At
this time of the year before Advent begins, the readings always focus on the
end of the world and the second coming of Christ. We do this because it was one
of the things that Jesus taught. Jesus taught that he would come again, and
that when He does come it will be for a time of judgement. All people will be judged.
Each week we say in the creed, ‘He will come again to judge the living and the
dead’.
It can be tempting to
discard what we don’t understand, especially if it sounds a little silly. The
idea of Jesus appearing in glory and coming on the clouds to judge the world
may seem hard to swallow. However, it would be a great mistake on our part if
we began to just take the parts of Jesus’ teaching that seem to make sense and
leave the other ones. Perhaps a better approach is to say we accept all his
teachings, but we don’t understand many of them. ‘I don’t understand, but I
believe.’ That’s what faith is.
If the Lord is to come to
judge the living and the dead, it implies two things. First, that there must be
a heaven and a hell. Otherwise there would be no point in judging us if it were
going to make no difference. Heaven is the total happiness that being in the
presence of God will bring. This is something that we can not understand
because we have no experience of it yet, but this will be the most complete
happiness we could ever know and this is what God has planned for us; that is
what He wants for us and God will make that happen unless we consciously and
deliberately reject God. Then there is the total loss of God for those who
reject him, and this is hell, the loss of everything that can bring happiness. Jesus
has taught us that this is real, otherwise it would make no sense that we have free
will, the power to accept or reject God.
The second thing that the
Lord’s coming implies is that we must make an account of our lives to God. We
will be held accountable for our actions. I often think that when we hear about
so many of these tribunals which cost millions and show the wholesale
corruption that goes on, it can be very frustrating because the people who get
away with the most never seem to have to pay, either because they are powerful
enough, or because of the legal system, they get off the hook. It’s wrong and
it happens every day; but if a young person steals something from the local
supermarket, you can be sure he or she will be brought to court and they’ll pay
for it with a fine or with jail time. However, even the rich and powerful must
remember that their power and wealth won’t be with them when they die. They too
will have to make an account of themselves to God and nothing is hidden from
God. I find this consoling, not because I wish evil on anyone, but because at
least I know that in the end there will be justice.
Is this a reason for us to
be afraid? Of course not, unless we are deliberately trying to fool God. If we try to live as the Lord teaches us and
make even the smallest effort, then we have nothing to fear. If we just get on
with the day to day tasks that we are presented with and try to be honest
before God, then we have nothing to worry about. The fact is that we are all
sinners, we all fall short of the mark and none of us ever get it exactly right,
but God isn’t put off by this. The Lord sees the heart. God knows when we are
doing our best and trying to live as best we can. He knows all the pressures
that we’re under. He knows how difficult it is to try and survive in the world.
The Lord looks at each of our hearts and judges us by what is in our heart. So
there is no reason for us to be afraid if we make even the smallest effort.
It is also important to
remember that God is infinitely merciful and mercy is something which is
not deserved. God’s justice and mercy go together. Think of all the times that
we see people in the paper convicted of some terrible crime, and we say, ‘I
hope he gets life,’ or ‘I hope they kill him…’ It’s just as well for our sake
that God is more merciful with us than we are with each other, or none of us
would stand a chance.
Another reason why we can
never judge someone else is because we don’t know what’s in their heart. We
don’t know what has influenced another person’s actions, or what pressures they
are under. That’s why Jesus teaches us, ‘Do not judge and you will not be
judged’. Only God can judge, and only God will judge perfectly justly. We can
judge the outward actions of a person, but we cannot judge the heart.
There is a lovely story of
a young man who was in Napoleon’s army. He deserted because he was tired of war
and afraid, but he was caught. The punishment for desertion was death and so he
was to be executed; but his mother met with Napoleon and pleaded on her son’s
behalf. She explained that this man was her only son and all that she had in
the world. She asked Napoleon to show him some mercy, but Napoleon replied, ‘He
doesn’t deserve mercy.’ The woman said to him, ‘If he deserved it, it wouldn’t
be mercy.’ This is what we also try and remember about God. Mercy is not deserved. It is given out of
love and compassion. You can see this
from the extraordinary compassion that Jesus showed to the various people he
met during his life on earth. Even the ones whose lives were a total mess, he
showed such respect and love. God is infinitely merciful and so if we make any
effort at all, we have nothing to be afraid of.
Jesus will come again to
judge the living and the dead, and it is something that we can rejoice in when
it happens, because we belong to him, we are his children.
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