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. We say in the creed, ‘he will come again to judge the living and the dead’.
It can be tempting for us to discard what we don’t understand, especially if it sounds a little silly. The idea of Jesus appearing in glory and coming 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 ‘make sense’ and leave the other ones. I think it would be more humble of us 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; it’s what He wants for us.
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 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 fellow steals something from Dunnes Stores, you can be sure he’ll be brought to court and he’ll pay for it. 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? Not unless we are deliberately trying to fool God. If we try to live as the Lord teaches us, 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, 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.
It is important to remember too 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. This is another reason why we can never judge someone else, because we don’t know what’s in their heart. We can judge their actions as being right or wrong, but we cannot judge their heart. We never 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.
Christ 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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