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A Sermon by The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf
Nelson Cathedral
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Readings for Pentecost 5
Job 32:1 - 6, 15 - 22
Romans 14:1 - 12
Father may my words be true to your word and our hearts open to hear you.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen
"Who are we to stand in judgement?"
Well I′m sure in principle we would all agree with that statement, yet in
practice don′t we all do just that!
When we meet some one new we weigh them up, what they wear, their body
language.
We notice if they are from another country, not just their skin colour or
their accent, but their cultural differences.
Or maybe it′s a news item. We compare what other people have done to our
values. "I would have stopped to help!"
Or "I don′t hold with possession of fire arms." Or like a snippet of a
programme I caught the other day about an angry phone message from Alec
Baldwin to his daughter. On the recording, Baldwin can be heard admonishing
his 11-year-old, Ireland, "You are a rude, thoughtless little pig."
The interviewer said "How could you talk to your daughter like that?" Alec
Baldwin replied, "Haven′t you had children!"
Do you stand in judgment on the interviewer or the film star?
On one side I know I haven′t met a parent yet who hasn′t said something they
wish they could take back.
On the other we shouldn′t take our marital frustrations out on our children.
But either way we are standing in judgement.
Jesus said
"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the
judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the
measure you get."
Matthew 7:1 - 2
In Romans Paul begins by telling us not to pass judgement but then goes on
to ask: Are we doing what we do, to honour the Lord?
Verse 3 and 4 :
"Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those
who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat...
Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?"
One person is a vegetarian, another eats meat.
One person celebrates certain Holy days, another does not.
But Paul writes:
"We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to
ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the
Lord."
Romans 14:7 - 8
Some people choose to be vegetarian, but is there a
problem with that?
Isn′t the bigger problem in the world that people are starving to death
because of greed an profiteering?
These days there are numerous dietary issues due to food intolerances.
Diabetes, Lactose and Gluten intolerance. I have my own list of foods that I
have had to cut out. I′m not doing it out of religious observance, but
because of a health issue. So I ask myself, is it God honouring?
Well our bodies are temples of God′s Holy Spirit. What we eat and how much
we exercise are important. Today people are becoming more tolerant of
special dietary needs, but not everyone.
So what are our motives when we evaluate others? Are we measuring their
actions against their ability to honour God?
Or against our values and prejudices? Do we put people in boxes? Do we
condemn them for their actions? Do we have an ′Us and Them′ attitude?
In history our judgement of others has led to bloodshed. Jew and Arab,
Christian and Muslim, Protestant and Catholic
Boxes, labels, judgments!
God will judge us all one day, and I think the things that he will highlight
will be quite different to what we expect.
As one writer puts it:
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;
not what you got, but what you gave.
not your success, but your significance.
not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice
that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. not
your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew,
but how many will feel a lasting loss when you′re gone, how long you will be
remembered, by whom and for what.
In our reading from Job, Satan came to God and asked whether he could put Job
to the test. God said he could, because of the level of faith that God knew
Job had. He trusted his servant Job to withstand. At first Satan took away
material things, his livestock, buildings etc
Then it was family members, his children and wife. Next came Job′s health.
But still Job would not curse God. He still held onto his belief that God
was a righteous judge and that he, Job, had done nothing wrong. But over
time Job became bitter because of his sufferings.
He called out to God in anguish and complained against God. Why wasn′t God
answering him!
His three friends didn′t help very much either. They didn′t accept that Job
was innocent. They said "You must have done something wrong for all these
terrible things to happen to you!" "People don′t suffer without reason!" But
they couldn′t find the reason for Job′s sufferings.
Next Elihu comes along. Elihu expected the three friends to have the answers
for why God had allowed these terrible events to take place.
They were older and wiser. They were supposed to know why. He defers to
their seniority but he is bursting to speak, "like new wine in wine skins!"
What he says goes on for several chapters. In summary he says: suffering is
a warning from God; that Job is wrong to accuse God of injustice; and that
Job should not have complained but called out to God. He finally ends by
praising God′s wisdom and power.
The three friends have sat in Judgement on Job and so has Elihu. All have
come up with their own versions of why these things have happened and how
Job should have behaved. When God finally does reply to Job he affirms that
Job has been righteous but he does not explain why Job has suffered or why
there is suffering today. God simply states his mystery and power. The fact
that He is God.
What Job judged, or the three friends or Elihu was irrelevant. God has the
first and the final say. It is God who is in control, it is God who allows
things to happen, or not, and God is beyond our understanding.
Were Job′s actions God honouring?
On the whole I believe they were. No matter how many bad things
happened to him he still kept his faith in God. Job′s final response to God
is to see his own insignificance, to repent and to pray. That must be our
response too, no matter what is happening to us, and no matter what happens
to others.
We know from the epilogue to the story that Job is vindicated and his family
and possessions are restored. All those who stood in judgement wasted their
breath. God is powerful and mighty. God is mystery and beyond comprehension.
God has the final say.
The last verses from Romans confirm this too.
"For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,
"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue
shall give praise to God." So then, each of us will be accountable to God."
Romans 14:10b - 12
We are here to worship God To honour and respect God, as a king and ruler
upon a throne as Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life.
We are called to bow our knee to our Lord. Not just to defer to God out of
duty and authority but to give praise to God , praise that that springs from
awe and wonder and a knowledge of God′s love for us. Our worship is a heart
response, not a burden or a compulsion.
Our worship colours the rest of our lives. Our resulting actions then become
God honouring.
If we are focusing on God we are not standing in judgment on each other we
become brothers and sisters in Christ worshipping God together,
we become the body of Christ.
I′d like to be able to say that we don′t stand in judgement even within the
church but of course we do that too. There are church rifts, criticism and
antagonism, people refusing to listen to each other, people putting their
rights and opinions first.
Is this God honouring? I don′t think so.
So what is the solution? To focus on our worship of God.
When a crowd of people are all turned towards the subject of their adoration
they cannot notice each other′s faults and stand in judgment on one another.
If we are all facing in God′s direction then we are all honouring God.
So the next time you, and me, find ourselves standing in judgement on
someone else′s actions, words or beliefs let us ask ourselves these two
questions:
Is what they are doing honouring God?
Is what I am doing honouring God?
After all that′s the sum of Jesus commandments:
′You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour
as yourself.′
Luke 10:27
Let us pray
Lord God, help each one of us to honour you in all we do, and think, and say.
May we avoid standing in judgement on others.
And may you help us to live God honouring lives.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf
This sermon was written and delivered by The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf at Nelson Cathedral, 15 June 2008 at 6:00pm
