Now is not the time for judgment
Gospel points to the last day when the living and the dead will be judged
December 2, 2007 -- First Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Mike Stubbs
Consider this situation. Two cars crash and are totaled. One driver is killed instantly, while the other driver walks away unscathed. We might chalk up that outcome to fate. We may
attribute it to God's mysterious plan. But most likely we would not judge the survivor to be a better person than the one killed in the wreck, solely on the basis of what happened to them. We would not rush to judgment.
On the other hand, the situation that I have described parallels a section of Sunday's Gospel reading, Matthew 24:37-44. The Gospel reading outlines a series of events in which two persons are involved in the same situation. The Gospel presents these events as part of a prophecy about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In each case, one person is taken away, and the other person is left behind. In the first case, there are two farmers working in the field. Next, there are two women grinding meal. These are very ordinary, every-day activities, at least they were at the time of Jesus.
The Gospel does not explain the reason for the fates of the individuals in question. On the surface, they appear to resemble one another. But the Gospel reading suggests that there is far more to them. Are the persons taken away guilty of some secret sin, revealed only by their punishment? Is this the moment of judgment for them? Are those left behind saved from tribulation? Is the disaster a way of sorting out the good from the bad?
Or, is there a completely different process at work here? Are those taken away picked at random by an arbitrary and capricious catastrophe? Does the fate of the individuals not depend at all on their moral status, but on something else, as we would assume in the situation I mentioned earlier about the car wreck?
Admittedly, the Gospel reading directs us toward the last day, when the Lord will return to judge the living and the dead. The secrets of all will be made manifest. The reason for reward and for punishment will be clear to all.
The Gospel uses these scenes of everyday life as metaphors to make a point about that judgment. At the same time, it would be a mistake to read back into our present life the judgment anticipated by the Gospel. The time for judgment is on the last day, and not now.
Nonetheless, the Gospel reading seeks to establish a link between that final judgment and our everyday lives. Judgment will break upon us suddenly, just as the flood in the days of Noah. It can arrive in the midst of our daily work. What we do every day has a direct bearing upon that judgment. How we live our lives will determine whether we stand with the sheep, or the goats, with those destined for eternal life, or those destined for damnation. All will be made clear at the Last Judgment.
(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)
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