Judgment & Hope

I don’t choose the readings each Sunday. Instead, they’re given to us by the wider church, through a schedule called a lectionary. Our lectionary is a three-year schedule of four Scripture passages for each Sunday service:

• Hebrew Bible (the “Old Testament”)
• Psalms (the Bible’s song/poetry book)
• Epistle (New Testament letter)
• Gospel (the books that tell about the life of Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

Our tradition favors, and I often preach on, the Gospel text. Still, sometimes I’ll preach on one of the other texts, or draw multiple texts together in my sermon.

Occasionally there’s an assigned reading that I don’t like – a story that makes me feel icky, that addresses themes which aren’t my favorite, or that is just difficult. It’s easy to simply select another reading – an “easier” reading – for preaching. However, over the past several months I’ve often chosen to preach on Scripture passages that, for whatever reason, I would normally have avoided.

This Sunday it’s the second part of the Hebrew Bible reading from Isaiah that I’d avoid. Do you see the [little brackets] in the Scripture citation? Those brackets point us to optional additional verses. We can read Isaiah 6:1-8 – the first part of the assigned reading – and be done with it. That’s the fantastic and dramatic story of God calling the prophet Isaiah (six-winged seraphs flying in the temple, singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy!” It’s pretty amazing.)

But, what’s the fun in stopping there when we can go for extra credit, read a few additional verses, and hear God’s instruction to the prophet? Woo hoo! Let’s read what God tells Isaiah to do!

The Lord says to Isaiah:

Make the mind of this people dull,
and stop their ears,
and shut their eyes,
so that they may not look with their eyes
and listen with their ears
and comprehend with their minds
and turn and be healed. (Isaiah 6:10)

Lovely.

God calls Isaiah to proclaim judgment against Judah because the powerful neglect the widows and orphans; the wealthy take bribes; the people replaced justice with murder; they worship idols instead of God; they neglect God’s call to justice. (see Isaiah chapters 1-5 for context).

Then [the prophet] said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said,
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is utterly desolate;
until the Lord sends everyone far away,
and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 6:11-12).

We Lutherans don’t often speak of God’s judgment against our nation (as the prophet Isaiah declares God’s judgment to Judah), in part because it’s a risky thing for a preacher today to announce that certain current events are God’s punishment. Are wildfires sent by God? Storms? Earthquakes? Floods? Who do you think you are, preacher, to claim divine purpose and punishment for such events?

Likewise, there’s little benefit to the preacher who rants and raves about coming judgment based on the political or social issue du jour. Books of sermons from past generations are filled with dire warnings about God’s judgment against our nation’s embrace of new technologies that are now essential; of societal changes that are now cherished norms; of church controversies that are now nothing-burgers.

So, is judgment now passé, a bold word for ancient prophets to announce but not for our day and age?

No. There is a place for proclaiming God’s judgment today. Not for shouting the outrage of the moment, or oddly interpreting an obscure Bible verse for broad application in ways that tells other people they’re horrible. No. Neither do I endorse the revelry some preachers seem to exhibit when pronouncing future suffering and punishment on others. Such idolators of pain are not God’s messengers.

God calls and equips pastors and prophets to speak judgment against the world in its sin and it’s failure to live God’s justice. Yet such judgment must strive to do two things:

• identify evil and injustice, calling for its reversal; and,
• speak holy hope that the current suffering and sinful state of affairs is not all that there is. God’s promised presence and justice are reasons for hope.

Beloved, we are people of hope. Judgment without hope is just anger dressed up in religiosity. We don’t need performative religion. We need Jesus, whose call changes our lives, whose promise gives us hope, and whose reign is justice.

I’ll see you in church.