Reading: Jude, Psalm 39

We have come to one of the most interesting and least read letters in the New Testament. The letter of Jude is very short and has a very clear point, so one might think it would get trotted out regularly for sermons and lessons in the church. I have attended thousands of church services, and listened to even more sermons by podcast, and yet cannot recall a single message rooted in the letter of Jude. Why would that be? I’m going to guess that the answer rests in the odd collection of quotations in the letter from things like 1 Enoch, and the Testament of Moses. These books were popular reading for pious Jews in the first century, but create all sorts of awkwardness for the modern reader. Sort of like someone a thousand years from now trying to read into references to The Avengers, or Star Wars.

The thing is, these references are not the central point of the letter. They are the illustrations. Jude, who according to tradition was the brother of James and half-brother of Jesus, was writing to one of the churches he ministered to. We don’t know exactly where it was. Also according to tradition, Jude was a tireless traveling minister, traversing the ancient world of the eastern Mediterranean preaching the gospel, starting churches, and writing letters to them during his travels. Only one such letter has survived, though short as it is it references Jude’s desire to write a longer work exploring the theology of salvation. This letter deals with much more practical matters, which will seem quite familiar to readers of the letters of Paul, James, and John: the distortion of God’s grace as license to sin, false teaching of the same, and the ultimate doom of such people. Jude makes no secret of his purpose: Certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. The rest of the letter is illustrations from Scripture and popular literature of how these people are terrible and doomed.

He starts with the example of the people of Israel as they escaped from Egypt. Despite having just saved them, Jude says God killed a bunch of them for their rebelliousness. Then he goes into left field with an example about fallen angels. Where did that come from? This is where Jude gets weird and we get nervous about it. But I don’t think it is that big a deal. We use cultural referents all the time, and this is what Jude is doing. He next switches back to a story directly from Scripture about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, which caused God to annihilate them with fire. Then he goes oddball again with a story about the archangel Michael , who we last heard about in the book of Daniel as the Prince of Israel opposing the Prince of Persia. Finally we get a quote from the book of 1 Enoch, which is credited to the antediluvian character from the book of Genesis. This book is not Scripture, but the people Jude was writing to knew the story.

So what is the upshot of all this? It should all sound pretty familiar. Jude has nothing good to say about people who use the grace of God expressed in the gospel and use it as license for wicked behavior. Among a host of other insults, he calls them shepherds who feed themselves. Jude underscores the importance of Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus, where he makes such a big deal of leadership and teaching qualifications. Greedy and self indulgent people cannot be allowed to lead the people of God, or they will starve the sheep to feed themselves. We have seen the concern of Jude replayed through generation after generation of the church, as leaders become enamored of their status and ability to gain wealth, fame, and attention.

What is Jude’s solution? To show mercy, and snatch out of the fire those who might be saved. It is specifically not to pronounce judgment on them. Jude’s reference to the angel Michael telling Satan The Lord rebuke you is intended to warn against this natural reaction. No, Jude has another idea. You, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Jude’s advice about these bad teachers is to be patient, waiting for God’s justice. In the meantime, have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. It is the classic and much maligned “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” Turns out that despite current cultural trends, it is a pretty good idea.

Jude closes the letter with a magnificent doxology, crediting God for allowing the believers to hear the good confession that brought them to repentance, and for the sustaining grace that allows them to endure in the face of persecution and bad teaching.