13 Dec 2009 - "What shall we do then?"

Stephen Fielding - Tewin

Introduction

I expect that many of us watched the X factor last night, and what a huge amount of talent there is. Did you agree with the judges and with the overall verdict? Well there we are; judgment of this kind is inevitably subjective. But this morning it is judgment of a different kind that we are faced with – not the judgment of a panel, or the judgment of the people, but the judgment of God.  It’s the divine judgment that we’re concerned with - that's what the little-known prophet Zephaniah focuses on, the theme of judgment, and judgment is the background to both the gospel reading from Luke and the well-known reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians.

I've called this sermon, what shall we do then? That little question, what shall we do then, was asked three times in the passage from Luke, and before we come to answer it for ourselves we need to explore the background of the theme of judgment.

The divine judgment

Divine judgment is the theme that runs through the short book of the prophet Zephaniah. And the theme of divine judgment is shown primarily in the imagery of the Day of the Lord. There is a universal judgment. There is a judgment on Judah, that is, the people of Israel; there is a judgment on the nations. It all comes about through the Day of the Lord. That is the day when God will vindicate his own honour, when he will make a judgment against sin. It will be a great day of holy war against evil.  The Day of the Lord is the divine intrusion in the form of a final judgment when sin will be abolished from the earth.

Already we can see within this theme of judgment the promise of blessing. There is never darkness without light and the theme of judgment always comes with the promise of hope, that is, the immediate hope of blessing and the longer-term hope of blessing for all of us. And so the prophet can sing God's words in this way -

‘Rejoice and exult with all your heart O daughter Jerusalem, the Lord has taken away the judgments against you; the Lord is in your midst….. do not fear… I will bring you home.’

It is our belief as Christians that Jesus has taken all our sins on his shoulders, he has been the one against whom the judgment has been made for us, and in the death and resurrection of Jesus the kingdom of heaven has broken in. The judgment has been made, Jesus has borne the judgment and we are vindicated because of it. There in the death and resurrection of Jesus is the judgment and the blessing that flows from it.

And it is the background and the context of the key question this morning - what shall we do then? What should be the response of the Christian heart and the Christian life?

What shall we do then?

It seems that there are two sets of answers and we look first at what Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke.  Remember that Luke, the Gentile, is particularly concerned to emphasise the poor, the outcast, the outsider, the marginalized the women. So when Jesus’s hearers listened to him and asked the question, what shall we do then, the answer comes back in a very strongly ethical form. Share your food. If you have enough, or more than enough, share it with someone who hasn't. If you've got two coats, give one away to the person who hasn't got one. In other words this is the ethics of fairness, and we can be absolutely sure that these are the true words and thoughts of Jesus. And what he's really saying is this: if the King of Heaven is near, if the kingdom of heaven is at hand, if in the death and resurrection of Jesus Heaven has broken in, then live according to the standards and values and norms of this new Kingdom world. Be citizens of the kingdom of heaven and live according to its rules. See how it picks up the Zephaniah theme - the Lord is in your midst, he's near, he's here. Act as if it is so.

And the second set of answers comes in one of the loveliest and most famous passages in the whole of St Paul's letters, the wonderful letter to the Philippians, the letter of joy. Here in Philippians 4 comes the call to joy and prayerfulness. If we look at verses 4 to 7 this is what we see; rejoice, rejoice. That is, be really glad because the Lord has done great things for us. We have our citizenship in heaven. From there we expect a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform us. He has already done so through the gift of the Holy Spirit. So let us rejoice. Then he says, let the quality of our lives be visible, because the Lord is near, he is at hand, he is by our side. And we shouldn't worry; do not fret; do not be fearful; cast your care upon the Lord. Don't be anxious but rather pray with thankfulness.

All this is grist to the Advent mill, is it not? Judgment - yes, that is an Advent theme. God in Jesus judging us, inviting us to put ourselves under the divine spotlight where our sins and our weaknesses, our failings, our self deceptions and illusions, can be seen and challenged and forgiven. ‘ Lord Judge me and forgive me’. That will be something we can all do – allow ourselves to be judged and forgiven.

Sharing with others – yes, the response of the generous heart, of the person concerned with fairness.

Rejoicing, praising God, giving thanks – yes, that is the real necessity of us all, for the grateful heart and the grateful life is a soil in which pride finds it very hard to flourish. It is not for nothing that eucharist, this service of holy communion, means thanksgiving.  And gratitude is the proper response to the gift of God.

And the consequence of it all?  The peace of God.  The Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, which will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen