So, who's in?
So, who gets to go to Heaven? Who's in and who's out?
Or, here's a more interesting question: who's going to Hell? Who's in and who's out?
When I was in seminary I had a class with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Nobel Peace Prize winner one class asked us point-blank whether or not Adolf Hitler was in hell. He asked the question, and the class was dead silent. What was the Archbishop up to? No one dared answer.
And so he pressed us - 'Is Hitler in jail, come on, someone answer!'
Some brave soul from the back of the class - no me! - spoke up and said, "Yes!" Then a whole flurry of "Yeah" "Sure" "You bet he's in Hell!"
The Archbishop smiled. We had taken the bait.
"How do you know?," he answered. "How do you know what was in his heart when he died? How do you know whether God chose to have mercy on him or not?"
His lesson was clear: It wasn't up to us whether or not Hitler was in Hell or not.
He said that if it were up to him, or us, sure, he'd be in Hell. But, it wasn't up to us, and it wasn't up to him. Hitler's fate is up to God, and we won't know whether he's at the party until we get there to see for ourselves.
There is a common human trait to want to separate people into groups: who's in and who's out. We separate people by designations of rich and poor, black and white, educated and uneducated, liberal and conservative, right and wrong, smart and not-so-smart. One of the most dangerous of the distinctions that we make though is: who's in God's favor and who isn't.
In our three lessons today there are several kinds of distinctions - separations - that present themselves. In our Old Testament lesson from the book of Isaiah, we find Isaiah talking about foreigners and eunuchs. In ancient Judaism, foreigners weren't just annoying out-of-towners, they were also most certainly pagans: people who did not regard or honor God as we know him. They rather worshipped at the altars of pagan gods and idols.
Eunuchs, well, if you don't know what they are, ask your parents, or ask me after the service! They didn't just have a major handicap/ deformity, biblical law determined that they were unclean - unable to participate in certain religious ceremonies, and forbidden to serve as priests.
Isaiah tells us that God has declared foreigners and eunuchs welcome in His Kingdom: My house shall be a house of prayer for all people.
In our Gospel lesson we find Jesus with a Canaanite woman. First of all, she's a woman and so she's already 'out' in the standards of those days. But, she is also, as a Canaanite, a pagan. After their conversation Jesus declares: Woman, great is your faith!
Just to realize the enormity of that statement, remember last week when Jesus was walking on the water, invited Peter to join him, and Peter went out and began to sink: what did Jesus say? O man of little faith! - the exact opposite that he says to a Canaanite woman!
And then, in our Epistle lesson Paul is talking about another great distinction that was being made in the year after Jesus' death: the distinction between Jews and Christians. People who regarded Jesus as the Messiah and God, and people who didn't.
In the eleventh chapter of Romans, Paul talks about the "mystery" of how God handles his chosen people, Israel. He says that all - Christian, Jew, man, woman, eunuch, foreigner - all are disobedient. All have sinned. No one is perfect. No one is blameless. But, God is merciful. And he is merciful to all, according to Paul.
This is one of the most curious verses in the whole Bible. Does this mean that everyone goes to Heaven? When Paul says that God is merciful to all, does 'all' include Buddhists, Muslims, atheists, etc.?
Well, that's a pretty deep question, a question that theologians have wrestled with for a long time. But, here's a clue: just asking the question is missing the point.
The point isn't for us to figure out who's in and who's out. The point is not for us to decide who God likes and who he doesn't. The point is to realize that God is merciful. That he is merciful to us.
And to realize the incredibly amazing gift that that is. 'Mercy' is when God doesn't give us what we deserve. The flip-side of mercy is grace, which is when God gives us what we don't deserve.
God is gracious and God is merciful, and when God looks down on us from heaven above he doesn't see the distinctions that we make, and the separations that we buy into. God doesn't see rich and poor, or black and white, or man and woman, or eunuch or foreigner. God looks down on us and sees people that he loves, people that he choses to be show mercy to. People he choses to be gracious to.
All that we're asked to do is realize God's gracious and merciful love for us, and love him in return. Be thankful for that incredible gift, and all the gifts that God showers down on us. And then were asked to let other people know that thy have been given the same gift, and that all they have to do is open it.
Is Hitler in heaven? I don't know. It's not up to me. - and thank God for that.
But, I do know that if God wanted to be merciful to him, he could have. And if God could be merciful to merciless dictators, then he could probably be merciful to a sinner like me.
That's what's amazing about grace.
Or, here's a more interesting question: who's going to Hell? Who's in and who's out?
When I was in seminary I had a class with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Nobel Peace Prize winner one class asked us point-blank whether or not Adolf Hitler was in hell. He asked the question, and the class was dead silent. What was the Archbishop up to? No one dared answer.
And so he pressed us - 'Is Hitler in jail, come on, someone answer!'
Some brave soul from the back of the class - no me! - spoke up and said, "Yes!" Then a whole flurry of "Yeah" "Sure" "You bet he's in Hell!"
The Archbishop smiled. We had taken the bait.
"How do you know?," he answered. "How do you know what was in his heart when he died? How do you know whether God chose to have mercy on him or not?"
His lesson was clear: It wasn't up to us whether or not Hitler was in Hell or not.
He said that if it were up to him, or us, sure, he'd be in Hell. But, it wasn't up to us, and it wasn't up to him. Hitler's fate is up to God, and we won't know whether he's at the party until we get there to see for ourselves.
There is a common human trait to want to separate people into groups: who's in and who's out. We separate people by designations of rich and poor, black and white, educated and uneducated, liberal and conservative, right and wrong, smart and not-so-smart. One of the most dangerous of the distinctions that we make though is: who's in God's favor and who isn't.
In our three lessons today there are several kinds of distinctions - separations - that present themselves. In our Old Testament lesson from the book of Isaiah, we find Isaiah talking about foreigners and eunuchs. In ancient Judaism, foreigners weren't just annoying out-of-towners, they were also most certainly pagans: people who did not regard or honor God as we know him. They rather worshipped at the altars of pagan gods and idols.
Eunuchs, well, if you don't know what they are, ask your parents, or ask me after the service! They didn't just have a major handicap/ deformity, biblical law determined that they were unclean - unable to participate in certain religious ceremonies, and forbidden to serve as priests.
Isaiah tells us that God has declared foreigners and eunuchs welcome in His Kingdom: My house shall be a house of prayer for all people.
In our Gospel lesson we find Jesus with a Canaanite woman. First of all, she's a woman and so she's already 'out' in the standards of those days. But, she is also, as a Canaanite, a pagan. After their conversation Jesus declares: Woman, great is your faith!
Just to realize the enormity of that statement, remember last week when Jesus was walking on the water, invited Peter to join him, and Peter went out and began to sink: what did Jesus say? O man of little faith! - the exact opposite that he says to a Canaanite woman!
And then, in our Epistle lesson Paul is talking about another great distinction that was being made in the year after Jesus' death: the distinction between Jews and Christians. People who regarded Jesus as the Messiah and God, and people who didn't.
In the eleventh chapter of Romans, Paul talks about the "mystery" of how God handles his chosen people, Israel. He says that all - Christian, Jew, man, woman, eunuch, foreigner - all are disobedient. All have sinned. No one is perfect. No one is blameless. But, God is merciful. And he is merciful to all, according to Paul.
This is one of the most curious verses in the whole Bible. Does this mean that everyone goes to Heaven? When Paul says that God is merciful to all, does 'all' include Buddhists, Muslims, atheists, etc.?
Well, that's a pretty deep question, a question that theologians have wrestled with for a long time. But, here's a clue: just asking the question is missing the point.
The point isn't for us to figure out who's in and who's out. The point is not for us to decide who God likes and who he doesn't. The point is to realize that God is merciful. That he is merciful to us.
And to realize the incredibly amazing gift that that is. 'Mercy' is when God doesn't give us what we deserve. The flip-side of mercy is grace, which is when God gives us what we don't deserve.
God is gracious and God is merciful, and when God looks down on us from heaven above he doesn't see the distinctions that we make, and the separations that we buy into. God doesn't see rich and poor, or black and white, or man and woman, or eunuch or foreigner. God looks down on us and sees people that he loves, people that he choses to be show mercy to. People he choses to be gracious to.
All that we're asked to do is realize God's gracious and merciful love for us, and love him in return. Be thankful for that incredible gift, and all the gifts that God showers down on us. And then were asked to let other people know that thy have been given the same gift, and that all they have to do is open it.
Is Hitler in heaven? I don't know. It's not up to me. - and thank God for that.
But, I do know that if God wanted to be merciful to him, he could have. And if God could be merciful to merciless dictators, then he could probably be merciful to a sinner like me.
That's what's amazing about grace.
posted by Fr. Rick Morley at 6:57 PM
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