Dr. David D. Young
March 4, 2007
Ecclesiastes 8: 10-17
John 3: 16-21
"Here Comes the Judge"

In preparing for this morning, I was thinking about modern day judges; the people who serve on the Supreme Court, Judge Judy and I wish I wasn’t thinking about the judge down in Florida who was presiding over the Anna Nicole Smith case of where she should be buried. And my mind also jumped back a couple of decades to comedian Flip Wilson – who used to say "Here come da judge! Here come da judge! Here come da judge!"

Today, we are continuing to raise the question, "Who Is Jesus, Really?" – as we pursue the second of our Lenten Sermons. Last week you’ll recall how we looked at Jesus the initiator as a seed planter and nurturer of growth - all as – "The Farmer in the Dell." This morning we move to a tougher identity for him – as we explore Jesus as judge.

There’s a wonderful cartoon called Kudzu and it’s about an older country parson and in this particular one he’s in the pulpit and says,

"On judgment day the Lord will separate the wheat from the chaff…
the sheep from the goats…
the neat from the nerds…"
He turns and says "I always try to relate to our young people!"

When we think of judgment – especially in the Old Testament – we tend to envision harshness and punishment. People are usually classified as wicked or good – and there doesn’t seem to be much in between. And woe to those who are evil – for God’s wrath is strong and fierce.

The writer of Ecclesiastes appears to be confused in the passage Aaron Sinay read for us. He observes that the righteous are treated according to the conduct of the wicked. And the wicked are treated according to the conduct of the righteous. In other words, life isn’t fair! And so, not knowing what to do – he coined the phrase, "Eat, drink and be merry!"

Wisdom and understanding, in the mind of the writer, are unattainable. Many Christians today, whether they know it or not, focus a great deal of their energy and faith on judgment. Who’s in and who’s out – who’s accepted and who’s rejected? Many Christians spend a lot of time worrying about who is going to heaven and who is going to hell.

Jesus as judge is separating the sheep from the goats – and by golly you’d better know which one you are. Fear and the threat of harsh judgment and punishment can be strong motivators.

When a person is primarily concerned with being accepted and rewarded – that person becomes very selective with do’s and don’ts. The end becomes the end all. Measuring yourself against others can be a terrific way to justify a sense of making it – because it’s always easier to see the faults in others far and away beyond your own.

I don’t know if you caught the article in the New York Times yesterday entitled, "The Evangelical’s Focus On Climate Draws Fire From the Christian Right," but some of the leaders of the Christian right are now saying that the head of the Evangelicals in Washington DC should either stop focusing on global concerns or resign. He needs to focus on issues of homosexuality, abortion and abstinence of sex among teens.

"Don’t keep trying to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye – before taking the log out of your own," Jesus said. "Judge not, that ye be not judged," he also said. Here’s how an anonymous poet put it,

"I dreamed death came the other night, and heaven’s gates swung open wide.
An angel with a halo bright ushered me inside.
And there, to my astonishment stood folks I’d judged and labeled
as quite unfit, of little worth,
and spiritually disabled.
Indignant words rose to my lips,
but never were set free,
for each face showed stunned surprise:
not one expected me."

I just have to tell you I have little use or time for people who are constantly playing the game of who’s in and who’s out, or who’s going to heaven and who isn’t. Now of course any of us who think at all – have wondered whether or not we’ll go to heaven or some form of after-life with God. But in the end – that is reserved for God to decide and not determined by our worry or merit.

The struggle for us is found in the fact that the Bible speaks of both judgment and grace. So, which is it? Well, I’d like to suggest this morning that they may not be as far apart as so many seem to want to make them.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world."

Note that text says "may not perish" – it does not say "will perish." And it explicitly says God did not send the Son to condemn the world. When we see more than condemnation in this familiar passage – we know that judgment and grace can come through the same door in the form of light.

Jesus came as light. And what does light do? It exposes what has been in darkness. Light does not pass judgment – it simply shows what is. So in a sense, the light gives occasion for us to judge ourselves.

John 3 verses 19 through 21 says,

"And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

If in the end, all is light then those who have not been open to the light – will be in the light and it will be hell for them. And we all need to recognize that light can at first be painful.

We had an enormous amount of rain Thursday night and Friday morning. That afternoon Michelle and I were driving over to Syracuse and when the sun broke through – it was so bright it actually hurt my eyes and took a few minutes before I could fully see. Might not our exposure to Jesus be the same way some times? As light – he penetrates, prompts, challenges, and confronts our darkness – but in the end it is to help us see.

We all know what it is like to feel judged when somebody just lays down the hammer with us and just completely judges us – you know how crummy that feels versus when someone who cares about us – exposes something going on in our life that we probably shouldn’t be doing or something we’re not doing that we should. But if we know they care for us and they bring it to light and we know they’re doing it because they care and want to walk into the future with us – together. It’s a different experience.

When Jesus came to help the blind see – he wasn’t just addressing the physically blind. He came as a light to bring light and insight. And let’s look at his life. He exposed people and their situations and said, "Go and sin no more." But he forgave and accepted – especially the sinful.

"Let the one without sin cast the first stone."

When we come to the light or when it comes to us – we can no longer hide or cover up – we must fess up. But that is an occasion for both judgment and grace. For we believe that in Christ, God does seek to forgive us.

The French priest and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin spoke of light this way,

"It’s odd how in the course of one’s life the light falls from different angles, and yet changes of angle are inevitable; but it is always the same light, increasingly clear."

The light of Christ comes to both expose and redeem. And lest we think we’re already in and others aren’t – I say we’re playing the wrong game.

Fearing God can either mean – being afraid of God’s wrath and punishment – or it can mean respecting God such that you stand in awe and wonder when exposed to the glory which emanates from the one true light. Light can be painful and light can reveal. Light can blind – and light can guide.

Studdert Kennedy, the famed World War I British chaplain, said about the judgment day. "I believe there will be just one question asked on that day when I appear before my Maker. God will say to me: ‘What did you make of it?’ And that is a good question at the close of each day leading to that judgment day: ‘This gift of life which I, your Heavenly Father, have given you – what did you make of it?’"

So friends, "here comes the judge." Not simply at our earthly life’s end – but today – and everyday.

A judge that comes as light.

How will we respond to a judge like that – each and every day?

What did you make of it?

What, indeed?

Amen!