Above: The Last Judgment
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Faithful God, most merciful judge,
you care for your children with firmness and compassion.
By your Spirit nurture us who live in your kingdom,
that we may be rooted in the way of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 43
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The Assigned Readings:
Nahum 1:1-13 (Monday)
Zephaniah 3:1-3 (Tuesday)
Daniel 12:1-13 (Wednesday)
Psalm 75 (All Days)
Revelation 14 (Monday)
Galatians 4:21-5:1 (Tuesday)
Matthew 12:15-21 (Wednesday)
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“I will appoint a time,” says God;
“I will judge with equity.
Though the earth and all its inhabitants are quaking,
I will make its pillars fast.
I will say to the boasters, ‘Boast no more,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not toss your horns;
Do not toss your horns so high,
nor speak with a proud neck.’”
For judgment is neither from the east nor from the west,
nor yet from the wilderness or the mountains.
–Psalm 75:2-6, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The readings for these three days speak of freedom, judgment, and mercy. In Nahum 1 mercy for the Israelites was judgment upon the Assyrians. Judgment upon Jerusalem came in Zephaniah 3. The authors of Daniel 12 and Revelation 14 wrote of an eschatological judgment, something one reads about (sort of) in Matthew 12. Condemnation resulted from the abuse of freedom.
The late C. H. Dodd summarized a vital lesson in these readings better than my ability to paraphrase. The Kingdom of God, Dodd wrote, is nearer to or further away only from a human, temporal perspective.
There are particular moments in the lives of men and in the history of mankind when what is permanently true (if largely unrecognized) becomes manifestly and effectively true. Such a moment is reflected in the gospels….But when a person (or a society) has been presented with such a challenge and declines it is not just where he was before. His position is the worse for the encounter. It is this that gives point to the tremendous warnings that Jesus is reported to have uttered about the consequences of rejection….Whatever possibility of disaster may lurk within the choice which is offered, the facing of the choice, in the freedom which the Creator allows to his creatures, in itself raises life to greater intensity. The coming of the kingdom meant the open possibility of enhancement of life; it also meant the heightening of moral responsibility.
–The Founder of Christianity (New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1970), pages 57-58
May we exercise our freedom to become better people, build up our neighborhoods and society, lift each other up, seek the common good, and glorify God. May our love for God and each other be active and contagious. And may our words, even if they are impressive in the service of God, be far less eloquent than our actions in the same cause. May all of this prove to be true because righteousness is good and we seek that which is good. And may we succeed by grace and be among God’s faithful servants.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 13, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTONY OF PADUA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
THE FEAST OF G. K. (GILBERT KEITH) CHESTERTON, AUTHOR
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Adapted from This Post:
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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