December 8, 2019 – Matthew 3:1-12
Matthew 3:1-12
Jesus the Good Judge
Second Sunday of Advent – December 8, 2019
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
Judgment. That’s the word of the day!
Let’s just get it right out at the beginning!
That is probably what you’re going to take away from the Gospel reading.
John announces that the one who comes after him, the Messiah,
is going to bring judgment.
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, and will gather his wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
Yikes!
I want to talk about judgment.
I think this kind of language makes many of us uncomfortable.
Because none of us like being judged.
Being judged feels very destructive – like it tears you down on the inside.
Many of us feel judged for how we look, or the clothes we wear,
or how much money we make, or the colour of our skin, or our sexuality,
or our marital status, and on and on and on.
Never mind that Jesus commands us not to judge one another and leave it to God;
we judge one another all the time.
And it feels terrible.
But what about when it is Jesus doing the judging?
Do we want Jesus judging us?
Probably the answer is no.
But I’m going to suggest that maybe the answer is yes, and even more that it is good news.
The thing is: we use the word judgment in at least a couple of different ways.
The first way is the negative way, the “judgmental” way of using it,
the way that is meant to tear down.
But there is also the positive way of using the word.
The word judgment in itself simply means to see something clearly, with perception,
to know a thing as it truly is.
So maybe John is saying that the one who is coming after him sees us this way.
That Jesus is a good judge, that Jesus is the one who sees us clearly, as we truly are.
Yes: Jesus sees the chaff in us and in our world.
Jesus sees the destructive things, the fear, the injustice, the prejudice, the violence.
Yes: Jesus sees all that clearly.
But Jesus looks with the eyes of love.
Jesus sees us clearly, sees us as we truly are – so the chaff is not the only thing the person with
the best judgment sees about us and our world.
The good judge also sees the very best in us, sees the gifts that have been given us
by a good and gracious and generous God, sees the good, the worthy, the beautiful.
That is the wheat, the good stuff, the stuff worth keeping.
The rest? The chaff? The stuff that gets in the way of the good, the worthy, and the beautiful?
With the winnowing fork of love Jesus burns it all away, leaving only the good.
All that fear and injustice and violence that keeps the world from being the place
God created it to be will be burned away, both inside of us and outside of us.
And that is very good news.
In his ministry, Jesus will encounter many people whom he “sees,” the Gospel writers tell us.
That seems like such an insignificant detail but in fact it is the most important detail.
He sees them, he knows them as they truly are.
He sees that they are more than their illness, more than their mistakes,
more than their prejudices,
and more than the terrible things that have happened to them.
He sees their goodness, their beauty, their worth.
And his love? His love is what burns the rest away.
That is what it means to encounter Jesus, the good judge, the good judge of us, and of our world.
This morning, what does Jesus the good judge see?
He sees a community full of people who are full of gifts given by a good and generous God.
He sees you clearly as you are: beautiful, good, worthy.
But he also discerns the chaff that is getting in the way you being your best self.
He sees the pain and the trauma, he sees the guilt and the shame.
He sees the lack of self-confidence every bit as much as he sees the pride.
The good judge comes among us and . . . loves us just he sees us.
And with the winnowing fork of love separates the wheat from the chaff –
and burns up the useless chaff, leaving only the wheat, the stuff that can feed others.
That is how the good judge works.
That is how love works.
That is good news.
This morning the good judge looks at Kohlton and sees him clearly.
He sees Kohlton in a way we cannot – we are sure the Holy Spirit has given Kohlton many gifts
that will be of use to others in this world, but we cannot yet see most of them.
Here in this community of love those gifts will come to light.
And he will have an opportunity to use them and gain confidence in using them.
You will love him and the stuff that is getting in the way of his being his best self
will be burned away.
Leaving only the good, the worthy, the beautiful . . . the useful.
Just like every single one of us.
Let the good judge take a good look at you.
It seems frightening but really it’s not because here’s the thing:
the good judge sees us clearly as we are – and that is a great thing.
It is often very difficult to look in the mirror and see ourselves as we are.
We often see only the chaff – it is very hard for us to see the beautiful in ourselves.
But the good judge sees in us what we often cannot see:
that we are full of gifts that are useful to others.
Sees that we are good, that we are worthy, that we are beautiful.
Sees that we have light, and generosity, and compassion, and love, and grace.
The good judge sees all this, and loves us into ever more loveliness.
Let us all aim to see the very best in one another and in ourselves and in our world.
Let us all have a hand in helping Kohlton to see the very best in himself.
Let us more and more be a community in which the good and the beautiful is nurtured.
Together, let us give thanks to Jesus the good judge and together let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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