Tag Archives: God as Judge

Judging Others

Ordinary Time

February 20, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-38

‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ –Luke 6:37-38.

The Greek word translated judge here is krínō which means to pick out (choose) by separating*. I saw a story on the news recently where a man who had served more than 40 years in prison was freed because new evidence was discovered that proved he was not guilty of the crime. We never know all the details of any action. We have a criminal justice system to protect the public, and to restore people to wholeness who have behaved in a way that was detrimental to the well-being of society. Our system of justice is limited by the facts that are missing. That is true in our criminal justice system, but it is also true in our everyday interactions with others. We never know all the facts about why something happened or why someone behaves the way they do. God knows all the facts, but we never do, and we need to be cognizant of that when we feel the need to judge others.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your grace that restores us to wholeness when we have strayed from following your path. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/2919.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Ultimat Authority

JusticeLent
February 24, 2015

Scripture Reading: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ — Genesis 17: 15-16

Sarai, Abraham’s wife, is assigned a new name also. Sarah as a proper name means Princess* in Hebrew. As a prime common verb “sarah” means contended, striven, or wrestled. ** It is the same word used to describe Israel’s (Jacob’s) wrestling with God on his return to Canaan. It would appear that God has a sense of humor, since Sarah’s contention with Hagar and with Abraham over Hagar and her son Ismael are well documented. Yet she did become a powerful women in her own right.

Doing justice is always challenging because there are usually winners and losers involved. How do we decide who is right and who is wrong? Probably more contentious is determining how to make reparations for injustice exposed? Once they outgrew the tribal organization, the Hebrews had judges to render decisions to address injustice. We in the United States have created a complex judicial system with libraries full of laws and precedent setting court cases that are applied to right wrongs. However, one could argue that our judicial system is in and of itself unjust as it is often driven by who can hire the best legal counsel and who cannot.

Because of such disparities, I believe that God’s role as the final authority is vital. We do have to make judgments everyday on mundane as well as serious issues, but we do so with the full knowledge that the ultimate authority will judge us on how we judge others. It is imperative that we strive to be right with God at all times so that we will be right in dealing with his other children.

Prayer:
  Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths.
  Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5) Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/hebrew/8283.htm
**http://biblehub.com/hebrew/8280.htm
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

The Judge

JudgingEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
February 11, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 50:1-6

Our God comes and does not keep silence,
   before him is a devouring fire,
   and a mighty tempest all around him.
He calls to the heavens above
   and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
‘Gather to me my faithful ones,
   who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’
The heavens declare his righteousness,
   for God himself is judge. — Psalm 50:3-6

 It’s interesting how much time people spend doing other peoples’ jobs even when they have little if any credentials for the work. We’ve got the Monday morning quarterbacks, what I would call recliner politicians, make-it-fit theologians, and judges who lack the blindfold of justice. What all these have in common is that they understand the world from a self-centered viewpoint. The most entrenched truly believe that theirs is the only viewpoint. It is like the flat-earth people who could not accept that the earth was round or that the earth revolves around the sun rather than the other way around.

To function in societies throughout history, it has indeed been necessary for we humans to develop a keen ability to discern right from wrong, what is just and what is not, and how to deal in community with those whose self-perceptions differ to varying degrees from our own. I believe a large part of our salvation through Jesus Christ is the gift of helping us see past the limitations of our individual tunnel vision and giving us glimpses of what our universe looks like through the eyes of its Creator who is Love. Thus being equipped with love as the foundation of justice, Jesus’ coming freed us to love like he loved as a means of discerning how to live in community. God is responsible for ultimate judgment. Jesus stated it thusly, You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. (John 8:15-16)

Prayer:  Thank you Lord for freeing me from the task of passing ultimate judgment on others. Enable me to love and help me to understand that that is the foundation of all interaction. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.