Our reading from John today is apocalyptic:  “The hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”  It talks of those in their graves hearing his voice and been judged according to their deeds:  those who have “done good” will be resurrected to life and those who have done evil will be condemned. 

 Since everyone of us has done evil – the hope for us lies in verse 24: “Anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.”  Jesus says that the Father has given all judgment to the Son.  If we hear and believe; we will not “come under judgment, but . . . pass from death to life.” 

Is this saying that those who believe will be given a free pass; we will not be judged according to our deeds on earth?  The answer comes, I believe in what we understand life to be.  Belief in Christ, belief in God is, as this passage suggests life giving, which is not to say it keeps the heart pumping and the blood flowing.  Instead, it is transforming, it shapes our understanding of the universe and our relationships with others and with God.  “The hour is coming, and is now here.”  The hours is coming for those who do not yet believe.  But for those that believe, the hour in which the Son of Man will descend upon the earth has already arrived – it is now! 

We need not wait for Earthquakes and Flood to signal Christ’s arrival, for Christ is now here.  Those who hear and believe are exempt from judgment because they are transformed and, like Christ, see what the Father is doing – feeding the hungry, tending to the sick – they see what the Father is doing and do likewise.  Our faith may wax and wane, but if we allow Christ to work through us, as Christ allowed the Father to work through him, we can see the good, the potential for love, in everyone.

            For many, the focus in this passage is on the coming of the messiah and on the day of reckoning – the Day of Judgment.  It is a focus that invokes fear and panic.  Many people have turned to God because of the closing phrase in this passage which says that those who have done evil will receive, “the resurrection of condemnation.”  They are afraid of what will happen to them in the future and therefore turn to God. 

“The hour is coming, and is now here.”  This one clause, “and is now here,” carries with it the key to living in the present.  We are drawn to life in Christ because without him, we are already dead.  We need not believe in Christ for fear of judgment, for Christ is the source of life today, now, here!  Therefore, turning to Christ is turning from dead to life.

In closing, I would like to ask you to turn to page 120 in our Book of Common Prayer and so that we can read together the The Song of Simeon – a passage from Luke read as part of Evening Prayer.  It’s at the top of page 120.