I'm not very happy about hell at the moment.
My confirmation kids and I had a great discussion at a lock-in this weekend about Hell. The kids wanted to know if it was a place, like, "for real?"
I gave them a brillian (I thought!) explanation on how sin is a state of separation from God, others and self and how it was possible that hell was not a place but a state of being in separation.
Then, on Sunday night during my prayer time, I read the text that I will preach on this upcoming Sunday, Luke 16:19-31, the story of the Lazarus and the rich man.
Lemme break it down: a poor man named Lazaurs lives outside a rich man's gates. Lazarus dies and angels escort him to heaven pronto. The rich man dies too, and goes to Hades, do not pass go, do not collect $200. The rich man BEGS Lazarus for just a drop of water but the chasm is too far to cross. Then the rich man BEGS someone to go tell his brothers so they may avoid such a fate. Too bad, is the reply. Those left on earth should listen to Moses and the prophets. The End.
Seriously. The rich man in Hades? And I just go through telling the Confirmation kids there might not be a physical place called hell. Great.
Looks like I have some work to do before Sunday. Help?!?
4 comments:
Does hell really matter? I tend to think hell is a real physical place, just as much as heaven is, but who cares? (I don't mean that in a rude sort of way.) I think, and I well could be wrong here, that the passages for this week are about where your contentment is. Once again, I think, we're challenged with who our focus is on. Where are our priorities? We are called to focus on God, and all else doesn't really matter... in the grand scheme of things.
Brad-
Thanks for the great feedback...I really appreciate that insight.
It doesn't REALLY matter if there is a geographical heaven or hell...where are our hearts now?
Thanks for this reminder!
For me an important clue is found in Matthew 28. When an earthquake rolled the stone away from His tomb, Jesus’ physical body was not there. This is an important point. They did not see His lifeless body, they saw nothing – not even his clothes (well, they did not mention any clothes). The Angel told the two Marys present, “He is not here, He has risen.” As they ran to tell the disciples what they had (had not) seen they met Jesus on the road – physically met him – they “…clasped his feet and worshipped him.”
A more comfortable 21st century version might be that the stone was pushed aside and Mary Magdalene saw his lifeless body at once fill with color, then breathe, then rise and greet her. That would have been pretty miraculous as well. But that is not what the Bible tells us. All four Gospels teach that Jesus arose bodily from the dead. His physical body. We’re told in Peter and Colossians that He went to hell for three days, and then Jesus returns to earth.
Jesus’ physical body must have went somewhere for three days, we’re told it was hell. If He was physically there, occupying 3D space, it must be a physical space somewhere at the very least.
We had the same Bible text this past Sunday, Luke 16:19-31, the story of the Lazarus and the rich man. I was excited to hear that a visiting Pastor would be giving the sermon, Stephen Wagner, of the Pastoral Leadership Institute. I figured if anyone could find insight in this story it would be him as he has ministered to the Dallas Cowboys and other professional sports teams. He is a minister to rich men.
What a disappointment. I think he composed his words as he spoke. He tied his sermon the church missions – that we needed to be active and invest our time and money in them. I was expecting the story of Ed “Too – Tall” Jones or some other Cowboy superstar recognizing the frailty of his wealth and turning to Jesus – something schmaltzy. I guess he told us what we needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. He did have a lovely smock and sash on however – Billy Graham hair too.
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