Advent 1--Judgment and Justice

Matthew 24:36-44

Today’s text is a continuation of a question we heard several weeks ago.  “When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”” (Matthew 24:3 NRSV)  The disciples needed certainty—they wanted to have the answers and they used their insider position to try to get the information they believed Jesus had but didn’t want to publicize.  Today they get their answer—not the answer they necessarily wanted.  Jesus tells them no one including himself knows when that will be and then he continues—

I suspect that just like the disciples we want certainty; God wants discipleship.  Discipleship, whether we like it or not, has a cost.  The text today is one of those challenging ones that puts it out there—God loves everyone no exceptions; that is true, but there is more; today’s text talks about judgment and that is exactly where  we don’t want to go.  I believe that is indeed where we need to go, where we are called to go.  I also believe we have to understand God’s judgment and the flips side of judgment—justice.  To do that, perhaps we need to understand what judgment is not.

God doesn’t want us to fear judgment but rather to use it as a motivator for justice.  God’s judgment is not meant to paralyze us—it’s not the “wait until your father gets home” judgment that we as humans use to manipulate and control.  God’s judgment will come but it is not meant to breed fear and anxiety; it is not meant to have us close in and live a solitary life so that we cannot possibly do anything that will bring down the wrath of God.  No, God wants us to use God’s coming judgment-- to embrace the coming judgment as a way to live into a new way of life, God’s way of life, right here and right now.  God wants us to use God’s coming judgment to propel us to living into a life of justice—a life lived publicly, in community, and in the world.   God wants us to live a life that counters the world where power and inside position reign; a life lived under the fear of scarcity instead of abundance—God’s abundant love and mercy and grace. 

I want to be clear that judgment does not mean not being held accountable; God does hold us accountable—God holds us accountable to how we live out justice.  How well do we treat one another and most especially those most vulnerable in our world?  How do we live it out in our everyday lives?  This is played out in so many ways in our lives starting on the playground. I remember one of my children coming home and telling me about how another boy was being picked on.  “Did you say anything?” I asked.  “No Mama, I didn’t say anything but I also didn’t participate.”  “Why didn’t you say anything?” I pushed.  With tears in his eyes he responded, “I was just glad it wasn’t me.”  He was five; we’re not.  When do we just keep our head down, our mouths closed and think, “Thank goodness it’s not me.”  When do we not include those who should be included because we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves? When do we take the easy way, the comfortable way, the expected way so that we can just be glad we’re not the excluded, the marginalized, the left out? We tragically forget that when someone is left out because we don’t speak up it actually limits who we are.  We are a community—and when we don’t acknowledge and embrace everyone, we are not whole.  And then there is judgment.

Our world creates an anxiety, a frentic pace of life, an individualistic mindset, a mindset that manipulates us into thinking there isn’t enough for everyone—I’ve got to get mine first and then I’ll worry about everyone else.  Black Friday is a prime example (or is it Black Thursday?) I was both amused and appalled by the people camping out in St. Matthews at the Best Buy beginning on Monday!  Perhaps there was a community built there but what I saw was people who were willing to give up a holiday of gathering with family and friends to make sure they got the latest and greatest deal—to make sure they got something and someone else didn’t.  We see it in politics, in schools and even in religion.  The world creates and us/them but we are called to love the other, to live a life that honors the other, and to proclaim in word and deed that God’s love and way of life is for everyone no exceptions EVEN when that means we have to give up something or that we have to lift our heads and speak up.

Jesus’ examples in today’s Gospel are not about the grand movements in history.  There is a place for those, but today Jesus is talking about everyday life—eating and drinking and working right where we are—living a life of love and justice right where we are.

At first this may seem like a depressing text with which to begin Advent—don’t we want to wait in joyful anticipation?  Yes we do which is exactly why it’s the right text.  As we begin the “official” holiday season let us not be distracted by the preparations—the decorating, the baking, the gift buying—let’s do those things, but let’s be alert so that those things don’t distract us from what it means to live a life of faith—let’s make certain those things don’t block out the face of God in those we encounter—let’s lift our heads and see the world through God’s eyes—then judgment is nothing to fear.