Romans 14:7–12
Luke 15:1–1
It is fortuitous that we have heard this passage from Romans during the first week of this month. This text is one of those suggested for proclamation at Masses for the Dead. Here we are having remembered all the Faithful Departed two days ago. Along with them, those departed whom we know and have loved and appreciated in a particular way for the witness they gave us. This remembering of the dead and the experience of dying we stay in touch with throughout this month.
In this regard, Paul makes two clear points today:
The first is Christological. Christ is the Lord because of his dying and rising. This means that the human experiences of living and dying come under his lordship. That goes for each of us as well as all of us as community. If Christ is lord, then who are we? It is understood that we are the servants of Christ. This servanthood to Christ carries with it the implication that we are not lords of ourselves or of others. If we take baptism seriously, then we realize that we are in a permanent relationship to Christ. We no longer stand alone; we are not the source of the power and energy in our lives or our death. It all comes from Christ. Baptism releases us from any self-centered focus, as though everything revolves around me or us. Instead, we live for someone, the Lord. The new life Christ brings is other centered. As Paul would say, it is in the Lord. We are not free agents with our own agenda. We belong to Christ and he sets the agenda, including the agenda of death. Now, we do not die for ourselves, we do not die alone. We do not die isolated. We die toward someone, toward the Lord, in the Lord. Death is no longer a separation, a pulling away. It is transformed to become our final yes to the lordship of Christ. We surrender to him. We might ask ourselves how do we look upon our own death? Do we subtly leave it out of any relationship to Christ, Christ who has filled it with meaning?
The second point draws out an implication of this: If Jesus is Lord of the whole spectrum of existence and he is Lord for all who are in him, then I cannot sit in judgment over my brothers and sisters. They are not mine to think bad thoughts about, to look down on, or to consider less. The Lordship of Christ relieves me of having to put others in categories. Judging the behavior of others who belong to the Lord does not belong to me. Their way of acknowledging Christ as Lord may not be mine, but that gives me no authority to determine their status or final outcome.
Judgment is often associated with death and usually negatively. It is often associated with punishment and hence fear. But judgment is really about accountability. I am a servant and I have been entrusted with something from the Lord. What have I done with that? And that something is about relationships in the community.
Accountability is not negative. It is an expression of maturity, of being an adult. And the judgment we will experience is simply whether we have been faithful and good servants in all matters of our lives, including my final days and my final breath. Christ is Lord of my last days as well as of my first days and my in-between days. We are always living for someone else. If we are not, then maybe we are outside the pale of the new humanity the risen Lord has brought.