2nd Sunday of Lent

Well, I spent my Friday without Facebook, Twitter and email, reading. A few weeks ago, I mentioned Rob Bell, who was being accused of no longer being a Christian because he was about to publish a book. No one had read it, but many assumed Bell denied the existence of hell, based on some of his comments about the book. I now have the book, and spent my Friday online fast reading it. No, Bell does not deny the existence of hell. But he does say something that I have long believed, but not fully understood until I read his book: hell is not in a place; hell is in the heart.

And most assuredly, God does not want for there to be a hell in anyone’s heart. Summarizing all the Old Testament prophets who inspired by God to preach about eternal life, Bell points out that consistently, “they spoke about ‘all the nations.’ That’s everybody. That’s all those different skin colors, languages, dialects, and accents; all those customs, habits, patterns, clothing, traditions and ways of celebrating—multiethnic, multisensory, multieverything.” Does that ring a bell, “all the nations”? We just heard the LORD promise Abram, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Last Sunday, I preached on the Genesis story of how human beings came to be the sinful creatures that we are. It is a truly “pre-historic” story, because it speaks of events which were not documented. But whoever wrote down this story was inspired by God to communicate the truth of how we fail to trust our Maker, then and now. Between that story and today’s reading from Genesis, is the story of how human depravity became so bad that a heart-broken God decided to make a fresh start by wiping out all humanity, save for one family. But then God discovers that even Noah and his family are not without sin and evil lurking in their hearts.

So, God resolved that never again would God destroy all the people of the world. Instead God resolved to do everything possible to bless and save all the people of the world. And God started with this one man, Abram, and this one woman, Sarai, who would later be known as Abraham and Sarah. Through them came the nation of Israel, the people of the Old Covenant. And through them came the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who died so that our sins would be forgotten by God, and we would be free to enjoy eternal life, or not to do so.

That’s the problem. We say that Jesus has won the war against Satan our accuser, and yet the battle goes on. Men and women still refuse to believe that they are worthy to be loved by God or anybody else, and so fall into self-destructive behavior. Men and women still believe that there is a fixed supply of love which will run out if spent too much, and so hoard the blessings of life for themselves or for themselves and their tribe. Men and women are so anxious to succeed that they judge themselves by their failures. Men and women still refuse to accept that love even exists, and so grab for power at the cost of anyone who happens to be in their way: all of which brings us back to Rob Bell.

Does Bell believe that hell doesn’t exist? He writes very clearly that hell does exist, and that he has seen it. He has seen it here on this earth in the broken bodies and souls from the ongoing battles I just mentioned. As I read him, the question for Bell is not whether hell exists, but where hell is. And to summarize Bell’s belief; hell is not in a place, hell is in the heart. It is in the heart of every person unwilling to accept the love that God offers. And so it shall be, in this life, and the next, for as long as that person resists the love of God. But Bell also believes that God will wait for that person for as long as it takes for that person to accept that love that God offers.

In fact, Bell finds in the banquet to welcome back the prodigal son an image of heaven. And in the older brother refusing to join the party, he finds an image of hell. So, heaven and hell may be in the same exact place. The difference is in the hearts of those who come together in God’s eternal party, and in the hearts of those who can do nothing to stop the party, but who sit in the same room and refuse to join.

Lent is the time when we empty ourselves, of chocolate, of Facebook. But hopefully, those small empty places are a way for us to empty ourselves, to reflect on our fears, our wounds, our resentments. In other words, Lent is an opportunity to empty ourselves of the hell that would swallow us up in our pain and our sin. May this Lent be a time of emptiness, followed by love, followed by a party in which we join all the families of the earth in being blessed.