Justice and Mercy
Who can think of an example of a person who deserves to go to Hell? Who is it? Hitler? Stalin? Charles Manson? Marilyn Manson? Bin laden? George Bush?
Please remember that hell is an eternity of suffering, it never ends. Do any of these people really deserve it?
Turn to the person beside you and say "You deserve to go to hell."
This piece of information may shock you, but it's actually true- you deserve to go to Hell. You all do. I do. Mother Teresa does.
I heard a guy on the radio the other day talking about Mother Teresa, and about how she's not really all that Holy, that it's just something the media kinda created. His arguments included things like her grumpyness, and the fact that she did not promote birth control and abortion to the poor people she worked with. (A lot of people have this funny idea that the best way to eliminate poverty is by preventing poor people from procreating.)
It is true that the media, or pious Catholics, will kind of create an artificial sanctity about holy people. For example, blessed Fr Damien, who went to Hawaii and worked with lepers. There's a story about him that when he was a little boy, his parents couldn't find him anywhere, and after having searched a long while, they found him praying in a church.
The truth? He and his friends played a game, where one boy would jump on the back of a horse carriage, while the others would throw rocks at the horses. The carriage would take off, and the boy would get a joyride, while the coachman tried to get the horses under control. Eventually the boy would jump off the carriage, and run away, and the coachman couldn't cath him since he was trying to calm down his horses.
Well one day the boy who would be Fr Damien jumped on the back of a carriage, and the coachman turned around and recognized him! Damien knew he would be in big trouble, so he went to the Church. When his parents got there, he declared "Sanctuary" and refused to leave until his parents promised not to punish him! And of course, they found him kneeling in fake prayer.
The point is, that while Mother Teresa was a very good woman, on average, she was not perfect. Therefore, she deserved Hell.
What is Heaven? Perfect relationship with God. What is Hell? No relationship with God.
Think for a moment about how huge the universe is. The universe is measured to be about 156 Billion Light years wide. A light year is how far light travels in a year- seeing as Light travels 299 792 458 m / s.... The universe is pretty darned big. And yet, God, who is infinite, and is existence itself, is enormous by comparison, as though the universe were a single grain of sand that wouldn't even exist if God decide not to think about it!
Now, within the universe, Hubble Telescope estimates that there are about 125 billion galaxies. Our galaxy is pretty average in size, if not small, with only 100 billion stars in it. Our star is a smallish sized star, that has 9 (or 10) planets orbiting it. Our planet is very small by comparison to some of the others (Jupiter is about 11 times the size of Earth), and on our planet there are about 6,521,769,318 on earth today (June 12th 2006) and it goes up about 6 million people a month. You are just one of those people. Now compare your age to the fact that the universe is between 11 and 20 billion years old. Why do you think an infinite and eternal God should even know you exist, much less want a relationship with you?
But for some reason, God does. When you hear Bible verses like "I have carved you in the palm of my hand" or God has counted every hair on your head"... For some reason, God is intimately and inexplicably in love with you! Even though you don't deserve it. So, like I said, you do not deserve a relationship with God- which is what Heaven is- you deserve to be without a relationship with God- which is what Hell is.
Now, wait a minute. Most people tend to think of Hell as a punishment for sin. Surely I have not sinned so badly that I deserve to suffer and burn for all eternity, right? And who am I to say that other people, Mother Teresa no less, deserves that?
Suppose a female friend came up to you and said "I really like this guy..." And you said "Oh yeah, waddya like about him?" and she told you this;
"He's pretty nice and attractive, and fairly intelligent. I mean, sure, he says nasty things about me behind my back. True, I've been in a relationship now with him for a few years, and the whole time he's been sleeping with other women, ignoring me for weeks on end, only coming to me when he needs something, and even then not telling me he loves me. Ignoring me when I need something, treating my name like a swear word, and, Oh yeah he's a lying murderer. But he's really nice."
What would you say to that?
"Dump him! He does not deserve a relationship with you!"
Well let's look again at our relationship with God, because you know what? That's exactly how we treat Him!
Now you might say "when did I ever ignore God when he needed something or say nasty things about him behind his back?"
Jesus said "whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." We've heard it so many times, it sounds like a feel good slogan, but the reality is, Jesus was telling that story in context of which people went to Hell, and which went to Heaven. you went to hell if you didn't feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty.
So you say "Ok, but I'm not sleeping around or murdering people, Get real!"
Jesus said "You've heard it said "Thou shalt not commit adultery" but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has committed adultery with her." "You've heard it said "Thou shalt not murder" but anyone who thinks of another person and thinks "you fool" has murdered that person in his heart!"
Hard core, eh? How many people here can honestly say they've never thought "you fool" about another person? (Or something similar) Wait until you start driving! You will constantly be thinking that!
So, considering who we are, and who God is, none of us deserves Heaven, all of us deserve Hell! This is justice! The movie Match Point makes an interesting point about that. Even criminals want justice. There is something truly depressing about doing something wrong- and getting away with it by luck. Justice itself is a gift of god- it lends meaning to what would otherwise be a senseless and empty life.
The disciples realized this and said "Who then can be saved?" and Jesus answered them "For man, it is impossible. But for God, nothing is impossible."
When we talk about the mercy of God, what we mean is that even though we deserve to go to Hell, God wants us to be in relationship with Him anyway. God wants us to come to heaven. But here's the problem. In order to go to heaven, by definition, we have to accept God's mercy. Not because we prove ourselves to God or anything silly like that. But because without the mercy of God, we can't possibly get into Heaven. God wants to forgive us of all our sins- but he can't force his forgiveness on us!
Because people don't understand the idea of justice, they always ask how God could send people to Hell. They are 'hellbent' as it were- they are going to hell because of the way they are. It is not God's doings! Justice demands it! It's like if someone jumped off a cliff- could he be angry with God that he broke his leg? Of course not! People suspended in mid air have a nature which falls to the ground. People who are sinners have a nature which rejects God.
Supposing someone jumps off a cliff, and then God says "Here, let me save you!" and the person says "No way! I can save myself. I don't want your help." What is God supposed to do? Remove their free will?
People go to hell because they choose it, because they reject the mercy of God.
Mercy is the other side of justice. (See the Justice and Mercy Icon). There are two equal and opposite mistakes that we make regarding mercy and justice. One is to assume that we don't deserve to go to hell. The other is to think God cannot possibly have mercy on us. As if whatever we did is so big, God could not possibly forgive it.
This is blasphemy! Your sins, whatever they are, are like sand compared to the ocean of God's mercy. Think again about how big God is compared to us. The Bible says "God is love". God is all powerful. To say either that God cannot forgive us or that he does not love us enough to forgive us is blasphemy. This is the "unforgivable Sin" that Jesus was talking about, where we blaspheme the Holy Spirit. It is unforgivable because it is the sin which rejects forgiveness!
The heart of Christianity and of the gospel is that we throw ourselves on the mercy and the love of God. When we screw up, we recognize how small we are, and glorify god that much more for being merciful to us. This is the little way of St Therese of Lisieux, one of the greatest saints of modern times! Just admit how small you are, don't take yourself too seriously, throw yourself on the mercy of God.
Please remember that hell is an eternity of suffering, it never ends. Do any of these people really deserve it?
Turn to the person beside you and say "You deserve to go to hell."
This piece of information may shock you, but it's actually true- you deserve to go to Hell. You all do. I do. Mother Teresa does.
I heard a guy on the radio the other day talking about Mother Teresa, and about how she's not really all that Holy, that it's just something the media kinda created. His arguments included things like her grumpyness, and the fact that she did not promote birth control and abortion to the poor people she worked with. (A lot of people have this funny idea that the best way to eliminate poverty is by preventing poor people from procreating.)
It is true that the media, or pious Catholics, will kind of create an artificial sanctity about holy people. For example, blessed Fr Damien, who went to Hawaii and worked with lepers. There's a story about him that when he was a little boy, his parents couldn't find him anywhere, and after having searched a long while, they found him praying in a church.
The truth? He and his friends played a game, where one boy would jump on the back of a horse carriage, while the others would throw rocks at the horses. The carriage would take off, and the boy would get a joyride, while the coachman tried to get the horses under control. Eventually the boy would jump off the carriage, and run away, and the coachman couldn't cath him since he was trying to calm down his horses.
Well one day the boy who would be Fr Damien jumped on the back of a carriage, and the coachman turned around and recognized him! Damien knew he would be in big trouble, so he went to the Church. When his parents got there, he declared "Sanctuary" and refused to leave until his parents promised not to punish him! And of course, they found him kneeling in fake prayer.
The point is, that while Mother Teresa was a very good woman, on average, she was not perfect. Therefore, she deserved Hell.
What is Heaven? Perfect relationship with God. What is Hell? No relationship with God.
Think for a moment about how huge the universe is. The universe is measured to be about 156 Billion Light years wide. A light year is how far light travels in a year- seeing as Light travels 299 792 458 m / s.... The universe is pretty darned big. And yet, God, who is infinite, and is existence itself, is enormous by comparison, as though the universe were a single grain of sand that wouldn't even exist if God decide not to think about it!
Now, within the universe, Hubble Telescope estimates that there are about 125 billion galaxies. Our galaxy is pretty average in size, if not small, with only 100 billion stars in it. Our star is a smallish sized star, that has 9 (or 10) planets orbiting it. Our planet is very small by comparison to some of the others (Jupiter is about 11 times the size of Earth), and on our planet there are about 6,521,769,318 on earth today (June 12th 2006) and it goes up about 6 million people a month. You are just one of those people. Now compare your age to the fact that the universe is between 11 and 20 billion years old. Why do you think an infinite and eternal God should even know you exist, much less want a relationship with you?
But for some reason, God does. When you hear Bible verses like "I have carved you in the palm of my hand" or God has counted every hair on your head"... For some reason, God is intimately and inexplicably in love with you! Even though you don't deserve it. So, like I said, you do not deserve a relationship with God- which is what Heaven is- you deserve to be without a relationship with God- which is what Hell is.
Now, wait a minute. Most people tend to think of Hell as a punishment for sin. Surely I have not sinned so badly that I deserve to suffer and burn for all eternity, right? And who am I to say that other people, Mother Teresa no less, deserves that?
Suppose a female friend came up to you and said "I really like this guy..." And you said "Oh yeah, waddya like about him?" and she told you this;
"He's pretty nice and attractive, and fairly intelligent. I mean, sure, he says nasty things about me behind my back. True, I've been in a relationship now with him for a few years, and the whole time he's been sleeping with other women, ignoring me for weeks on end, only coming to me when he needs something, and even then not telling me he loves me. Ignoring me when I need something, treating my name like a swear word, and, Oh yeah he's a lying murderer. But he's really nice."
What would you say to that?
"Dump him! He does not deserve a relationship with you!"
Well let's look again at our relationship with God, because you know what? That's exactly how we treat Him!
Now you might say "when did I ever ignore God when he needed something or say nasty things about him behind his back?"
Jesus said "whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." We've heard it so many times, it sounds like a feel good slogan, but the reality is, Jesus was telling that story in context of which people went to Hell, and which went to Heaven. you went to hell if you didn't feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty.
So you say "Ok, but I'm not sleeping around or murdering people, Get real!"
Jesus said "You've heard it said "Thou shalt not commit adultery" but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has committed adultery with her." "You've heard it said "Thou shalt not murder" but anyone who thinks of another person and thinks "you fool" has murdered that person in his heart!"
Hard core, eh? How many people here can honestly say they've never thought "you fool" about another person? (Or something similar) Wait until you start driving! You will constantly be thinking that!
So, considering who we are, and who God is, none of us deserves Heaven, all of us deserve Hell! This is justice! The movie Match Point makes an interesting point about that. Even criminals want justice. There is something truly depressing about doing something wrong- and getting away with it by luck. Justice itself is a gift of god- it lends meaning to what would otherwise be a senseless and empty life.
The disciples realized this and said "Who then can be saved?" and Jesus answered them "For man, it is impossible. But for God, nothing is impossible."
When we talk about the mercy of God, what we mean is that even though we deserve to go to Hell, God wants us to be in relationship with Him anyway. God wants us to come to heaven. But here's the problem. In order to go to heaven, by definition, we have to accept God's mercy. Not because we prove ourselves to God or anything silly like that. But because without the mercy of God, we can't possibly get into Heaven. God wants to forgive us of all our sins- but he can't force his forgiveness on us!
Because people don't understand the idea of justice, they always ask how God could send people to Hell. They are 'hellbent' as it were- they are going to hell because of the way they are. It is not God's doings! Justice demands it! It's like if someone jumped off a cliff- could he be angry with God that he broke his leg? Of course not! People suspended in mid air have a nature which falls to the ground. People who are sinners have a nature which rejects God.
Supposing someone jumps off a cliff, and then God says "Here, let me save you!" and the person says "No way! I can save myself. I don't want your help." What is God supposed to do? Remove their free will?
People go to hell because they choose it, because they reject the mercy of God.
Mercy is the other side of justice. (See the Justice and Mercy Icon). There are two equal and opposite mistakes that we make regarding mercy and justice. One is to assume that we don't deserve to go to hell. The other is to think God cannot possibly have mercy on us. As if whatever we did is so big, God could not possibly forgive it.
This is blasphemy! Your sins, whatever they are, are like sand compared to the ocean of God's mercy. Think again about how big God is compared to us. The Bible says "God is love". God is all powerful. To say either that God cannot forgive us or that he does not love us enough to forgive us is blasphemy. This is the "unforgivable Sin" that Jesus was talking about, where we blaspheme the Holy Spirit. It is unforgivable because it is the sin which rejects forgiveness!
The heart of Christianity and of the gospel is that we throw ourselves on the mercy and the love of God. When we screw up, we recognize how small we are, and glorify god that much more for being merciful to us. This is the little way of St Therese of Lisieux, one of the greatest saints of modern times! Just admit how small you are, don't take yourself too seriously, throw yourself on the mercy of God.
posted by Peter van Kampen at 11:14 AM
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