Navigating Divine Judgment: A Compassionate Lens | Rev. Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert

Rev. Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert, Professor of Homiletics at Howard University School of Divinity, joins me for Episode #4208 of Day1 to discuss his sermon “The Day is Coming.” In this moment from their conversation, they dive into one of the most challenging—and often misunderstood—ideas in Christian theology: divine judgment.

For many Christians, the word “judgment” can sound foreboding or even harsh. But Dr. Gilbert invites us to see it differently. Not as condemnation, but as affirmation that God’s justice still prevails. Drawing inspiration from theologian Walter Wink and the Gospel of Luke, I love this exchange, as it reveals a fresh way to understand judgment as both moral clarity and grace in motion.

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Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
I heard in your sermon, "The Day is Coming," something that I had never heard before, which was—judgment is coming. Which, as a good liberal, mainline Protestant, I'm like, "Oh, judgment, goodness!" No, I actually heard it as really affirming and like, "No, judgment and justice are coming. It hasn't been lost, it's not gone.

It hasn't left the building." Like, there is somebody driving the bus. And I'm reeling a little, even thinking about God's judgment in a way that's affirming. And I'm inwardly—I'll just be really vulnerable here—worried, like, that I'm wishing my enemies the worst and I'm hoping for people to suffer.

Help me out. Tell me how I misheard or have maltreated your prophetic preaching.

Rev. Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert
No, you didn't mishear, you didn't mishear. When judgment can be affirming, when you know your own sort of record will be scrutinized just as those who are iniquitous in their behavior—like wickedness of another sort—you really want, as the psalmist often declared, judgment to be brought upon those who practice wickedness.

And I think it's very human to desire that, because we all, to some degree, want to protect what we perceive as ours. But at the same time, we who are true believers, I believe, want to make sure that those who are less fortunate than we have access to those same resources, if not more.

For me, Dr. Gilbert reframes divine judgment not as something to fear, but as a manifestation of God’s faithfulness. When justice seems delayed, judgment reminds us that God is still active, still discerning, still bringing light to darkness.

Rather than fueling vengeance, this view of judgment invites humility. It challenges us to examine our own hearts while trusting that God’s justice extends beyond our control and imagination. Judgment, then, becomes an act of grace, a divine affirmation that righteousness and mecry are not forgotten.

For preachers and theologians, this conversation opens space to reconsider how we speak of judgment from the pulpit, not as threat, but as hope. For every believer, it calls us to hold faith that God’s justice, even when unseen, is already at work among us.

• How might our faith change if we saw judgment as grace rather than punishment?
• What would it look like to trust God’s justice when the world feels unjust?
• How can preachers speak of judgment in ways that restore hope instead of fear?

Explore Rev. Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert’s full sermon from Episode 4208 >>>