To be judged. . .

It is always a curious thing when someone complains that they did not go to church to be judged.  But that is precisely why we go to church, isn't it?  What else does St. Peter mean?  For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  (1 Peter 4:17).  We are judged in the Church so that we may be absolved and restored from our sin.  Without this judgment, we are left to await the final judgment when there will be no opportunity for repentance and no possibility of restoration -- only the final condemnation of what it means to be judged outside of Christ.

I wish we could get it through our heads that this judgment is a good thing.  Sure, no one likes to be reminded of their sin but God reminds of our sin not so that this sin may condemn us but so that we may confess it, plead the blood of Christ, and be forgiven.  This is exactly what John 3:17 says.  He did not send His Son into the world as the new lawgiver to condemn us even more or even to allow the old law to keep us captive to death.  He sent His Son into the world so that we might be saved.  That is exactly what happens every Sunday and in times of private confession when sinners gather before a holy God only to hear the unthinkable from the only One who is righteous -- I forgive you.  It is surely this that Jesus had in mind when gathered with His disciples on Easter evening He said exactly this -- whatsoever sins you forgive in My name are forgiven.  This peculiar power is not odd in the sense of being rare or unusual but because it represents the surprise of mercy to a people who expect justice (even when delusion presumes that justice is in our favor!).

There is no place where judgment is waived but there is a place where mercy answers judgment.  That is the blessing of God and it is why we are so bold as to confess.  He has promised to have mercy.  Is this not what John is saying?  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)  It is a false Gospel to say that God has set aside His judgment and merely shrugs His shoulders at our sin or ignores it completely.  That is no Gospel at all.  The true Gospel is the despite our sin and God's judgment against that sin, there is an answer in the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all our sin.

If you want to go to a church where you are immune from judgment, you can certainly do so.  But that church has nothing to do with Jesus Christ.  It is precisely this kind of delusional thinking and this type of distortion that robs the Gospel of its power and steals from us the only comfort and hope we can have.  So let us be honest here.  We confess our sin because we know God to be more than just and it is this mercy that answers the judgment against us.  Thanks be to God!  I want to go where what I know is true from reason and from my own guilt and shame find an answer.  I want to come under the judgment of God for my sin now in the day of salvation so that I might also come under the banner of the blood of Christ.