Remembering wrath

Preachers are tempted to keep our congregations happy, both by what we do in and out of the pulpit. I prefer preaching grace to wrath (more flies with honey and such). Preaching grace is not only happier, it's less threatening in most cases to entrenched sin in the congregation. That's one reason I like being reminded (in this case, by Scot McKnight) of the place of wrath in the Word:

There are many today who shy away from this theme in Paul’s writings, and some even suggest this theme is catastrophic for grace or something we should today tone down since it is so incredibly aggressive. Perhaps so, perhaps so. But is there any way to read the Bible, and you can begin with Deuteronomy 28 at least, and not see that a fundamental and unvarying warrant for getting the attention of humans is to warn them of finality? Is there any other way to read the prophets? Even if the focus of many of the OT passages, perhaps even most, is historical judgment, is there not in this something invisible being revealed through the visible? Is there not a clear and enduring strain in the Bible that says we will ultimately be accountable to God?

Yes, there is.