November 6, 2005

End Time 2 (Last Judgment)

I flew back from Ottawa last night.  In a long line waiting to go through security, I was standing there nonchalantly, with my watch on, my belt on, a pocket full of change, my cell phone in hand, shoes on.  I had plenty of time.  But all of a sudden, they opened another line, and the attendant said, “Step right over.”  It was time to go through security!  But now I wasn’t ready!  I had all this metal stuff on me.  Stuff that would make the warning buzzers go crazy!  I thought I had more time!  But there was no way I would get through that gate without removing all these metal things!  I had to get rid of them.  I wasn’t ready.  The line was too short.

Our readings today tell us that our day of redemption, Judgment Day, is coming.  We often think we have plenty of time.  We usually don’t see it as something that is coming today.  Maybe we don’t think we will see it in our lifetime.  We might think that we will have long and fulfilled lives.  But the truth is, it could come at any time!  Life could be shorter than we think!

So to get ready, our text tells us that we need to get rid of some things:  bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and malice.  These things don’t belong in our perfect home in heaven!  They would set off the alarms in the same blaring fashion that having a bunch of metal objects on you would set off the airport security alarms!  Christ has made us holy people with his life and death.  The Holy Spirit has given us faith in that good news.  So it is no longer fitting for us to be carrying around these dangerous objects: bitterness and anger.  And though we think we have plenty of time to work on forgiving others and loving others, you never know when the line of life will become shorter!  Friends, Life’s Too Short to be Bitter!

One day, two monks were walking through the countryside. As they walked, they spied an old woman sitting at the edge of a river. She was upset because there was no bridge, and she could not get across on her own. The first monk kindly offered, “We will carry you across if you would like.” “Thank you,” she said gratefully, accepting their help. So the two men lifted her and carried her across the river. On the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way.

After they had walked another mile, the second monk began to complain. “Look at my clothes,” he said. “They are filthy from carrying that woman across the river. And my back still hurts from lifting her. I can feel it getting stiff.” The first monk just smiled and nodded. A few more miles up the road, the second monk griped again, “My back is hurting me so badly, and it is all because we had to carry that silly woman across the river! I cannot go any farther because of the pain.” The first monk looked down at his partner, now lying on the ground, moaning.  “Have you wondered why I am not complaining?” he asked. “Your back hurts because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles ago.”

Are we like that in dealing with bitterness? We are often that second monk who can’t let go.  We hold the pain of the past over our loved ones’ heads like a club, or we remind them every once in a while, when we want to get the upper hand, of the burden we still carry because of something they did years ago. And we end up being miserable.  Life’s too short for that!

Sometimes, when I come to church on Sunday, I notice faces. Angry ones.  Sometimes people come to church with scowls on their faces, angry at the world.  Husbands & wives walk in, almost afraid to look at each other, or children are staring daggers at one another. We see people all around us bitter & angry: angry at the world because it hasn’t given them enough; angry at God because they think He hasn’t treated them fairly; angry at their spouses because marriage is not everything they expected it to be; angry at their children; angry at their neighbours; angry at their job. Angry!

Have YOU been bitter with someone?  Has someone done something that you just can’t forgive?  Is there a sin in someone’s past that keeps getting you angry with them from time to time?  Are you holding out on forgiving them?  Are you holding on to that grudge?  Being bitter?  Does it make you feel good?  I doubt it!  Being bitter is not fun!  It takes the enjoyment out of life!  It makes life miserable, just like it did for that monk.

It does something else, too.  It separates you from God.  It keeps you from walking into his eternal home.  Bitterness is sin.  Sin that grieves God, that grieves his Holy Spirit.  Sin that disqualifies you from entering his presence.  If you are holding on to bitterness, anger, and rage, heaven’s security alarms are going go be blaring out on Judgment Day!  Call bitterness what it is: sin.  And make no excuses for it.  Because there are none.

But then listen to verse 32.  “in Christ God forgave you.”  In Christ Jesus, in his perfect life that was bitter-less, loving, forgiving, kind, and patient, and in his innocent death He died for you, God has removed from you all the ugly sins that once disqualified you to be with Him!  God forgave you.  God took away the guilt for all of the bitterness, rage, anger, malice, and refusal to forgive others that has been burdening down your life.  You have been cleaned and cleared for entry!  You are forgiven your debt with God!  And your debt was huge!

Jesus told us a story about this, didn’t He? He told about a man who owed an overwhelming debt.  Finally, he stands before the master to whom he is indebted & says, "I can’t pay the debt. I don’t have the money." The master takes the note and stamps it "Paid in full." Then he hands it to him and says, "Here, it is forgiven. You don’t owe me any more." And that is exactly what God does!  In His kindness He reaches down, takes our overwhelming debt, and erases it.  He took it all away!  Friends, you are forgiven!  Right with God!  Cleared!

But do you remember the rest of the story?  This same man then went out and met someone who owed him a much lesser amount. He grabbed him by the neck and said, "Pay me now, or else!"  Too often we behave like that, don’t we?  Even though we have been forgiven, even though we are Christians, we let that bitterness back into our lives.  But our text tells us, "Forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."  That is how to be ready for Judgment Day.  That is how to tell God thank-you for the amazing gift of forgiveness!  And you never know how many chances we will get.  Life’s Too Short to be Bitter!

Forgiveness leaves no room for bitterness. But it isn’t always easy to forgive, is it?  Corrie Ten Boom told of not being able to forget a wrong that had been done to her.  She had forgiven the person, but she kept rehashing the incident and so couldn’t sleep. Finally Corrie cried out to God for help in putting the problem to rest. “His help came in the form of a kindly Lutheran pastor,” Corrie wrote, “to whom I confessed my failure after two sleepless weeks.”

“Up in the church tower,” he said, nodding out the window, “is a bell which is rung by pulling on a rope. But you know what? After the sexton lets go of the rope, the bell keeps on swinging. First ding, then dong. Slower and slower until there’s a final dong and it stops. I believe the same thing is true of forgiveness. When we forgive, we take our hand off the rope. But if we’ve been tugging at our grievances for a long time, we mustn’t be surprised if the old angry thoughts keep coming for a while. They’re just the ding-dongs of the old bell slowing down.”  “And so it proved to be. There were a few more midnight reverberations, a couple of dings when the subject came up in my conversations, but the force—which was my willingness in the matter—had gone out of them. They came less and less often and at the last stopped altogether: we can trust God not only above our emotions, but also above our thoughts.”

Friends, because of Christ Jesus, God forgave you!  He took those sins to the cross!  He paid the penalty for them there!  You are forgiven – even for your bitterness and anger.  And what Jesus did for you on Calvary was the most important event in your life.

Imagine that the most important thing that could happen in your life happens, but afterward, nothing changes. You graduate from college, but instead of going out and getting a job, you just go home and continue to live with Mom and Dad, getting an allowance, and years later at the age of 40, still having a curfew. Graduation day comes and goes – and nothing changes.  Or you finally get that promotion.  But instead of going to your new office with its corner window and beautiful view, you go to your same old cubical in the basement.  Promotion day comes and goes – and nothing changes. Or you get married, and after the wedding service, the bride goes home to her parents and the groom goes home to his!  It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?

Imagine Jesus being crucified.  He is put in a grave.  Buried.  But then He is resurrected. He comes to life.  He lives again!  We are forgiven!  It changes everything!  But what would have happened if, after Christ’s resurrection, Peter had gone back to his fishing boat and lived out his life?  What would have happened if all of the disciples just went back to their old way of life?  What would have happened if none of the Gospels had been written?  What would have happened if that message of forgiveness through Christ was never shared?  The resurrection of Christ is not the type of event that you celebrate once, but doesn’t change your life.  It changes everything!  You cannot celebrate the good news about Jesus, but then go out unchanged!

That would be like graduating college, but then staying at home with Mom and Dad, getting an allowance, and living under a curfew!  It’s absurd, but it happens!  When people refuse to forgive as they have been forgiven.  When people remain bitter.  There is no reason to be bitter!  Life is too short for that!  Jesus made sure there was no reason to ever be bitter again.  Because of Him, God is not bitter with us!  That news makes a difference!  So let’s live as if it makes a difference!  Let’s forgive because Jesus forgave us.  No more bitterness!   Amen.

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