JUDGMENT

1 Samuel 2: 1-8, 10b; Matthew 25: 31-40

Since we are in the season just after our church softball games and the day before we attend a Cubs game at Jackie Robinson ballpark, let me tell you the story of two friends who loved the game of baseball.  They played it together when they were boys; as they grew up they even enjoyed playing together on organized teams and watching it on TV.  One day, after they were up in years, as they were watching a game together Frank said to Eddie: “I hope they have baseball in Heaven.” To which Eddie replied, “If it’s as wonderful as they say, there has to be baseball in Heaven!”  Only weeks later, on his way out to get the newspaper, Eddie had a heart attack and died.  Frank is devastated; who will watch the games with him; who will share the memories with him?  Ironically, it was just a couple of weeks later when he hears Eddie’s voice. “Frank!” “Eddie!” is that you?  “Yea, it’s me, Frank! Listen, I can’t stay long but I got permission to bring a message to you.  “It’s great to hear your voice, Eddie! What did you come to tell me? “That they have baseball in Heaven, Frank! It’s beautiful! All the greats are here and it really is like a Field of Dreams!” To which Frank says, “Oh man Eddie, I can’t wait to see it. “Good,” says Eddie, “’cause you’re pitching next Thursday.”

We have so many stories about Heaven, about pearly gates and St. Peter which are loosely based on the Bible, and other stories about golf courses in heaven or mansions for Gators or Noles that are human hopes for the heavenly places. It’s kind of fun, telling jokes about a place we have never seen, about an event we are often afraid to face. There are enough dreadful stories about the Great Judgment that some have been pictured to be like Dorothy approaching the great, flame ensconced Wizard wall in Oz.  But our whole life includes times when judgments are made, albeit by human judges.  As we get nearer to the end of another school year, college and grade school youth are worried about grades; a teacher gets to judge the work and character of students and give them grades. Certainly there are some who worry needlessly: they do good work, have it in on time, and are willing participants in class. Those who used to fret over their constant “As” irritated those of us who worked our way through “C” and “B” land to get there! And for those who we in the C and D range, report cards indeed were the “great judgment.”  Headaches, knots in stomachs, and groundings have resulted from those moments. So judgment has some built in fear. On top of academic judging, there are judges in sporting events, sometimes called referees or umpires; there are judges in cheerleading competitions and music competitions and many others. The trouble with human judges is their humanness; they don’t see things perfectly, decide things perfectly, or think purely. They have biases and feelings and motives. And so not only do we not do perfect work, we get it judged imperfectly. This is our world, and we know it.  No wonder some people fear facing the ultimate judge.

Back in Hannah’s day, according to First Samuel, she did like many in our day have done: she threw herself on the mercy of the court to get what her heart desired. She wanted a son. In her life she had been taunted by other women who had easily conceived while she remained barren. Her husband was patient but hoping.  Her countenance fell and she began to weep bitterly and she stopped eating.  She prayed to God as desperate people do: by bargaining with God. She said if God would give her a child, not just any child, but a son, she would see that he was raised as a Nazarite, one who would be dedicated in service to God. In other words, she signed up this alleged Son for the ministry even before and if he were to be born! That is a desperate prayer indeed; perhaps you have prayed that way before. Such a request does not always bring the desired results. Even the Bible says “In due time” she conceived, which is another word for “eventually.” Still, history has described Hannah in almost holy terms in spite of her very human plea. Even Mary leaned heavily on Hannah’s prayer as she prayed her Magnificat. Hannah’s words remind us what kind of judge God is: “There is no Holy One like the Lord … by the Lord all actions are weighed…. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them the Lord has set the world.” (1Samuel 2)  This is a mighty judge; so to those who fight against God and those who sin without apology, Hannah’s prayer has this word for them: “The wicked will be cut off and plunged into darkness by their own choices; those who go against God will be shattered, brought on by their own choices. But to those who choose God, “The Lord will guard and guide your feet, and the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.”  If you fight against God, or don’t believe in God, why would you want to live eternally in a place the rules of which you don’t acknowledge and in a place you don’t believe exists in the first place? The Bible says that when God judges, judgment is made according to one’s heart, not outward actions or appearances.  God knows your heart; therefore if you are trying to follow God, even if you are a B, C, D, or F student at life, learning disabilities or impediments will not keep you from passing.  These are great lessons from the Old Testament.

But then comes Jesus; then comes one who says there will be a new promise, a covenant unlike the earlier ones. And Jesus tries to demonstrate what his Heavenly Father wants people to do: he wants us to love Him, and love one another.  If Jesus had a piece of carbon paper it could have demonstrated Matthew 25! (“What’s carbon paper?” the kids ask. Take a moment to turn to a youngster and tell him or her what carbon paper is; then one day they can help you program your computer!) When I have used carbon paper for a children’s sermon before, I have put the name of Jesus on the underneath sheet, and put the name of “Others” on the top sheet with carbon paper in between. I’ve asked children some of the kind things they did that week to others, and I wrote them down; I then asked them what hurtful things they did to others that week and we wrote those down; then I pulled out the carbon paper and showed them that all the things they had done to others, they had also done to Jesus! “No way!” one said. “Way!” I said back. And I told them about Matthew 25: “Then, then shall the king say unto them upon his right hand (sorry to those of us who are left handed: in the ancient world, and in many countries even today, the right hand is the hand of blessing, the left one of curse and filth.) So to those on his right, which could, in fact, include you: he says “Come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you!” Why did he say that? Because of carbon paper; because whatever you do to others, you do to Jesus. And to the others (and I hope it’s no one here) who have done so much to show spite, unbelief, destruction and a self-serving nature, they are on his left and are depicted (sorry) as goats because they eat garbage and are considered of less value than sheep. To them he says, go off to the world of your own making, you will have no part of the kingdom of light because you snuffed out light wherever you went in life. You like to lurk in darkness, so go lurk in darkness eternally.

So there is good news from a sermon called “Judgment.” If you want to be in the number when the saints go marching in, you can! Some think of God as a scorekeeper, a grader of tests, a counter of merits, and a granter of grace. But Christian theology teaches that, it’s not just about Godly grades; it is more about believing that God is love, and that God wants US to love, and that Jesus is the Savior who shows that love.  We love, because God first loved us, and showed us that love in the divine and human life of Christ. So with Christ, as with our Confirmation Class exams, our lives are graded on grace. The question God asks is not “How good are you?” but “Who is your God?”  The question we ask ourselves is not “Can I keep from sinning?” it is “How can I keep from singing, about a God who judges me gladly, welcomes me eagerly, and loves me unconditionally! 

Let me close with a story that Pastor John Claypool heard Dr. Fred Craddock tell at a conference. Dr. Craddock once asked his congregation, in the middle of a sermon, to write down all the names of people they would hope to see in heaven. He waited three minutes while parishioners actually did that. Then he said, “Now take that piece of paper and tuck it in your final papers, and ask that it be buried with you. As you come to see St. Peter, tell him about the paper. A smile will cover his face, and he will call you by name. ‘Isn’t God wonderful, Jeff!’ he will say. ‘I just passed every one of those people on my way to meet you!  Together they have built a place for you to live and it’s now ready! And as I went by your place a moment ago, the ink was just drying on a huge banner they were making for you. Written in silver and gold, your banner, made just for you, reads ‘Welcome Home.’” Amen.       

Jeffrey A. Sumner                                                           May 11, 2008