I have never
before longed for the wrath of God. Recent political events have caused my
heart to burn for that wrath. And woe indeed be to those who deserve God’s
wrath. Prophets like Zephaniah tell us that wrath will occur during the Day of
the Lord. But the expectations of that Day have (or should have been) changed
for those of us who truly hear Christ in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
For on the last day the Judge will be one who knows us intimately, who still
carries our wounds for us; for the whole of creation.
The Day of
the Lord is spoken of by many prophets. Later prophets, like Amos and our Zephaniah,
are warning the Israelites that it is not going to be the kind of day they are
expecting. The day where God defeats Israel’s enemies is not the day that’s
coming. What is coming is the day of wrath.
Ah, Zephaniah.
I must admit I rarely read a passage like this and think I’m one of the
consecrated. I tend to tremble in fear and think, “oh, I’m gonna get it.” It’s
my tendency really to identify with the underdog. But that’s shifted in the
last couple of months.
As we’ve
gone through the later part of Matthew this past season, I have been aware that
the people Jesus has been giving warning to are not the sinners, prostitutes
and tax collectors. No rather it is those who hold power that he’s speaking
against. The underdog is not who is incurring God’s wrath.
The Lord has
prepared a sacrifice for the Day of the Lord Zephaniah tells us. And of course
the Day of the Lord as interpreted by the early Christians is both the breaking
in of God’s Kingdom through the incarnation and the Judgment Day when Christ
returns. We all should know what the sacrifice was; we reenact it in the
Eucharist.
And the
Judgment Day will be described by Jesus in the Gospel passage scheduled for
next Sunday. Jesus opens with the sun going dark and the moon red like blood, a
quote from the prophet Joel’s foretelling of the Day of the Lord.
The criteria
that Jesus uses to separate those who are given eternal life and those who
aren’t is pretty straight forward and direct. I was hungry and you gave me
food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took
care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.
The goats
have done none of those things. Zephaniah singles out in today’s portion of his
writings those who sit back and do nothing; those who rest complacently on
their dregs, saying the LORD will do nothing.
I’m reminded
of Pastor Martin Niemöller’s words:
First they
came for the Communists, and I did not speak out—
Because I
was not a Communist.
Then they
came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I
was not a Socialist.
Then they
came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I
was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they
came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I
was not a Jew.
Then they
came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
And perhaps
that was the wicked and lazy slave’s problem; he rested complacently on his
dregs. He was asleep when the day of the Lord came like a thief in the night.
I’ve been
woken up to something lately that truly shocked me. I read a news report about
a Christian man who was arrested for feeding the homeless. I dug deeper and I
found that in the last year alone 31 cities have passed or attempted to pass
legislation making it illegal to feed the homeless. This has enflamed my
righteous indignation.
I’ve heard
or read many Christians argue that voting to gut or erase government programs
designed to help the least of these, is not going against Christ because his
commands to help the needy were addressed to the individual or the church and not
the government.
Now whether
it is these same people or not who have passed these laws preventing
individuals or faith based institutions from following Jesus’ desires, the
point is there are not simply goats or sheep now. There is a third category of
people actively preventing the sheep from acting out of compassion. And woe be unto
them!
And hated
for these people has claimed my heart. In my fury I want to see and revel in their
blood pouring out like dust, and their entrails like dung. How dare they tie
the hands of those who minister to Christ Himself!
But hatred is
not the Gospel. No, I am to love my enemies. And even if they deserve that
fate, even if I continue to fight them tooth and nail, I am to find some way of
loving them still. I’m not sure how to do that and so I must pray on it. I am
definitely expected to pray for them. Pray for though fight them still.
For the while
Day of the Lord is not finished, it has come breaking in. It came when Christ
was born and died and seated in the judgment seat, indeed the Israelites did
not get what they expected. God did not defeat their enemies. But neither was
it a day of wrath. God did free us, but not in any way that was expected.
Christ
revealed to us that God’s desire is to be reconciled to all of creation. We in
the order of Jesus Christ Reconciler give ourselves over to the reality of
God’s Reconciling love. We proclaim reconciliation in the face of continued
estrangement, division, and animosity. From the first moments of the young
Church, the Body of Christ has understood itself to be about the work of
reconciliation. This work has taken on many forms over the centuries, but it is
always an echo of Christ's reconciling act. Through the Incarnation,
Resurrection, Ascension, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are reconciled
to one another and to God through Christ who saves us. Salvation is
Reconciliation.
For God has
destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who died for us, that we may live with him. So then let us not fall asleep as
others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; let us not rest complacently on our
dregs, but fight the good fight; putting on the breastplate of faith and love,
and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
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