THE JUDGMENT OF GOD
Romans 2: 1-11

           Today, we begin the final two weeks of our “Hard Questions of Faith” sermon series. These final two weeks comprise a “mini-series”, as we will be examining two often uncomfortable and difficult aspects and realities of faith: God’s judgment (this week) and the realities of Heaven and Hell (next week). For the most part, people within the church and even outside the church don’t want to talk much about judgment or hell, and want to readily accept the idea of heaven. However, I would go as far to say that it is irresponsible to faith to ignore or gloss over the realities of judgment and hell. With that being said, I would like us to turn our attention to the reality of God’s judgment.

           We learn from an early age to fear judgment. We quickly make the connection that judgment inevitably leads to punishment. This idea of judgment leading to punishment makes us even more fearful when God is brought into the equation. Most people, inside and outside the church, want a God of love, peace, joy, etc.-- the “warm fuzzies”; they become uncomfortable and disconcerted when God is spoken of as a God of judgment and/or anger, even righteous anger. However, in order to understand and experience the Living God, rather than a god of human imagination or creation, we MUST, on some level, see and recognize God as a judge. The themes of justice and judgment are on virtually every page of Scripture. We usually associate those themes with the Old Testament, but they are within the New Testament as well. I wonder, though, if it is possible for God’s judgment to be a source of hope, rather than fear. Can the reality of God’s judgment encourage us in faith and strengthen our hope instead of scaring us to death?

           It occurs to me that part of the fear surrounding God’s judgment is the fault of the church, in all its forms. Throughout the history of the church, there have been countless ideas, theories, and thoughts that have been perpetrated about God’s judgment. Most of those theories have come in a negative light and have served to only heighten the general feeling of fear toward God. As it turns out, many of these are not biblically sound and not in keeping with the truth of God and who God is. As we turn our attention to the passage from Romans, we see Paul illuminating three truths concerning God’s judgment.

           The first truth is that there is a standard by which God judges. God’s judgment is not dependent upon what kind of mood God is in or any other factor but the standard God has set. God has expectations of how human beings will live and behave—we’ve addressed this each time we engage the topic of sin. This is a foreign concept in our world today. Culture and society have told us that there is not and should not be a universal standard of behavior, attitude, etc. We are told that what might be “sinful” or “wrong” for one person may not be so for another; therefore, “to each their own”. This is a deception! God’s standard is not “do you live as you think you should”! Instead, God’s standard is nothing more or less than Jesus Christ! In Christ, we see exactly how God expects humans to conduct ourselves. That is the standard. It is easy to look upon Christ and feel hopeless and helpless; after all, how could we ever hope to completely live up to that standard? The good news is that, through love and grace, God allows our faith in Christ to be the standard. As we grow in our own faith and trust in the faith of Jesus, we grow closer to the standard God has set.

           The second truth of God’s judgment is that God is a fair judge. How many times have you heard one person complain about “fairness”? It wasn’t “fair” that the police officer stopped them when the person in front of them was driving five or ten mph faster (at least!). It wasn’t fair when one child was punished and another went unpunished. It wasn’t fair when the referee called a foul on one team but didn’t call the same foul on the other. The list could go on and on. We demand equal treatment for everyone; particularly we want others held to the same standard we are. When God judges, God is completely fair. Paul makes it clear that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, whether you are a part of the church, or another faith altogether. God’s question to each one is simply, “was the standard violated?” As Paul declares, God shows no partiality in judgment.

           This complete impartiality doesn’t set well with many. We like to think that because we are a part of the church, we have an “in” with God and were in a better standing than those outside the church. The same thing was going on in antiquity. The Jewish people believed themselves to be in better standing with God than the Gentiles because of God’s covenant with Abraham. The message of Paul rings clear, though. It doesn’t matter if or how long a person is a part of a church. That doesn’t mean that being active in a church is unimportant; it just means it won’t be a factor in God’s judgment. God’s judgment is based upon the standard and whether or not it has been violated and it will be the same for all people.

           The final truth about God’s judgment we read is that there will be a final judgment. At some point, God will render a final verdict upon each person, indeed all of Creation. I don’t know when it’s going to happen or how, exactly, it’s going to happen, but it will happen at some point. That verdict will be one of two things: glory and honor and peace OR anguish and distress. Paul makes it clear that those who quest for good and the standard of Jesus Christ will inherit eternal life, but those who quest after evil and the things of this world will inherit anguish and distress. As I said, I don’t know when it will happen, but God will render a final judgment, and that verdict will stand for all eternity.

           This whole idea of judgment might still seem fearful for some. However, this idea of God’s judgment is meant to give us hope! We have the hope that if we are persistently seeking after God’s standard, we already know what the verdict will be. We don’t have to hope that we were “good enough”! We don’t have to wonder if we did the right things; we simply must keep God’s standard as our focus. A the same time, we have the hope that the final judgment hasn’t been rendered yet, and we have time begin questing after God’s standard. Judgment is never something we really want to think about, but it is a reality—a reality that is intended to be full of hope and not of fear, a reality of God’s eventual triumph over all that is evil. Thanks be to God! AMEN.

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