Justice tempered by Mercy

Sunday 6^th September – Trinity 13 – Proper 18

Ezekiel 33:7-11. A sentinel is the gender-neutral way the NRSV translates the more familiar “Watchman” who would warn a city of an enemy coming to kill them. If he failed in this task the watchman would be held responsible. This is Ezekiel’s explanation of what a prophet is for, but is it right to hold a prophet responsible for the evil actions of others? A form of answer in the text is that God gains no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Verse 11) for he is a God of compassion as well as justice and He wants as many people as possible to turn and live and sharing in that mission is a huge responsibility.

Romans 13: 8-14. For all Paul stresses that you cannot be saved by following the law, he still wants it fulfilled, and it is fulfilled by loving our neighbour as yourself (verse 9). He also stresses that Christians should “put on Jesus Christ” and live for God (having started a new life) rather than living a life enslaved to sin. He does so in the light of the common belief in the early church that the end times (The day of the Lord) was near (verse 11) and this is given as a motivating factor.

Matthew 18: 15-20. This is a formula for limiting the damage to unity in the church, moving from personal confrontation to one where you have two or three witnesses (following Jewish tradition) and finally if no positive outcome is forthcoming, letting the local church community as a whole make a decision. The most surprising thing is the derogatory way the phrase “gentiles and tax collectors” is used. Elsewhere in the gospel, they are characterised as responsive to the word of God. The familiar “where two or three are gathered together in my name” may be a Christianized version of the Jewish saying “If two sit together to discuss the law, the shekinah rests between them”. The shekinah is the glory of the divine presence.

Ezekiel the prophet being held responsible for the actions of the Israelite people seems tough.

But it is an insight into the awesome responsibilities that God lays on his follower’s shoulders.

I recommended a video sermon by Bishop Barron a couple of weeks ago which talked about us being “chosen people”. The deepest insight the Bishop brought to the fore about “being chosen” is the huge responsibility that this brings, for being chosen brings huge gifts but also huge responsibilities.

If we thought that we being held responsible for whether or how the world responds to God I’m sure this would instil in us a greater eagerness and fervour for trying to spread the gospel than we would normally have.

And while I’m sure there would be a hint of resentment at being held responsible for the actions of others, the reason God would lay such a burden on our shoulders is borne of compassion, is that he doesn’t want anybody to die before knowing that they are loved and secure in his embrace.

His justice is always shot through with compassion and mercy.

In Micah (6:8) it says this, “He has showed you O man, what is good. And what does the law require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”

Jesus as the incarnation of God showed this magnificently in the story of the woman caught in adultery – a late addition to John’s gospel.

There is no doubt that the woman was guilty, and the law decreed that death by stoning was the punishment. But what shines through this story is the compassion of God for this woman – this sinner caught in the very act of adultery. Jesus does this first by convicting the angry crowd that they were also sinners, just like this woman and none of them were worthy to cast the first stone. And ultimately she is spared the punishment decreed for the crime but his parting words to the women were “Go and sin no more”.

This attitude to Justice is written about in Paul’s letter to the Romans today as well.

Whilst stressing that you can’t be saved by following the law, nevertheless, paradoxically perhaps Paul is certain that God wants the law to be fulfilled and that love is the fulfilling of that law.

Paul stresses that as Christians we have started a new life, living our lives according to God, what Paul calls, “putting on Christ” as opposed to living our lives as slaves to sin.

Forbearance and tolerance and living together in a workable unity within the church would be an observable sign that the commandment to love others as you love yourself is being adhered to within the community of believers. That is not to say there won’t be dissention and arguments, but they must be worked through with love and compassion being the watchwords.

The pattern in the gospel talks of a gradual escalation from tackling problems in person through to a meeting with witnesses to finally the church as a whole making a judgement if the two warring parties can’t come to an accord.

What the specific difficulties might have been is not spelled out but the general idea is to keep things contained as far as one can without upsetting the church as a whole.

And underpinning all these decisions is we are aiming for justice laced with a healthy dose of compassion just like God exhibits in his dealings with mankind.

How we deal with each other and treat each other is a good way of telling how we will deal with people outside our ranks.

Everything from the small things to the big things should bear the hallmark of the same approach and rationale. Justice shot through with mercy..

It is not easy. We are not God and don’t presume to possess his wisdom  but we do have the Bible, we have communal worship and prayer and we have private prayer where we seek insights into God’s wisdom. That is the best reason to read the scriptures.

A good place to start is the old evangelical acronym WWJD – what would Jesus do? - when we have difficult decisions to make and the way forward looks uncertain. Consult scripture, the traditions of the church, and pray and contemplate upon what you receive.