Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell.
Should we be thinking
of Hell so near Christmas?
Isn't it a decidedly
unChristmassy thing
to think about amid
all the tidings of
comfort and joy?
[PAUSE]
We must admit
that what happens after this life
is not directly accessible for us.
While Heaven is
more obviously tied
to the promise of God,
Hell seems less clear cut.
If Heaven is Tahiti
then Hell could be anywhere
other than Tahiti,
like Milan,
Ouagadougou,
or London.
But, as we have seen,
Heaven is anywhere
that we can see and interact
directly with God.
It seems reasonable
that Hell is exclusion
from seeing and interacting
directly with God.
Jesus does tell us
about being cast into outer darkness
where there is wailing
and gnashing of teeth.
He tells of an undying worm
and flame unquenchable
for those who cause
the innocent to stumble,
and that cutting off hands
is preferable to this.
And yet, the question comes up,
"How can a loving God
consign people
to eternal torment in Hell?"
But likewise there is the other question,
"How can the most evil people
who slaughter millions of innocents
ever be allowed to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven?"
[PAUSE]
Answers to either of these questions
are complicated,
but we must acknowledge
that what awaits us
after this life
has been determined by
a supremely merciful
and supremely just God.
And that whatever awaits us
has been told us
by the patriarchs and prophets,
by apostles and angels
and by the Lord Himself
so that wherever we end up
is determined by ourselves
and the love of God.
[PAUSE]
The big facts are that
we need a saviour
and that we can't save ourselves.
The love of God
provides us with a saviour.
If we say that we don't need a saviour,
then there is nothing more
for us.
Without a saviour,
we cannot leave the
state of Sin, Death.
God tolerates our imperfection
so that we can have
some authorship
of our own being.
We get a say
in our own creation
but we can only become
truly perfect
with the grace of God.
We can choose
to remain imperfect,
incomplete,
choosing unforgiveness
instead of forgiveness,
hatred instead of love,
selfishness instead of generosity,
darkness instead of light
Death instead of Life.
Unforgiveness, hatred,
selfishness, darkness and Death
eat us up,
and their fire cannot be quenched
because, without God,
there is nothing to quench them.
They burn us
because they war
with the person that
we are meant to be.
And the Devil?
He is doomed to crawl on his belly
and eat dust.
But we are dust,
formed of the dust of the earth by God.
The Devil seeks to consume us
and, in so doing,
take away our lives
for as long as he can.
And the worst of it?
This horrible state
could happen to us!
That's certainly not
very Christmassy.
[PAUSE]
But look at the crowds
at the entry into Jerusalem.
Look at them
and hear their Hosanna!
"God save us!"
But this is a cry of joy.
There is no joy in Hell.
We are not in Hell,
nor are we meant for it.
And the crowd knows it.
While they want salvation,
they know that it has arrived
in the Man on the donkey.
While we do dread Hell,
we can rejoice so much
that salvation is here.
In Him we can become perfect.
In Him we can be forgiven
and forgive.
In Him we can love even when hated.
In Him we can find
the strength to be generous
because we have all
that we could ever need.
In Him we can see the truth
and there is no darkness
to obscure our sight
or cloud our thinking.
In Him is Life
and Death itself is cast away from us
into the abyss.
[PAUSE]
Yes, the thought of
being eternally lost
is terrifying
but we know that
we needn't be.
We have a saviour.
He is with us,
in the manger,
on the donkey,
on the Cross,
in the tomb
and risen in Glory.
For us.
For you.
So that your worst fear
will not define you,
nor be yours for eternity.
So that all your hopes,
wants, needs and desires
all that you could ever hope for
can be yours
with that little baby in the manger.
Be not afraid,
Hell is not for you.
God is.
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