30th Sunday: Love and the God of Wrath

October 29, 2017

“… Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.” I Thess. 1

Mostly Americans, about 80%, still believe in heaven. About 50%, still believe in hell. Both heaven and hell are part of God’s justice. Adolph Hitler and Anne Frank did not live the same kind of life. Mother Theresa of Calcutta and the shooter in Las Vegas did not lead the same kind of life. Justice makes demands and has consequences. The biblical faith is that God is just and that choices in life have tremendous meaning.

Today’s gospel is from Matthew in which Jesus shares lots of stories about God’s justice. In Matthew 25, Jesus taught on the necessity of justice. He spoke of ten wise virgins who were prepared for the bridegroom’s return and ten foolish virgins who were not prepared. Then he told a story about a man who went away on a journey leaving talents with three servants to invest. He rewarded the two that invested wisely and punished the third who buried his talent. Finally, he said when the ‘Son of Man comes in glory’ he will call everyone to himself and say, when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink and when I was naked you clothed me. ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Mt. 25:40

The God of Wrath!
When is the last time that you heard about the wrath of God? Probably not recently. H. Richard Niebuhr, referring to the disappearance of the God of wrath in America, said “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.” You cannot separate the love of God from the love of justice.

St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, referring to Jesus who saves us from God's wrath, talks about the God of justice as a God of wrath. The Old Testament is full of references to God’s wrath because the prophets were consumed with God's justice. For Paul, God’s wrath is not an emotion that explodes into temper tantrums. Paul is describing God’s absolute enmity against all wrong and his coming to set matters right. God without wrath and justice results in a religiosity with an airy uplift, but it is not Christianity and it is not God.

The God of Love is the God of Wrath
In the Gospel today, also in Matthew, Jesus describes the plan for life. Love God with all your heart and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. He concludes that the entirety of the law and the prophets depend on those two commandments. By love Jesus doesn’t mean sex or self-esteem. He means what is described in the law and the prophets.

In the first reading from Exodus, Moses commanded the people of Israel,

You shall not molest or oppress an alien
You shall not wrong a widow or orphan. 
If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors, you shall not act like an extortionist toward him. Ex. 22

The Life and Dignity of the Human Person: From the womb, to the migrant on our borders, in poverty and unemployment.
The option for the Poor and Vulnerable: How do our decisions as individuals and a society affect the most vulnerable members or our community. Christ instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers: The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected--the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to free economic initiative.