done to others are forgiven. That’s not the story Jesus told in our gospel today.
So, then others end up talking about judgement only, constantly threatening people with fire and torment to get them to believe in Jesus or change something about their lives. That’s what I call grace for us and judgement for others. You’re going to be judged because you live life in a particular way (usually because of one or two particular things that I find icky). That places us in God’s judgement seat.
In a way, so does the grace only side. You don’t have to worry about judgement because you believe in Jesus. That judgement isn’t ours to give. That judgement seat isn’t ours to occupy.
Grace for all. Judgement for all. Grace for believers, judgement for everyone else. All of these are nice and tidy with bows around them. None of these take Jesus’ gospel seriously.
If we take Jesus’ gospel seriously, then we realize that all of the ways we try to get God’s judgement and grace to fit together nicely is ultimately a selfish endeavor. God’s desire is not just that we selfishly try to avoid punishment by treating each other just well enough to make the cut, caring about others only out of self-preservation.
No, God’s desire is that we actually learn to love one another. How we treat one another matters, and what did Jesus tell his disciples? What was his last commandment to them. “Love one another.” Love cares about the other person. Love does not place me in God’s judgement seat saying, “You aren’t treating others well so I’m going to treat you badly.” Love does not impose my will over others, forcing them to do what I want, good or bad. Love actually cares about the other.
Love takes God’s judgement seriously by believing in the absolute belovedness of every human being. Love also takes God’s grace and forgiveness seriously because of how often we can’t or don’t know how to love others well.
Love doesn’t need a bow around God’s grace and judgement because love trusts.
Look at Jesus’ judgement. It is judgement made out of love, love which sorrows at the ways we harm one another. God’s love can’t abide the ways we hate one another. Gods’ love can’t abide the ways we tear each other down, cause each other’s pain, ignore each other’s pain. Love desires that we love one another. Love says how we treat one another matters. I can trust that.
Look at Jesus’ mercy and grace. It is mercy and grace given out of love, love which knows how hard it is to live our lives. God’s love is not just on a judgement seat far off, but with and within each one of us. God’s love understands how we hurt one another out of our own hurt and fear. God’s love has compassion and mercy on us because God sees that we are hurt and broken. I can trust that.
I can’t explain exactly how God’s judgement fits with God’s grace and forgiveness. Whenever I do, I end up with a selfish, fearful, judgy mess. This is one of those times where I can’t really explain it all. I just gotta trust.
