Most Frightening Meaning of Hell: Waste!

Youth Sermon for September 30, 2012  9 a.m. service

Lectionary Link

Kalum: In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  You may be seated.

Kalum: Did you ever have to submit to your teachers a writing assignment?

Connor: Yes, of course.  Why do you think that I ended up nicknaming many of my teachers Mr. and Mrs. Red Ink.

Kalum:  So you get lots of unsolicited corrections on your paper?  Just think of it as free advice.  What kind of free advice do you get?

Connor:  Well, Miss Red Ink will throw some Latin at me.  She’ll write, Non sequitur…which means that she does not think my conclusions follow from my premises.

Kalum:  What other free advice does she offer?

Connor:  She’ll write “run on-sentences.  New Paragraph.  Too many topics in one paragraph."

Kalum: I guess she wants you to be a better writer.

Connor:  It’s a shame that she doesn’t appreciate my intellectual property?

Kalum:  Are you sure?  She’s aware of Wikipedia too, you know.

Connor:  But speaking of too many topics in one paragraph, did you read today’s Gospel?  It seems as though the editor just wanted to cram together lots of topics.

Kalum: Are you saying that the writing style is not inspired?

Connor:  Well, my teacher does not always think that my writing style is inspired.  But it could be that the Gospel is a collection of various sayings of Jesus that were edited and put together by a later editor in the early Christian communities.

Kalum: So they just wanted to preserve the sayings of Jesus and it did not matter that the original situations of the sayings were not remembered.

Connor:  Let us look at some of the topics.  First, competition in the community.

Kalum:  Well, we do have lots of silly competition in religious communities.  Does food that is given to a hungry person taste better if it is given by an Episcopalian or Lutheran or Baptist?

Connor:  Of course not.  I think that we can ruin even a good deed, if we think that our way of doing a good deed is better or more effective than the way someone else does the same deed.  We can ruin a good deed with our pride.

Kalum:  Yes, is that like that man who was extremely proud of his humility?  Did I ever tell you how humble I am????

Connor: It is perhaps sad that today we have so much competition between Christian churches and between different religions.  Some religious people want to say, “Our way of praying is better than yours!”

But the pride of thinking that one is better than others actually overturns the goodness of the religious act.

Kalum:  Jesus was telling his disciples to just be thankful that a person was healed of a painful emotional and spiritual disorder.  It did not matter if it done by someone who was sanctioned by the twelve disciples.

Connor:  Another topic of Jesus had to do with a rather heavy necklace.

Kalum:  Did Jesus talk about jewelry?

Connor:  No, but Jesus often used extreme language to make a strong point.  How many people today say they don’t believe in God because they see some of the bad things that happen because of the fighting of religious people?

Kalum:  People can be offended when they see religious people behaving badly.  And that might actually keep them from faith in God.

Connor: A millstone around the neck and tossed into the sea; that is a very punishing piece of jewelry.

Kalum:  Is that like what the mob used to say about wearing concrete boots in Lake Michigan?

Connor:  Perhaps, but the severity of the image was Jesus’ way of saying that it is a terrible thing to be responsible for turning another persons away from knowing and believing in God’s love.  And especially if it is a “little one,” a child.

Kalum: Well, Jesus did have a knack for severe illustrations. 

Connor: What do you mean?

Kalum:  If we were literal about the words of Jesus we would have to have every parking place at the church designated as handicapped parking.

Connor: Why do say that?

Kalum:  Well, if we had to cut off our hands and feet every time we went wrong or did something wrong, we’d all be physically impaired.

Connor:  So, if Jesus is not being literal what does he mean?

Kalum:  I think that he means that we have to learn how to use all of the gifts of our lives in the right way.  And if we use them wrongly, we need to fast and give up an activity until we learn self control.

Connor:  So, I have to give up eating brownies until I can stop at just eating one or two?

Kalum:  That's partly so.  But everything in life has many uses and God has placed us a managers and stewards of our life resources.

Connor:  Jesus uses severe images to shock us into the right use of all of our functions in life.

Kalum:  And now we get to the most shocking word of all.  Hell.  My mom told me I could not say that word, but the Gospel and this sermon gives me permission:  Hell, hell, hell, hell.

Connor: Don’t over do it or we’ll have to add some censor beeps.

Kalum:  Actually hell and fire may seem like they are severe punishment but it could be that they are productive teaching metaphors.

Connor:  What do you mean? 

Kalum:  Fire is about purification.  Things are sterilized or purified by fire.  The Bible writings often use fire as a symbol for the purifying process of life.  The purpose of our trial and error in this life is like a purifying fire and that is a good thing.  The painful things that we learn in life because of our mistakes can be like the fire that helps us to leave our mistakes behind and take up new behaviors.

Connor:  But what is good about hell?  It is used to talk about an endless place of fire and punishment for bad people or perhaps a place that freezes over if the Cubs ever win the World Series.

Kalum:  The word for hell in the Gospel refers to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.  It is where the waste was burned. 

Connor:  So, Jesus was saying that the most frightening thing that we can do with our lives is waste them.  We should see the fires of the trials of life as a way to get rid of what is wasteful in our lives.

Kalum:  Yes, that is quite an awesome notion about hell.  Jesus is saying to everyone, “Really be frightened by the notion of wasting your life.”

Connor:  I have to admit that is more effective than hell with little devils prancing around with pitch forks.

Kalum: Yes, Jesus was warning his disciples about wasting their lives through pride and petty competition.

Connor:  And we waste our lives and other people’s lives if we don’t live our lives showing others that God is love and that God is interested in salvation and health no matter how it comes or who brings it.

Kalum:  So, in the harsh words of Jesus we are shocked to remember some important things.

Connor:  We need to recognize goodness, no matter who does it. 

Kalum:  We need to learn self control and if necessary fast and give up things completely until we learn self control.

Connor:  And the thought of hell and fire can be very useful.

Kalum:  Jesus says in a very strong way, “Do not waste your lives!”

Connor:  Amen.

Kalum:  Amen. 

Hell As Wasting One's Life

18  Pentecost Cycle B Proper 21 September 30, 2012

Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29  Ps 19

James 4:7-12        Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48

 Lectionary Link

  In Mark’s Gospel, the writer goes to great pain to show how immature and unenlightened the 12 disciples were when they walked with Jesus.  In a sense these unenlightened disciples are straw men for the writer to show what people were like before and after the post-resurrection experience and the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit.  The early church knew what the 12 disciples minus Judas had become; but they weren’t always heroes and martyrs.  They were sometimes clueless when they walked with Jesus. In a real sense, the disciples only became truly aware and informed after Jesus was gone.  So the intent of the Gospel is show how even the believing disciples had to go through repentance and growth in life.  The Gospels highlight that repentance and growth are the natural process of spiritual life.

  In the Gospel of Mark, we have been reviewing some of the pre-resurrection  behavior of the 12 disciples:  Peter confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, but he was ignorant of what that meant.  The disciples argued about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  The disciples offended Jesus when they tried to keep children away from him.  And what were our keystone cops up to in the Gospel for today?

 They were seized with rivalry and jealousy.  Someone else was casting out demons and doing good works and it wasn’t officially sanctioned by them. Like tattling little children the disciples went to Jesus and said: They’re casting out demons, we told them to stop, and they didn’t obey.  They didn’t follow us. And what did Jesus say?  “Whoever is not against us is for us.”  Guys, you’re wasting your time picking the wrong battles.

  The pages of Church history are full of this kind of rivalry.  We can get very jealous by the good deeds that are done by people of other religious groups or denominations.  Why was this good deed not cleared by me in advance?  Imagine other people doing something good and not getting my sanction first!  Somehow the good deed can’t really be good unless it is sanctioned by someone on our side.  This only goes to show you that adults can behave in very childish ways.  It also shows how truth and defining good can end up being about more administration and party loyalty than about the actual benefit to people.

  I think what Jesus was trying to say to his disciples is that rivalry is just wasted energy.  Rivalry is also counter-productive; it can offend and turn people off to the Gospel.  If we preach the Gospel without Gospel behavior then our behavior will turn people off to our message.  Jesus had very harsh words for those who were stumbling-blocks; those who did not perform the Gospel and thereby kept others from knowing the benefit of the Gospel for their lives.

  And then we have the exaggerated language of Jesus:  If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.  If your foot causes you stumble, cut it off.  If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out.  This sounds very severe and barbaric but such shocking language is often found from the lips of Jesus.  It reminds me of something my father used to say to me very often: “Cut it out Phil.”  And I never took that in a literal way.  “Cut it out, simply means, stop it!  I wonder if the origin of this phrase isn’t from the Gospel?

  The Gospel lesson is also a warning about wasting our lives.   What is rivalry and jealousy?  It is essentially a waste of the energy of our lives that could be used better elsewhere.

  The literally meaning of the word hell is waste!  Gehenna is one of the New Testament Greek word for hell, along with Hades and Tartarus.   Actually, it is a Hebrew word for a location that is transliterated in Greek.  Gehenna refers to the garbage dump near Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom.  It was where the animal carcasses were disposed of and burned.  It was a despised place because of all of the purity code legislation against touching dead things and human waste.  So the most literal, and in my mind, the most shocking meaning of hell is “waste.”

  The sad thing in life is to be given the energy of life and to use what we’ve been given in ways that harm others and ourselves.  That is horror of waste.  In the strongest terms possible, Jesus was saying, “Don’t waste our lives.  Don’t waste our energy on petty rivalry.  Eyes, hands, feet: Seeing, working and living are symbolic of the human vocation.  If our work does not honor God and serve people and fulfill our lives; then we need to stop it.  If the way we see life (our doing nothing about our state of ignorance), does not honor God and help us make wise decision for ourselves and others; then we are acting as though we are blind.  If our life’s path, the way in which we walk, does not honor God and take us to excellence; not walking at all would at least not take us in a bad direction.  It is better not to walk at all, than to cause harm to others.  While all of this sounds very harsh, it really shows the belief that Jesus has in the human capacity to take corrective action.  One of the aims of the Gospel is to promote repentance.  Jesus believed in the power of the individual to repent.  I think that Jesus was more optimistic about the human ability to repent than either St. Paul or Martin Luther.  The belief in repentance is an optimism about what a person can do when energized by God’s Spirit.

  The words of Jesus indicate that corrective behavior is not always easy.  Cut it off.  Tear it out.  These are radical term, because sometimes behavior can only be changed by beginning a total fast from a previous behavior.  In AA, alcoholics know that sobriety is achieved only by never taking another drink.  It requires a total fast from alcohol to restore order to their lives.  Addictive behaviors sometimes require a total fast to prevent something from becoming the controlling idol of life.

  The message of the Gospel today is a challenge about waste.  Are we wasting our lives?  With petty rivalry?  With the misuse of any human capacity or ability?

  Jesus calls us to repentance, and if that means a radical fast, to change addicting and destructive behavior, then we are commanded by Christ to do it.

  Jesus only commanded what he believed was possible.  And he believed that we can transform wasted lives into fruitful and productive lives that both please God and serve the people in our lives.

  Hell-fire and brimstone preachers; don’t be afraid of their hot air.  But be very provoked by the literal meaning of hell as expounded by Jesus of Nazareth.  Hell is waste.  Jesus confronts us about wasting our lives.  And he provoked us to do something about it, because he believes that we can. By turning to him, we can find the Spirit as the higher power within us to help us reclaim every area of our lives that have been affected by wasteful behavior.

  Let the shocking language of Jesus be for us a message of hope for us that we can reclaim our lives from all effects of wasteful behavior.  Salt has several purposes in life but if those purposes are never discovered then salt cannot express its purpose.  Each person has a God-purpose in life and each of us need to find our God-purpose.  If we find our God purpose in life we will be like salt.  We will help to preserve life and we will help to make life much tastier. May the words of Jesus help each of us to find our God-purpose in life.  Amen.