Sermon for
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Heidelberg
450 Series: Lord’s Day 19
First
Presbyterian Church ▪
Lake Crystal, Minnesota
Rev. Randal K. Lubbers, Pastor &
Teacher
“The
Comfort in Christ’s Judgment”
Isaiah 40:1-11, 25-31
Titus 2:11-14
Matthew 25:31-46
As we’ve walked week by
week through the middle section of the Apostles’ Creed, at each step along the
way, the Heidelberg speaks about the benefits
of Christ’s work and life beginning even with his conception and birth and
finally today the phrase, “he (Christ) is seated at the right hand of the
Father, from whence he comes to judge the living and the dead.”
So how does the judgment
benefit us? Can we truly speak of the “comforts” of the judgment as the
Heidelberg Catechism does?
Our images of judgment are
often influenced more by cultural images of heaven and hell than biblical
images. Judgment Day is when the big book is opened, that book where everything
you’ve ever done is written down, if not in minute detail, then at least (“for
sure”) a list of every sin. God is Santa Claus who sees you when you’re
sleeping, who knows if you’ve been bad or good, and who’s making a list and
checking it twice to see who has been naughty or nice. Or, the judgment will be
a big movie screen which shows—for all to see—each and every secret sin of our
lives—“O, the embarrassment and shame of it all.” Or, the judgment is a drum
roll and the great suspense as St. Peter checks his big book of reservations
for heaven, and we find out if we’re on the A-List or not. There was a cartoon
about this awhile back, shortly after Steve Jobs died. Steve Jobs, the founder
of Apple, sees St. Peter (at the Pearly Gates) scanning the huge book and says,
“There’s an app for that.”
These homey images of
judgment, as well as images rooted in vengeance or violence, are skewed and
misinformed at least in part because our understanding of sin is skewed. First,
we think of sin primarily in the plural. Even when the prayer of confession
says “Forgive our Sin” we tend to add an ‘S’ to the word because we
think of sin as a big number—like a lifetime error statistic in baseball. Yes,
this is a partial meaning of sin. We talked about this in confirmation class
this last week. To adapt the exercise from class, suppose you were to keep
track of each and every sin in your life—every unkind thought; every hurtful
action; each desire to own something owned by someone else and every fleeting
adoration or worship of something or someone other than God. Suppose you made a
mark for every time you rolled your eyes in dismissal of another person’s idea…
And a mark each time you spoke judgmentally or rudely about a sister or brother
in Christ to others in the church family… Suppose we kept track of every harsh
word… And made a notation in a diary anytime you thought, “Oh, if only everyone
was just as faithful and kind—or just as creative and wise—as… as I am.”
And even beyond that, an
even bigger mark for each good deed performed while thinking, “This is a pretty
GREAT thing I’m doing for God. I’m really scoring some points here.” And at the end of each day you totaled up
every mark: Would there be five or ten
or twenty each day? For sake of argument, even if it were only just ten times a
day times 365 days in a year times your age… Oh, my!
For me (and I’m younger
than many of you) it comes to over 200,000 sins. And double it because we
usually underestimate when it comes to this sort of thing. So if “the Judgment” is a video showing every
sin, it’s going to take (pardon the pun)… an eternity! And it doesn’t sound
very comforting at all. Not to me, at least. Do those images of judgment sound
comforting to you?
Our understanding of sin is
goofed up—we don’t understand it to be the life threatening disease that it is,
we don’t see it as a great chasm between us and God—who longs more than
anything to be in relationship with us. And we don’t grasp that we can’t “make
it up” with extra-credit work. Because
our understanding of our “sins and misery” is too small, our understanding of salvation
and grace is too small. If we think we
can “make it up” or fix the problem on our own, then the radical words of forgiveness
and grace won’t ring true—not in our hearts. Do we really grasp what Jesus was
saying, when he assured Nicodemus, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but to rescue the world through him” (John 3:17). The catechism says
the final judgment is a comfort! We might even say there is “joy in the
judgment.”
The Heidelberg Catechism says,
“I confidently await the very judge
who
has already offered himself
to the judgment of God in my place
and removed the whole curse from me”
(HC)
“Comfort, comfort ye my
people” is what we read earlier in Isaiah. The “penalty has been paid” and Israel
“…has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins!” The judgment is a
comfort because our Savior is the judge and the judge is the one who saves.
I’ve often heard that a good preacher should “comfort the afflicted.” And, at the same time, “afflict the comfortable.” So if the story from Matthew—about feeding the hungry and visiting the sick and the way Jesus relates that to eternal judgment—if that story makes you uncomfortable and even afflicted in your soul, then for you I have words of comfort. Even the smallest, sincere act of kindness in Jesus’ name is celebrated by God. But if that story prompts you to immediately explain how it doesn’t apply to you—because you’ve been saved “by grace alone” (but those are just words) or because you’re not as bad as so-and-so. Then to you—the comfortable and self-confident—I think Jesus told that story to afflict you.
In “The Green Mile,” Paul, the chief guard
on death row, shares his affliction of heart, confiding in his wife just days
before the execution of John Coffey for a crime Paul and the other guards know
he did not commit. Yet there’s nothing
he can do. He tells his wife, “I’ve done some horrible things in my life, but
never before have I actually feared for my very soul….” She says, go talk to
him. Ask John Coffey what he wants you to do.
And so Paul talks to John Coffey, who
is not only “not guilty” but innocent—and a man who heals people. “Should I set
you free, let you see how far you can get?” asks Paul. “Why would you do
something like that?” says John Coffey. “Well, when I stand before God, what am
I to say to him when he asks why I killed one of his great miracles? What will
I say?”
And John Coffey reassures him, “You
tell God it was a kindness you done.”
And even later as the
guards prepare to take him to the electric chair, John Coffey is the one
reassuring them, “It’ll be alright boys. This here’s the hard part. But it’ll
be alright.”
In the same way, about the final judgment, there’s
one simple word I have for you, too.
“It’s gonna be alright.”
It’s gonna be alright
because “on that day we will see our Savior face to face, sacrificed Lamb and
triumphant King, just and gracious” (OWBG, 57). And he’s promised to set all
things right, to “gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom”
(Isaiah 40:11). So “we face that day without fear, for the Judge is our Savior.”
And living in joy, living confidently,
anticipating his coming, we offer him our daily lives—not as ways to make
things OK between us and God (Jesus has done that!) and not to earn anything—but we offer our lives as a response of deep, deep gratitude. In joy and thanksgiving we can offer “our acts of kindness, our
loyalty, and our love—knowing that (Jesus) will weave even our sins and sorrows
into his sovereign purpose” (OWBG, 57)—all things must work together for our salvation.
And so we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”
Knowing, deep inside, yes, yes, yes….
It’s gonna be alright.
Affirmation of Faith: The
Apostles’ Creed (with excerpt
from Lord’s Day 19 of the Heidelberg Catechism)
I believe in
God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and
earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s
only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by
the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin
Mary,
suffered under Pontius
Pilate,
was crucified, died,
and was buried;
he descended to the
dead.
On the third day he
rose again;
he ascended into
heaven,
he is seated at the
right hand of the Father,
and he will come to
judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic
church,
the communion of
saints,
the forgiveness of
sins,
the resurrection of
the body,
and the life everlasting.
Leader: How does Christ’s return
“to judge the
living and the dead”
comfort you?
All: In all distress and persecution, with
uplifted head,
I confidently await the very judge
who has
already offered himself
to the
judgment of God in my place
and removed
the whole curse from me.
Christ will cast all
his enemies and mine
into everlasting condemnation,
but will take me and
all his chosen ones
to himself
into the joy and glory of heaven.
Alleluia! Amen.
