It's Sunday and Judgment Is Comin'

In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, [pronounced] long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. - 2 Peter 2:3

Perhaps you have heard of the sermon, popularized by Tony Campolo, called "It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin'." It speaks of the tragic events of Jesus' crucifixion, death, and burial followed by the believer's joy in the resurrection. In other words, life may sometimes feel like "Friday," but "Sunday" is coming. This prompted me to think of a new sermon title based upon Peter's warning for false teachers. I call it "It's Sunday and Judgment's Comin'."

Peter wrote about the judgment to come upon those who (due to greed) are guilty of deceiving the flock of God. He didn't really address the manner of their deception, but let me suggest that like the false prophets of old, false prophets only proclaim half-truths. They love to pronounce blessing, blessing, and more blessing, tickling the ears of the multitude, yet avoid the message of necessary repentance from sin; therefore, they preach half-truths (which are the same thing as a lie).

This Sunday every preacher, in every pulpit across the globe, will proclaim "something," but some of it will not be God's Word. Yes, it will be Sunday, but tragically, for many, judgment is coming.

Just as people can watch spellbound a circus artist tumbling through the air in a phosphorized costume, so they can listen to a preacher who uses the Word of God to draw attention to himself. Instead of being the way to God, his "being different" gets in the way. - Henri Nouwen