facing judgment; facing ourselves and welcoming others

Good evening friends,
One of the joys of living in Rochester is the fascinating, often beautiful and always interesting weather. Tonight is a great example of that. In our passage this evening Paul continues his discussion on how we should welcome each other without judging. The truth is that God is in charge. We will all have to give an account for our lives and choices one day to God, who is the only judge. When we judge others we try to put ourselves in God's place. We also distract ourselves from looking at the behavior of the only person we have any control over, ourself. So approach everyone with love and welcome; maybe your love is what they need to come closer to God.

As we think of our Muslim neighbors observing the Ramadan this month, a verse from the Qur'an comes to mind. It can be translated "The Quaking" and it gives a poetic image of God's judgment at the end of time. The haunting image is not that we will be sent to hell, but rather that we will come face to face with what we have done, even the things that seem minor. Truly, we do not need to waste any energy judging anyone else. Here's Michael Steel's interpretation of the verse; his book, Approaching the Qur'an also includes wonderful audio recordings of this surra.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate the Caring
When the earth is shaken, quaking
When the earth bears forth her burdens
And someone says "What is with her?"
At that time she will tell her news
As her lord revealed her
At that time people will straggle forth
       to be shown what they have done
Whoever does a mote's weight good will see it
Whoever does a mote's weight wrong will see it

Blessings on your weekend,
Sam

Romans 14:7-12

7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹For it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
   and every tongue shall give praise to God.’
¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

judgment and war

Good afternoon friends,
We know Jesus as the baby in a manger, as teacher, friend and even as sacrifice. In this passage we also see Jesus as he will be at the end: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will be the righteous judge of all of us. We also see that he is God's word (like in the beginning of John's Gospel). THe image of Jesus on a horse with a sword coming from his mouth is certainly strange, but God's word is often described as a sword because it judges and slices through all the lies we tell ourselves.

As we saw before, Jesus is stronger than all the powers of the earth. The kings and other powerful people might try to fight against Jesus, but they will never win. The good news is that even though Jesus judges, he judges like he lived: with righteousness and love.

God bless,
Sam

Revelation 19:11-21

¹¹Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. ¹²His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. ¹³He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

¹⁵From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” ¹⁷Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, ¹⁸to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders—flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.” 

¹⁹Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against the rider on the horse and against his army. ²⁰And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider on the horse, the sword that came from his mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.