Advent calendar 2020

Advent 9 - Monday 7th December 2020

Good news about judgment!

Introduction

A couple of days ago I wrote about how John the Baptist is associated with the Season of Advent. John was the last of the great prophets of ancient Israel. Like the prophets before him, his message was direct and confrontational. He spoke of the coming of the messiah and how his coming would usher in God’s judgement. And so, everyone had better get ready! Tremble and be afraid. God is coming in the flesh. And he is bringing his judgement upon this dark world.

Bible Reading

Luke 3:1-9
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
He said therefore to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Reflection

It is important that we understand the nature of God’s judgment. Most of us I suspect have a gloomy picture of God coming to judge us. God coming to sift our hearts. God coming to examine our thoughts. God coming to weigh our motives. God coming to question and criticise and then pronounce his judgement. This approach is I suspect part of the reason that many people reject faith and religion. Its all very negative and judgemental. However, not only is it bad theology, it leads to an unbalanced view of God. And it is an incomplete picture of God and a distorted view of Christmas. Yes, there is judgement, but there is also love.

Try and think of God’s judgment like this. Imagine you have fallen ill. You are unwell. You feel terrible. You have pain in your body. You are running a high temperature. And you go and see your doctor. Your doctor listens to you describe your symptoms and you are sent to hospital. What happens when you arrive at hospital? Do the staff criticise you for being ill? Are you mocked because of the pain in the body? Are you judged and made to feel unworthy?

Or do the hospital staff try and diagnose your condition? Do they try and understand that nature of the illness and runs tests and conduct scans? And when they find the cause, do they not try and bring healing? Do they not use all their skills to try have help you get better? Do they not use drugs and therapy and operations to try and fix the problem, so you are restored to full health?

Is this not how we are to understand God’s judgement? Not God putting us down but building us up. Not God breaking us because we have done wrong, but God fixing us so we can do what is right? God’s judgment is always motivated by love, flavoured by grace, and aimed at our full restoration. Restoration of relationships. Restoration of a right relationship between God, ourselves, and the people around us. And restoration of mind, body, and spirit. Restoration of our attitudes and priorities and lifestyles.

God’s judgment comes with grace and love. It is aimed at the creation of a genuine and complete shalom. The world may be dark, but the birth of Jesus means that light is shining. They may be evil in the world, but God is bringing grace and forgiveness. And with forgiveness comes healing and renewal. And with healing and renewal comes the birthing of divine love in the human heart and with the birthing of divine love, comes forth of an irrepressible joy.
 
Rev Sean Swindells

Prayer of Confession

In the stopping
in the pausing
in the quiet
we cannot avoid
what we are not
Our faults
our lack of faith
our lack of vision
and of action our lack of trust in You –
all bubble to the surface
You, Father God,
see what we are and still stand by us
offering us hope
and above all, forgiveness
Help us here
Help us now –
to recognise that it was with us
in mind that You sent the baby Jesus
It was with us in mind that
He grew to live and die and
to rise again
Because that’s what
You think we are worth
May Your love set us free
this day and always –
these things we ask
in the name of that Son,
whose praise we sing and
who taught us when we
pray to say together:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
you will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen

Blessing

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you,
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face towards you
and give you peace;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

Other days in the Advent Calendar