Judgment

[March 03, 2011]   --"‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."-John 5: 25-29

So this could be a problem.  Judgment.  I don't like the sound of that one bit.  It reminds me of the old days when I would have annual reviews, and I would know the day was coming when I would be summoned into my supervisor's office and he would tell me all the ways I had achieved or failed to achieve.  My stomach would hurt for a week in anticipation.  None of us like to be judged.  And yet the Bible is quite clear that judgment is one thing we can count on in the next life.  Most of us, though, don't worry too much about this.  It seems so far away and, after all, we can count on Jesus to intercede on our behalf and overcome our sins.  But if we do not take judgment seriously, then we do ourselves a disservice.

My natural inclination is to clean this up for all of us, to say that we have nothing to fear, and indeed there is much to be said for this.  But you know, a little fear can be a very good thing.  Just because we have shown up for church a few days in our lives, and said some prayers and given a little money, God does not owe us anything.  God does not owe us a future, and no matter how faithful we think we have been to God, we have no been faithful enough to earn salvation or forgiveness.  It does not work that way. As we consider what comes next in our live, or more precisely after these lives, we would be wise to heed the words of Jesus which I quoted above from John.  Judgment is coming, and we should prepare, and that means we should be a little bit afraid.  That fear I had before my annual reviews was good for me, the fear that my supervisor's judgment might be harsh challenged me to reexamine my work habits, and review my own efforts, priorities and energies. It made me a better worker because I was not sure what was coming.  Well, we can never be sure ourselves of what is coming, or what Christ will say to us on that judgment day, but we do live in hope that he will make up the gaps for us.  But shouldn't we do everything we can to make sure the gaps he needs to bridge are not too wide?

 

Prayer:  Holy God, I have failed you.  Help me to be more faithful, more committed, more selfless.  Increase my faith that I may serve you better and grow closer to you as I await the day of judgment.  I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.