You fool!

Sermon for the sixth Sunday after Trinity

Is Jesus in danger of Hellfire?

"Of course not," you say,

"What a silly thing to say!"

But listen.

Our Lord says clearly,

"whosoever shall say, 

Thou fool, shall be 

in danger of hell fire."

But later, 

He says to the Pharisees,

"Ye fools and blind: 

for whether is greater, 

the gold, or the temple 

that sanctifieth the gold?

Ye fools and blind:

for whether is greater, 

the gift, or the altar 

that sanctifieth the gift?"

Twice does He call 

the Pharisees fools.

Surely, by His own words,

Jesus is in danger of Hellfire.

[PAUSE]

Of course Our Lord

sits at the right hand 

of the Father in Glory.

So what's happening here.

What does Our Lord mean

by calling someone

a fool

and why are we 

in danger of Hellfire 

if we do?

The word for fool

that Our Lord is using

has a sense of being unable to speak.

In fact, 

it might be related 

to our word

"mystery".

A fool does not know

what he is talking about.

To be a fool

is not to understand anything,

and to pretend that you do.

When Our Lord calls 

the Pharisees fools

He is speaking the truth

because they are blind

to the truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

He knows that 

they don't know 

what they are talking about

but are leading the people astray

and giving them 

unfair burdens to bear.

If Our Lord is justified

in calling Pharisees fools,

why can't we call people fools

if they don't know 

what they are talking about?

[PAUSE]

You already know the answer.

We might be wrong.

To judge another's knowledge

as being wrong 

means we have to be certain

that we are right.

We are judged

in the same way we judge others.

Our Lord judges 

the Pharisees fools

not for their damnation

but their salvation.

He shakes them

in love

so that they can see the truth

and that others see the truth.

But we don't have 

the same authority

because we don't have 

perfect knowledge

or perfect love.

It means that

we have to examine

ourselves

to see why we think

that someone is a fool.

We also need to 

examine ourselves

to ensure that

the person we think is foolish

is still someone

we love as a human being.

Our Lord makes it clear

that we are only justified

in calling someone a fool

to save them from Hellfire

out of love for them

and of God

and not for any sense

of our pride

or moral superiority.

This is why 

calling someone a fool

leads into danger of Hellfire.

Hellfire can only be avoided

by Love

and by Truth.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord 

is the Way out 

of the pains of Hellfire.

We would be

fools

not to follow Him!