May 22, 2011
The Fifth Sunday in Eastertide
Morning Prayers
- Mighty God,
in whom we know the power of redemption,
you stand among us in the shadows of our time.
As we move through every sorrow and trial of this life,
uphold us with knowledge of the final morning
when, in the glorious presence of your risen Son,
we will share in his resurrection,
redeemed and restored to the fullness of life
and forever freed to be your people. Amen.
O God, your Son remained with his disciples after his resurrection,
teaching them to love all people as neighbors.
As his disciples in this age,
we offer our prayers on behalf of the world
in which we are privileged to live
and our family and neighbors with whom we share it.
- Hear now our silent and spoken prayers (you are invited to state your prayer concern in one word or one name, or to remember them in Silence)
- Open our hearts to your power moving
around us and between us and within us,
until your glory is revealed in our love of both friend and enemy,
in communities transformed by justice and compassion,
and in the healing of all that is broken. Amen.
Guide us in the path of discipleship,
so that, as you have blessed us,
we may be a blessing for others,
bringing the promise of the kingdom near
by our words and deeds. Amen.
Receive these prayers, O God,
and transform us through them,
that we may have eyes to see and hearts to understand
not only what you do on our behalf,
but what you call us to do
so that your realm will come to fruition in glory.
Living and gracious God,
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
you have brought us out to a spacious place
where we are called to live as those redeemed.
Empower us by your spirit to keep your commandments,
that we may show forth your love
with gentle word and reverent deed
to all your people, in the name of Jesus, our Christ. Amen.
1 Peter 3:13-22
15bAlways be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
And a verse from Chapter 4: …they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.
“He Descended Into Hell”
Ours is not a creedal church--that is to say that we do have a creed, but not one of the historic creeds.
It’s not that we have anything against the creeds, it’s just that our denomination was formed in a time when creeds and confessions of faith were used to split Christians apart from each other rather than bring them together. “If you don’t say the Westminster Confession of Faith. You’re going to hell!”
And so, we say, “we have no creed but Christ.” When someone joins one of our congregations, we ask, “do you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and Savior of the World?”
Say yes, and you’re in!
So, we don’t say the creeds very much--even though we might all agree that they’re good teaching tools, but you won’t come across them much in a Disciples of Christ congregation.
And, even if you did, there’s that pesky line in the Apostolic Creed that hangs up even folks who say the creeds frequently--“He descended into Hell.” (that’s what’s in the traditional version--the one in the Chalice Hymnal is, “he descended to the dead.”
That phrase just doesn’t come easily, does it? It sure doesn’t for me!
Another thing about Disciples is we don’t have Bishops. In fact, in our early years, it was said of us that we didn’t have Bishops--instead, we had Editors. Back then, if you had a second class postal permit and a mailing list, you could be pretty powerful in the Disciples of Christ.
It so happens, that about one hundred and sixty years ago, two of our “Editor Bishops” had a massive knockdown drag-out battle--in print, of course--as their respective newspapers came to opposite views on the passage I read for you a few minutes ago.
One was named Jesse Ferguson--a pastor in Nashville, TN. One of his readers wrote in and asked if it were possible to read First Peter 3, where it says “He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison,” as understanding that Jesus preached and still preaches to those in Hell. As in, “Do we get a second chance to be saved?”
And, Rev. Ferguson wrote back in his next issue of the paper that yes, you could draw that conclusion by that verse, and in the next chapter, in which Peter writes that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached both to the living and the dead!
Well, incensed by this, the most authoritative of our founders, one Alexander Campbell, took issue with this--and spent an inordinate amount of energy in rebuking Rev. Ferguson’s so-called “post-mortem Gospel” as dangerous and heretical. That word heretic-heretical-heresy isn’t used much by Disciples because we value freedom of thought and inquiry. And the Rev. Alexander Campbell devoted several years to ruining the ministry of Rev. Ferguson.
Do you know why he thought that the idea of Jesus preaching to the dead was dangerous?
He said, among other things, that if people thought they might get a second chance at heaven, they’ll stop coming to church.
Now, I ask you, did you come here this morning because you fear an angry God will relegate you to Hell, or did you come to celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit in this place, and because when two or more of us gather, that Jesus is in our midst?
I do not go to church in order to get my “get-out-of-hell” card. Now some cynical folk might say that I go to church because they pay me to! Maybe so.
No, I go to church because that’s where I find folks who care about me and count on me to care about them, and where I can sing God’s praises, and where people greet me with the peace of Jesus Christ, and where I can celebrate him at the Lord’s Table.
Hell doesn’t enter into it.
Let’s look at Hell, for a minute or two--I promise it won’t be too scary.
In the Old Testament, there are three Hebrew words used for hell: Sheol, which is just the place of the dead--neither good or bad--just dead; the depths, or the pit. Whenever those words are used--especially in the Psalms, they always depict God as rescuing whoever is in the pit or the depths.
Psalm 139 so comfortingly notes that nowhere--Nowhere--is beyond God’s reach. (If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths of Sheol, you are there.) Nowhere is beyond God’s reach. And dare I say, no one is beyond God’s reach
In fact, you could say that the whole of the Hebrew scriptures is the story of his chosen people running away him--and he always runs after them and brings them back into his loving arms.
Jesus uses the word Hell. Except, in Greek, he said Gehenna. Gehenna was Jerusalem’s garbage dump which was constantly on fire. Rob Bell writes “if someone asks you if you believe in hell, you could say, ‘well, I believe my garbage goes somewhere!’” There’s also the Greek word ‘Hades.” It carries the same meaning of Sheol. The place of the dead.
So, what are we to make of this very interesting passage? Christ preaching to the Spirits in prison (hell)? The gospel proclaimed to both the living and the dead?
By the way, contemporary studies look a lot closer to Jesse Ferguson’s interpretation than Campbell’s. And, in the end, I have to confess that I don’t have the answer to this idea of a Post-Mortem Gospel.
But, I think it does tell us something about the character of God.
God doesn’t quit. God doesn’t give up.
You remember the parable of the lost sheep? Sure you do. The shepherd leaves 99 sheep alone in the wilderness to run after the one that wandered off.
God doesn’t quit. God doesn’t give up.
A couple of weeks ago, I woke up to see that a team of US Navy Seals had killed Osama Bin Laden--the most wanted man in the world. I confess that there was a part of me that wanted to shout and dance and turn cartwheels. But then my better nature thought of this passage and I had a vision of God saying, “He’s my child too.” And I thought, “God is not done with Osama.”
But, that doesn’t let me off the hook. This passage begins with an admonition to always stand ready to give an account of the hope that is within you--but do it with gentleness and reverence. God doesn’t want us to give up just because he won’t! We are called to always be ready to share our hope with others--or, at the very least, invite them here so that they can encounter Jesus Christ in this bunch of people.
Kate and I are getting free Showtime for 3 months, and we’ve been watching a series called “The Borgias,” about a powerful family in Rome at the turn of the 16th century.
One of t5he more intriguing characters is that of Girolamo Savonarola, a monk who was one of the early street preachers. He’d stand on his balcony and holler at the people who gathered about the fires of hell and wrathful judgment of a angry God.
Have you ever seen one of those kinds of street preachers? That’s not what Peter is saying about giving an account of your hope. The verse goes on, that we are to give an account of the hope within us--but to do it with gentleness and reverence. Because every person you encounter is loved by God and called to that same hope that is within you. Every person you meet is someone beloved by God and made in God’s own image. Our God.
And our God doesn’t quit. God doesn’t give up.
Our God is a risky relentless God who never gives up on us--or anyone else. Throughout the Bible, we see that failure isn’t final. God’s hope and love are extended to all.
God doesn’t quit. God doesn’t give up.
Not even on hell.
If God’s own son came because He so loved the world, what does it say about Hell when Jesus goes there, too?
God doesn’t quit. God doesn’t give up.
And for that, thanks be to God.
He descended into Hell.
Thanks be to God, he descended into Hell.
I’d love to know what you’re thinking.
Offertory Invitation
Who we are, what we do, and what we have is never separated from God. In God, we live and move and have our being, and so the gifts that we offer are also connected to and infused with God’s spirit. Who can contain God’s spirit? What will you offer today to the whole of creation to further the mission of the church in the world?
Offertory Prayer
Generous and loving God, we remember. We remember the others who have encouraged us. Many people have taught us. We have been forgiven. We are loved. We admit that we haven't done it all ourselves. In a way, this offering is a response to all that has come before us. We pray that this money will be used to encourage, to teach, to forgive, and to love in Jesus' name. Amen.
Benediction
Go now into the world.
Search for the God who is not far from each one of us.
Offer to all who ask an account of the hope that is in you--with gentleness and reverence.
Keep your conscience clear as you live the commandments in love.
And may God greet your prayers with constant love;
may Christ Jesus give you life through his own life;
and may the Spirit of truth abide with you and within you, always.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
