NO ESCAPING GOD’S LOVE
Psalm 139:7-12; 1 Peter 3:19
Rev. Paul Wrightman 12/31/23
SEVERAL PERSONS FROM OUR CONGREGATION
HAVE ASKED ME RECENTLY – IN THE CONTEXT
OF MY PREACHING SO MUCH ABOUT GOD’S LOVE,
COMPASSION, AND FORGIVENESS – BUT WHAT ABOUT HELL?
AFTER ALL, IT’S MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE,
AND IT’S BEEN PART OF THE BELIEF SYSTEM OF MANY CHRISTIANS
FOR NEARLY TWO THOUSAND YEARS NOW.
CONCERNING THE SUPPOSED CONFLICT BETWEEN GOD’S LOVE
AND THE REALITY OF HELL,
I THINK TWO EXTREMES NEED TO BE AVOIDED HERE:
ONE IS THE BREATHTAKING EASE WITH WHICH MANY
FUNDAMENTALIST AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS
ASSIGN PEOPLE TO HELL.
THE OTHER IS THE CASUAL DISMISSAL OF HELL
BY MANY MAINLINE AND PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANS
AS A DOCTRINE THAT IS BENEATH CONTEMPT.
CLOSE TO THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
IS THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN FREE WILL.
FREE WILL ASSUMES THAT REAL CHOICES
BRING REAL CONSEQUENCES.
SO THIS SERMON IS GOING TO TAKE
BOTH FREE WILL AND HELL SERIOUSLY,
PLACING THEM IN ONE SIDE OF THE BOXING RING, SO TO SPEAK,
AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RING
PLACING GOD’S RELENTLESS LOVE.
IT’S A CLASSIC CASE OF AN IRRESISTIBLE FORCE
ENGAGING AN IMMOVABLE OBJECT.
WE’RE GOING TO LET THESE REALITIES HAVE AT EACH OTHER
AND SEE WHERE WE GET.
OUR ODD, ONE SENTENCE READING
FROM THE FIRST LETTER OF PETER,
“CHRIST WENT TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON,”
IS OFTEN TRANSLATED ALONG THE LINES OF
“JESUS WENT AND PREACHED TO THOSE IN HELL.”
THE EARLY CHURCH UNDERSTOOD THIS TEXT TO MEAN
THAT JESUS VISITED HELL ON HOLY SATURDAY –
THE DAY BETWEEN GOOD FRIDAY AND EASTER –
WITH THE SPECIFIC INTENTION
OF OFFERING THOSE SELF-IMPRISONED THERE
THE GIFT OF FREEDOM – AND HEAVEN.
I THOUGHT IT IMORTANT TO INCLUDE THIS TEXT,
AND THE WONDERFUL READING FROM PSALM 139,
BECAUSE THEY SPEAK POWERFULLY
OF THE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF GOD’S LOVE.
OUR SCRIPTURE READING FROM PSALM 139
REPRESENTS A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH
IN THE JEWISH UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE AFTER DEATH.
FOR MOST OF ISRAEL’S HISTORY,
THE CONCEPT OF LIFE AFTER DEATH SIMPLY DID NOT EXIST.
THE SOULS, OR SPIRITS, OF PERSONS WHO DIED
WERE BELIEVED TO BE GATHERED TO A REGION KNOWN
AS “SHEOL,” OR THE “NETHERWORLD,”
WHICH WAS REALLY MORE OF A NONPLACE THAN A PLACE,
A PLACE WHERE PERSONS WERE MERE SHADOWS, OR GHOSTS,
AND THERE WAS NO RELATIONSHIP POSSIBLE
WITH EITHER GOD OR OTHER PEOPLE.
WHAT WE SEE HAPPENING IN PSALM 139
IS GOD’S SPIRIT GIFTING THE PSALMIST WITH THE INSIGHT
THAT THERE IS SIMPLY NO PLACE, NOT EVEN SHEOL –
BY EXTENSION, NOT EVEN HELL,
WHERE ONE CAN GO TO ESCAPE GOD’S PRESENCE.
THIS IS ONE OF THE JEWISH TRADITION’S EARLIEST AFFIRMATIONS
THAT GOD IS PRESENT EVEN AFTER ONE’S DEATH,
WITH THE IMPLICATION OF ON-GOING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
THE POETRY OF THE PSALM SOARS
AS THE AUTHOR CELEBRATES THE NEW-FOUND INSIGHT
THAT BECAUSE OF GOD’S INCREDIBLE LOVE AND CARE
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE WHERE GOD CANNOT BE:
“WHERE CAN I GO FROM YOUR SPIRIT?
OR WHERE CAN I FLEE FROM YOUR PRESENCE?
IF I ASCEND TO HEAVEN, YOU ARE THERE;
IF I MAKE MY BED IN SHEOL, YOU ARE THERE.”
OUR SCRIPTURE TEXT FROM THE FIRST LETTER OF PETER
LINKS THIS UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S ALL-PERVASIVE
PRESENCE TO THE PERSON OF JESUS,
AND PORTRAYS JESUS AS VISITING THOSE IN “PRISON,”
OR “HELL,” WITH THE HOPE THAT
THEY WILL CHOOSE GOD AND FREEDOM.
SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE CLARIFIED IMMEDIATELY
IS THAT GOD DOES NOT JUDGE PEOPLE
OR SEND PEOPLE TO HELL.
IT IS CLEAR FROM THE SO-CALLED “JUDGMENT” SCENE
IN MATTHEW 25 THAT PEOPLE THEMSELVES
CHOOSE HEAVEN OR HELL ACCORDING TO HOW WELL OR ILL
THEY HAVE LOVED THEIR NEIGHBORS IN NEED.
GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE WHICH GOD PLACES
ON THE EXERCISE OF FREE WILL,
GOD SIMPLY RESPECTS THE CHOICE OF HEAVEN OR HELL
THAT A PERSON HAS FREELY MADE ON HIS OR HER OWN.
BUT IS GOD’S LOVE REALLY THIS LIMITED?
TODAY’S TWO SCRIPTURE READINGS
GIVE US WARRANT TO SPECULATE ON HOW GOD
CONTINUES TO RELATE TO THOSE WHO HAVE CHOSEN HELL.
SEVERAL OF OUR FINEST CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGIANS
FEEL THAT GOD’S RELENTLESS LOVE
PUSHES GOD TO TAKE EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES
TO FREE PEOPLE FROM THEIR SELF-IMPOSED PRISON OF HELL.
FOUR THINKERS WHO ATTEMPT TO SAY SOMETHING MEANINGFUL
ABOUT GOD’S CONTINUING LOVE
FOR THOSE WHOM TRADITIONAL THEOLOGY
CONSIGNS TO THE RUBBISH HEAP OF HELL
ARE C.S. LEWIS, ROB BELL, HANS URS VON BALTHASAR,
AND KARL RAHNER.
EACH OF THESE THINKERS IS DEEPLEY IN LOVE WITH GOD
AND WANTS TO RUN WITH GOD’S RELENTLESS LOVE
AS FAR AS IT WILL GO.
LET US LOOK BRIEFLY AT THE THOUGHT
OF EACH OF THESE PERSONS IN TURN.
WE WILL CONCENTRATE ON LEWIS AND RAHNER.
WE BEGIN WITH C.S. LEWIS.
IN A SMALL VOLUME, THE GREAT DIVORCE –
THE WORD “DIVORCE” DESCRIBING THE RIFT
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL –
LEWIS DESCRIBES HELL AS A VAST GREY CITY
WHICH KEEPS GROWING LARGER IN AREA
BECAUSE THE PEOPLE THERE CANNOT STAND THEIR NEIGHBORS,
AND KEEP ABANDONING THEIR HOUSES
TO MOVE FURTHER APART FROM EACH OTHER.
ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE, A CELESTIAL BUS
IS DISPATCHED FROM HEAVEN TO HELL.
ALL WHO WANT MAY BOARD THE BUS
WHICH IS BOIUND FOR HEAVEN.
THE BUS STOPS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF HEAVEN,
WHERE ITS OCCUPANTS DISEMBARK.
THERE THEY ARE MET BY A RELATIVE OR FRIEND
WHO DOES EVERYTHING IN HIS OR HER POWER
TO CONVICE THE RESIDENT FROM HELL
TO LET GO OF THEIR SELF-CENTEREDEDNESS,
TO ACCEPT GOD’S HEALING LOVE,
AND TO MAKE THE MOVE FROM HELL TO HEAVEN.
SADLY, ALL BUT ONE OF THE CHARACTERS
IN THIS BRIEF SCIENCE-FICTION TYPE NOVEL
CHOOSE TO REMAIN IN HELL.
THEY WOULD RATHER BE ALONE
WITH THEIR SELFISH SELVES FOR ALL ETERNITY
THAN TO OPEN THEMSELVES UP
TO THE LOVE OF OTHERS AND THE LOVE OF GOD.
LEWIS SAYS IN ANOTHER WORK THAT THE DOORS OF HEAVEN
ARE ALWAYS OPEN – WIDE OPEN –
BUT THAT THE DOORS OF HELL ARE LOCKED –
NOT LOCKED BY GOD ON THE OUTSIDE KEEPING PEOPLE IN,
BUT LOCKED ON THE INSIDE BY THE PERSON’S SELFISHNESS
AND REFUSAL TO ACCEPT GOD’S HEALING LOVE.
ROB BELL, IN HIS BOOK LOVE WINS,
GOES SO FAR AS TO QUESTION THE VERY EXISTENCE OF HELL.
IN A PROVOCATIVE CHAPTER CALLED
“DOES GOD GET WHAT GOD WANTS?”
BELL MAINTAINS THAT WHAT GOD WANTS
IS THE SALVATION OF EVERYONE,
AND THAT THE EXISTENCE OF A PLACE OR STATE-OF-BEING
CALLED HELL WOULD KEEP GOD FROM GETTING WHAT GOD WANTS.
ERGO, FOR BELL HELL IS AN IMPOSSIBILITY.
LEWIS WOULD COUNTER THAT HUMAN FREE WILL
IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL FOR ANY KIND OF REAL RELATIONSHIP,
AND THAT GOD REFUSES TO BE HELD HOSTAGE
BY PEOPLE WHO WANT NOTHING TO DO
WITH LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR.
WE SEEM TO BE AT AN IMPASSE,
THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCE OF GOD’S LOVE
SEEMINGLY BLOCKED BY THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT
OF A PERSON’S CHOICE TO KEEP TO KEEP GOD OUT.
CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAN HANS URS VON BALTHASAR
ASSERTS THAT JESUS’ DESCENT INTO HELL,
COMMEMORATED EACH HOLY SATURDAY –
SIGNIFIES JESUS’ UTTER SOLIDARITY, OR IDENTIFICATION,
WITH ALL HUMANKIND, INCLUDING THOSE WHO CHOSE HELL.
IF WE DEFINE HELL AS THE ADAMANT CHOICE
TO CLOSE ONE’S HEART TO GOD,
THEN IT WOULD SEEM THAT HELL
IS THE ONE PLACE WHERE GOD CANNOT BE.
BY GOING THERE ANYWAY,
JESUS REFUSES TO ACCEPT THAT CHOICE,
THUS EXPRESSING GOD’S ADAMANT UNWILLINGNESS
TO LEAVE US TO OUR OWN WORST SELVES.
OF COURSE, ONE COULD STILL RAISE THE QUESTION
WHETHER OR NOT GOD IS VIOLATING A PERSON’S FREE WILL
IN COMING THUS TO BADGER HIM OR HER IN HELL.
TO WHICH THE ANSWER, I SUSPECT,
IS THAT BY BECOMING WEAK AND VULNERABLE IN THIS WAY,
BY HUMBLY RISKING THE REJECTION OF HIS LOVE,
JESUS IS DOING EVERYTHING THAT GOD CAN POSSIBLY DO
TO ELICIT A FREE RESPONSE OF LOVE.
SO RATHER THAN JESUS’ SO-CALLED “DESCENT INTO HELL”
BEING GOD’S OVERWHELMING OF HUMAN FREE WILL,
WE CAN SEE IT AS GOD’S LAST RESORT
TO GET PEOPLE TO LOVE IN RETURN.
A LAST APPROACH THAT WE’LL BE LOOKING AT IN TERMS OF
THE CHURCH’S TRADITIONAL TEACHING ON HELL
COMES FROM ANOTHER MAJOR CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN,
KARL RAHNER.
RAHNER ASKS THE QUESTION:
DOES JESUS’ DESCENT INTO HELL
TO BE WITH THOSE WHO SEEM TO HAVE REJECTED GOD
VIOLATE FREE WILL?
THEN RAHNER TURNS THE QUESTION AROUND:
HE ASKS: OR , COULD IT BE
THAT BY HIS LOVING AND HEALING PRESENCE TO THOSE IN HELL,
JESUS RESTORES THEIR FREE WILL?
FREE WILL HAS OFTEN BEEN DEFINED
AS THE CAPACITY TO SAY “YES” OR “NO” TO GOD.
HOWEVER, RAHNER SUGGESTS THAT FREE WILL,
AT ITS DEEPEST LEVEL,
IS THE CAPACITY TO CHOOSE IN A GOD-LIKE WAY.
THUS, A TRULY FREE PERSON, PARADOXICALLY, LIKE GOD,
WILL ONLY CHOOSE THE GOOD.
SAYING “NO” TO GOD, THEN, IS NOT A SIGN
OF A PERSON’S FREE WILL,
BUT RATHER OF HOW THAT PERSON
STILL NEEDS HEALING IN ORDER TO BECOME FREE.
ONCE HEALED AND TRULY FREE,
THAT PERSON WILL ONLY SAY “YES” TO GOD.
IN CONSIDERING THESE THEOLOGICAL TAKES
ON THE TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN TEACHING ON HELL
BY SOME OF THE BEST CHRISTIAN THINKERS OF OUR TIME,
WHAT STRIKES ME – AND WHAT I HOPE STRIKES YOU –
IS THE RELENTLESS LOVE OF GOD,
A LOVE WHICH IS SO RELENTLESS THAT IT IS EVEN WILLING,
LIKE A HOUND OF HEAVEN,
TO PURSUE A PERSON INTO THEIR SELF-IMPOSED HELL.
I LIKE TO THINK OF GOD’S LOVE
AS A FORCE AS GENTLE YET RELENTLESS AS EROSION.
TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN TEACHING
MAINTAINS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR A PERSON
TO DEFINITIVELY REJECT GOD.
TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN TEACHING
ALSO MAINTAINS THAT GOD IS LOVE,
AND NOTHING BUT LOVE.
BUT WHAT IF GOD REJECTS OUR REJECTION
AND INSTEAD SLOWLY, QUIETLY, AND RELENTLESSLY –
LIKE EROSION –
KEEPS ON OFFERING US A WAY OUT
OF OUR SELF-IMPOSED EXILE?
IN TERMS OF HUMAN TIME,
IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE GOD IS INVESTING MILLIONS OF YEARS
LOVING SOMEONE
WHO TO ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES
DOES NOT WANT TO BE LOVED?
BUT WHAT IF ON THE 375,489,000 INVITATION
THE PERSON BEING INVITED BY GOD TO LOVE IN RETURN
ACCEPTS THE INVITATION?
AND WHAT IF GOD IS COMMITTED TO LOVING
EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US LIKE THAT?
EVEN C.S. LEWIS, A DEFENDER OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF A REAL HELL, HINTS AT THE VERY END OF THE GREAT DIVORCE
THAT WHEN THE REALLY REAL COMES INTO BEING
--ST. PAUL WOULD SAY WHEN GOD BECOMES ALL IN ALL –
THERE IS NO LONGER ROOM FOR HELL.
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT ONE CAN MAKE A RATHER GOOD CASE,
BASED ON THE IRRESISTIBLE REALITY OF GOD’S RELENTLESS LOVE,
THAT THE MYSTICAL VISION GRANTED TO JULIAN OF NORWICH
IS ACTUALLY A PROFOUND INSIGHT
OF THE WAY THINGS WILL BE IN THE END:
“AND SO OUR GOOD LORD
ANSWERED TO ALL THE QUESTIONS AND DOUBTS
WHICH I COULD RAISE, SAYING MOST COMFORTINGLY:
I MAY MAKE ALL THINGS WELL,
AND I CAN MAKE ALL THINGS WELL,
AND I SHALL MAKE ALL THINGS WELL.
AMEN.