| Rector’s
Meditation
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| Judgment. A hard word. On this Sunday John the Baptist says, “I have been called to judge you. I have been called to pronounce God’s judgment on you. And when the Messiah comes, he will also judge you.” I don’t know about you, but I suspect if you’re anything like me the word “judgment” elicits a somewhat nervous response. It brings to mind teachers with high expectations and lots of red pens. It brings to mind parents and grandparents with particularly rigid rules of conduct to which we were held strictly accountable. It brings to mind fiery, evangelical preachers or sadistic nuns who knew we didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell, so to speak, of redemption. None of us lose those memories. Some of us remain scarred for life with those memories of judgment that found us wanting. The hard truth of the Advent season is that part of God’s job is judgment. It doesn’t help that this is a particularly hard time of year with the wind chill below zero and all those seasonal expectations bubbling to the surface, expectations which often result in terrible disappointment. Advent points us to the so-called “End things”: Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven.” It points us toward ultimate things in much the same way John the Baptist came to announce something dramatic and ultimate. It was that context that provides the picture of John the Baptist pointing his finger at those who came to hear his message and providing the judgment, “Guilty.” It brings to mind the story of two friends walking downtown in Chicago only to be confronted by a street preacher on a soapbox pointing his finger at each passerby and pronouncing, “Guilty, guilty, guilty!” When it was their turn to receive the street preacher’s pronouncement on them, one friend turned to the other and said, “How did he know?” However, let’s look at the last line of this gospel reading from Luke when he writes, “So, with many other exhortations, he (John the Baptist) proclaimed the Good News to the people.” The good news in all of this end-of-time scenario painting, the good news in all of this judgment of “guilty,” is that a Messiah is coming. At first glance it doesn’t look like very good news because the Messiah is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and if we’re the chaff we are to burn with unquenchable fire. But that’s the beginning of Luke’s gospel and was the stage he set for what was to inaugurate the ministry of Jesus in his life and in his death and in his resurrection and in the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Messiah for Luke is truly good news. And so Advent is not just about judgment, it is also about hope. It is also about mercy. It is also about comfort. For our souls’ health, you and I need to find a way to balance those images of teachers or parents or nuns who demeaned us or shamed us with images of those persons who encouraged us and valued us and forgave us, when that was necessary. There’s a big difference between shame and guilt. Guilt has to do with those things we’ve done which were mistakes. Shame has to do with believing we are a mistake. So while I need to take responsibility for those things I’ve done for which I ought to feel appropriately guilty, I also need to know that I can hope for love and approval because that’s what Jesus came to reveal. That’s the hope I need. That’s the hope we can all of us celebrate in the darkest time of the year and in the darkest places of our own personal circumstances: Hope, born of God’s mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |
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