There was a judge who had the reputation that he could not be bribed. Over the years some had tried – but to their regret they found that the judge had come down even heavier on them for their attempted bribery. Paddy appeared before this judge in a litigation case that seemed unwinnable. He asked his lawyer whether he should send the judge a bottle of champagne and a leg of ham. His lawyer was horrified and told him of the Judge’s reputation. On the day of the trial the hearing was decided in Paddy’s favour – much to the surprise of his lawyer. Paddy explained to him that he had gone ahead and sent the Judge the champagne and the ham. But when his lawyer expressed his amazement Paddy explained that he had sent them in the name of his opponent.
A perversion of justice is anyone’s worst nightmare. And it happens. Paddy’s judge was an incorruptible judge but he wasn’t to know that the champagne and ham bribe had come from Paddy.
The Bible teaches that every person must one day appear before the Judge. Most folk find that a scary thought. The man who painted our flat was certainly not looking forward to the prospect of facing the Judge. Keith had just completed a round of treatment for a serious melanoma before he took on the job. I asked him, “Keith, if you had not survived the cancer would you have been ready to face God as your Judge?” His reply was, “John after what I’ve been through I’ve got some questions I want to ask Him.” I replied, “Keith, I think He’s got some question He might want to ask you!” Keith stopped in his tracks and after a moment of silence said, “That’s a scary thought John.”
Why does the idea of fronting up to God on Judgment Day scare many people witless? Surely God is not like Paddy’s judge. Not only is it true that God cannot be bribed, it is also true that He would know who had tried. God’s judgment will be perfectly just. So what’s to fear? Well, I guess that it’s the same thing that made my painter stop in his tracks: the fact that come Judgement Day we will all have some tough questions to answer. Why did you exaggerate and try to make yourself look better and more important than you are? Why did you pass up an opportunity to help someone when it was within your means to do so? Why did you cheat on your expense account… or was it your tax return? I could easily think of a dozen more questions that God might want to ask me on Judgment Day. There are two things we should keep in mind when thoughts of Judgment Day scare the pants off us.
First we have this tendency to think of Judgment Day rather exclusively in criminal terms. It’s all about accounting for the wrong that we’ve done… and, of course, for the good that we failed to do. However there is another side to Judgment Day. When we’re been horribly wronged by someone, and we take it to court, then we long for our day in court. We want to see wrongs made right again. It’s certainly true that that on Judgment Day we are going to have to answer some tough questions. However, we live in a moral universe and yet some people get away with blue murder. I long for the day when Hitler and his evil henchmen will get their just deserts. I look forward to the day when the criminal who scammed my elderly neighbour next door cops a dose of divine justice.
A second thing we should keep in mind when we think about Judgment Day is who it is who does the judging. It makes a world of difference when you have confidence in the judge. It’s even better when the judge is your friend. In the Apostles’ Creed we confess that Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead. The one who loved me enough to die for me on the cross and who washed me clean from all my sin and failure is the one who will judge me. If, in this moral universe, judgment must take place then I could think of no better person to be my Judge. I mentioned that to Keith, my painter, “Judgment Day is not a scary thought when Jesus is your Saviour, Lord and friend.”
John Westendorp