“Go to Hell”

I love the “passing of the peace” portion of our worship service.   Some see it as a period of forced sociability, more or less tolerate it and hope it “passes” quickly!  Others see it for what it is, a glorious Christian embrace using the reconciling greeting of the risen Christ recorded in John 20 when Jesus appeared to the fearful and despaired disciples hiding behind locked doors.  After the crucifixion he shocked them with his presence and the glorious greeting, “Peace be with you!”  Can you imagine what it must have been like?   In fact, I would suggest the next time we pass the peace, try to imagine what it must have been like for that frightened little band of disciples when the risen Christ burst into their somber darkness with his energy and his peace!  Wow - to have been there to experience it!   The “passing of the peace” reminds us our faith is personal but not private, and always carries with it a dimension of public witness. 

 However, for those who don’t like the “passing of the peace,” I would like to offer an alternative.  All I ask is that before you get too upset with me on my alternate suggestion hear me out.  What we could do is stand, turn to each other, grasp hands firmly, look each other in the eye, and say "In the name of Jesus Christ, go to hell!" 

You ask, “Why would we ever do such a crazy thing?”   I admit It would be a bit shocking, but not a scandal and I’ll tell you why.  Actually my recommendation is carefully considered and theologically based.  I ask, “Where does the Apostle's Creed tell us Christ went those three days before the resurrection?”   We confess it every week, “He descended into hell.” 

 Hear me out on this.  As the continuing presence of Christ's body on earth, where should the church, the assembly of believers, go in order to find the neediest souls, those farthest from God and closest to despair?  To hell, that’s where!  As the hands and feet, eyes and mouth, heart and soul of Christ’s body, where should believers of every congregation find themselves instinctively being drawn? To hell, that’s where!  I believe pumping your pew-mates' hands while earnestly urging them to "go to hell" might be a shocking way to reclaim and revitalize the mission and message of the Church.

It doesn't take much imagination to uncover the hellish holes that we all walk by, listen to or read about everyday.  Drive through a poverty-stricken, drug-plagued neighborhood and you see hell on the street corner and alleys. Look into the faces of the drifting, mentally-maimed homeless, and you will see hell in their eyes.  Talk to a child or spouse living in an alcoholic and abusive home situation and they will describe hell on earth.  Even meander through the local mall and note the aimless, empty wanderings of the well-off and walled-off, and see hell in the all-consuming consumerism to which we have sold our souls.

Jesus recognized all the hellish holes human beings can fall into. In today’s gospel, Jesus takes special note of those who are both in a material hell - the poor and the hungry - and those in a spiritual hell - those suffering profound personal sorrow and rejection. It is upon those very people, the ones we might call the "unblessed," that Jesus lavishes with his blessing.  For those who appear to be in cozy circumstances – wealthy, well-fed, carefree and chic, Jesus predicts dire consequences. It is to those we would surely name as "blessed" that Jesus intones a somber "woe to you."

For Jesus the issue is one's relationship to God and the mission of God's kingdom.  Sometimes it is easier for those who are impoverished, spent and empty to realize the need for God's strength and support in their lives. For those who are enjoying the strength of a healthy body, home and bank account, the need for God's intervening hand is not so obvious.

 In two weeks I am facing a major back surgery.  I’ve been down this road a couple of times already, but this is the biggest one yet.  If I said I was not anxious, apprehensive and feeling vulnerable, I would not be telling the truth.  You know what I did this week?  I sent out emails to friends asking for their prayers.  I ask for your prayers that God’s healing work be done through this surgery, and that I may have a profound sense of the peace of Christ in the experience.  After I sent the emails and began working on this sermon, I began to think more about it.  Isn’t it interesting that it takes a crises, before which I feel anxiety and powerlessness, to ask for your prayers.  It seems as if until I am faced with my own powerlessness and vulnerability, I don’t take the initiative and ask for prayers.      

Each of us has areas of our lives where we perceive we are doing great.  Progress is steady and perhaps even inevitable. Jesus' curse to the rich and successful, however, should warn us that these are precisely the places where we most need God. When we are satisfied, we are in danger of smugness and sanctimony.  When we are cozy and secure we are in danger of building walls around our lives that keeps others and even God out.  Conversely, where we think we are most vulnerable, those worrisome, weak spots in our armor, are actually the very places where God can enter.   Years ago at a despairing time in my own life, I made the comment to my counselor that I felt like my life was full of cracks; like a cracked vase only to be thrown away.   Her comment was, “Oh no, not to throw away.  God’s light finally has a chance to shine through the cracks and get inside of you.”    

We cannot allow God into some portions of our lives and exclude God from others. Jesus went to hell to bless the unblessed, to fill the empty, to assure the fearful, to comfort the weary, to bring hope to the bereaved and dying, and to empower us and give us courage to follow him into hell as our mission.

We spend considerable time and energy trying to make our lives as safe and secure as possible. We desire to be able to sit back and count our blessings - such as our jobs, our homes, and our net worth.   This morning in this gospel, Jesus turns our notion of a blessed existence upside down, finding strength and opportunity in vulnerability and warning us about the dangers of contented complacency.  A blessed existence and the mission of Christ involves a mission to hell.

The question is, “Do we dare go to hell in order to fulfill the mission Christ has given us?”  Someone said to me this week, “I am suffering and it is hell!”
Do you dare:

• go to the homeless shelter or food bank that needs volunteers?
• go to the retirement complex or nursing home where residents can feel like "inmates?”
• advocate for legislation that empowers the powerless, addresses the needs of the poor or protects the environment?
• risk feeling uncomfortable and reach out to the sick, the grieving or the despaired, even if to merely sit with them and say nothing, but offer your loving and caring presence?

I suppose it would be too much for Lutherans to literally take me up on my alternate suggestion on the passing of the peace.  However, the important thing to note is this that wherever we go as the body of Christ, God goes with us. Entering hell bearing the love and grace of God is the mission and ministry for which Christ has called the Church; for which Christ has called us; for which Christ has called you!