God's Judgment

 

God’s Judgment

Matthew 25:1-13[1]

I’ve always been amazed when people speak with absolute certainty about what’s going to happen “in the end times.” For whatever reason, there are people out there who seem to think they can describe the entire process in great detail. And depending on who’s sketching out this end-time scenario, our eternal destiny depends on having said the “right words” and “done the right things” with reference to faith in Jesus. Of course, these people are also supremely confident that they will be rewarded because they have said all “the right words” and done all “the right things.” And they are supremely confident that if “you” haven’t said the same words and done the same things then you will be rejected.

Our Gospel lesson for today raises questions about what we think we know about the “end times.” In it, Jesus presents a parable about bridesmaids waiting for a bridegroom. Five of them are wise, and they bring enough oil to keep their lamps lit in case the bridegroom delays. Five of them are “foolish,” and they don’t think to bring extra oil. When the bridegroom arrives, the “foolish” bridesmaids are left behind and shut out because they didn’t have any oil. The story seems to conform to Matthew’s fondness for pointing out that there are some in the church who follow Jesus’ teachings and there are some who don’t (cf. Matt. 7:21-23).

But there are some problems with this parable.  Although this is a parable about a wedding, there is no bride! And when the bridegroom does arrive—at midnight!—the “wise” bridesmaids tell the “foolish” ones to go out and buy oil for their lamps—at midnight! Furthermore, although the main point of the parable is that we are to keep awake because we don’t know the day or the hour (Matt. 25:13), all of the bridesmaids fell asleep! Perhaps the most important difficulty is the fact that when the foolish bridesmaids return, they cannot enter because the door is shut. That turns a wedding celebration, which ought to be thoroughly joyful, into the threat of exclusion!

This seems to be consistent with Matthew’s idea that there are some in the community of Christ who really don’t belong there, and when judgment comes, they will be exposed and shut out from the blessings of salvation. But I’m not so sure he got that idea from Jesus. In fact, this kind of thinking was prevalent in that day—it’s called “apocalyptic.” It originated in response to the trauma the Jewish people suffered at the hands of their Greek and Roman oppressors. The main idea of apocalyptic is that at the end of time, God will come to vindicate the faithful by taking revenge on the powerful oppressors who have tormented them. Ultimately, all those who do not belong to the people of God will be violently destroyed—either at the hands of God or at the hands of God’s people marching to victory in battle. If those ideas sound familiar to you, its because they’re still around today.

My problem with this is that there’s not much about that viewpoint that rings true to the message of Christ! Although the church has shut doors for centuries, God doesn’t shut doors. Although supposedly “righteous” people have been keeping people out since the beginning of our faith, Jesus doesn’t keep people out. In fact, I would say that contrary to shutting people out, Jesus occupied himself by breaking down the barriers that kept people out.

I find it interesting that we see this represented clearly in Matthew’s Gospel, right alongside that other, more exclusive view. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus crosses barriers to include a leper, a Roman Centurion, a demoniac, a paralyzed man, a tax collector (“Matthew” himself!), a woman considered unclean because of her ailment, a man whose hand was crippled, a gentile woman, and many who were ill in foreign territory. In fact, in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says plainly that “It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost” (Matt. 18:14).

Now, there’s no question that Jesus pointed forward to the fulfillment of God’s kingdom, but it’s something that we cannot know in detail now. And it’s also clear that Jesus taught that we would all be accountable for our actions in this life. But the biblical view of judgment is very different from what you find in apocalyptic. Biblical judgment always leads to restoration, not destruction. Biblical judgment is about leading those who have gone astray back to God, not punishing them. Biblical judgment is about God’s mercy that forgives sin and creates the possibility of new life for us all. 

No, the apocalyptic obsession with destruction and punishment that is still around in our day and time simply is not consistent with God’s judgment. It seems to me that the only thing final about God’s judgment is that God has determined to “make everything new” (Rev. 21:5). In God’s judgment, the only things that are destroyed in the end are sin and death (1 Cor. 15:58). In God’s judgment, all people are restored by Jesus our Savior (Eph. 1:10). In God’s judgment, every knee shall bow and every person who ever lived or ever will live will one day acknowledge God as their Savior and Jesus as Lord (Isa. 45:22-23; Phil. 2:10-11). In God’s judgment, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:38-39). From that perspective, the “end times” look very different: rather than violent destruction we look forward to the fulfillment of God’s love which is open to us all!

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[1] © Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 11/8/2020 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.