“Give ‘em the Word
Imagine what might happen some Sunday if during the passing of the peace your neighbor extended his or her hand to you and upon shaking hands said “Go to Hell.” I doubt you would feel very good about that person and I doubt your response would be much better. Please understand I am not suggesting you greet your neighbor this way during the passing of the peace next week though Wilfred Bailey and William McElvaney have offered this remedy to the mumbled greetings exchanged during the passing of the peace in their book “Christ’s Suburban Body”. It is not that they are trying to be rude they are simply making the case that the Apostle’s Creed tells us Christ went there and perhaps following in his way so should we. Perhaps we should go there in search of the neediest souls who need to hear God’s word of truth, or grace, or mercy, of forgiveness, or of steadfast love.
What I really want to lift up for us is if the phrase “Go to Hell” is so out of place during the passing of the peace then why is it acceptable for us to say things like “give ‘em hell” or “give ‘em the devil”? I know those phrases aren’t any more acceptable during the passing of the peace but we do use them. And we do it to. I know for a fact that there are at least a few individuals in this congregation who delight in giving me the devil. Fortunately for me, them giving me the devil is all in good fun but there are many who don’t need any more of the devil in their lives, they don’t need any more hell in their lives because their lives are already so full of hell.
Consider the Detroit woman who watching the police raid the crack house across the street from her house raised her arms in praise as she shouted “Thank you Jesus. Thank you, Thank you Lord.” The next morning she was greeted by an ambulance driver at her front door looking for the shooting victim an anonymous phone call had reported at her address. Confused she sent them on their way. The next day a hearse arrived to pick up the dead body that had been reported at her address. This time she understood what was going on, she was being sent a sophisticated message, death threats in fact, sent to her by those in the neighborhood who were interested in the drug trade continuing and did not appreciate her praising the downfall of other local drug dealers.
Consider also the story Father Ralph W. Beiting, founder of the Christian Appellation Project, tells about one particular volunteer group that visited a home along a Kentucky creek bed. They visited a family that lived in a shack who proudly ushered the visitors over to the corner of the dimly lit room where their two month old child lay not in a crib or bassinette but in a cage made of tightly woven chicken wire. After a moment of stunned silence one of the members of the group out of concern for the child asked the parents why they kept their child in a cage. “We have him in this little cage so the rats won’t eat on him.” the father answered. The cage was not built with cruelty but with love was crafted out of desperation, the father doing the best he could in the hellish situation he called home.
These are some extreme examples of course but it has been my experience that while we may not live in situations this dire, there is still enough hell in our lives to go around. What people need isn’t the devil or hell what people need is Jesus the Christ who having been glorified by God has charged us with being messengers of his Word. As Christians we may be called to go to hell but we are not called to give people hell or give ‘em the devil either for that matter, we are called to give them God’s Word. Jesus went to hell to bless the unblessables. Jesus calls all disciples to do the same by taking the Word he has given us to those who need to hear it most.
In the passage we read a few moments ago as in much of John’s gospel the reader is made to focus on Jesus words. The passage begins with “After Jesus had spoken these words,” We didn’t read those words this morning but they are words imploring the disciples to believe and to have courage as they go out into the world because Jesus has already conquered the world. After speaking these words Jesus goes on to speak to God letting the disciples and us in on the conversation. Among other things Jesus says “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me…they were yours…and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them.” The word is important it is what is given to Jesus and it is what he passes along to his disciples and it is what his disciples are to pass along to others, and it is what we his modern day disciples are to pass on to everyone. We are to share the word with others, we are to reveal God to others the way Jesus has revealed God to us.
I imagine as Jesus was speaking these words and the disciples realized how important all the words Jesus spoke actually were they perhaps recalled that time on the mountain when Jesus was teaching them saying “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are those who thirst for justice. Blessed are you when you suffer. Blessed are you when you are persecuted. Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven.” And Simon Peter was saying “Are we supposed to write this down? Andrew asked “Are we supposed to know this?” James asked “Will there be a test on this?” Philip said “I don’t have any paper.” Bartholomew asked “Do we need to turn this in?” John said “This isn’t fair the other disciples didn’t have to learn all this.” Mathew asked “May I go to the restroom?” And Judas asked “What does all of this have to do with real life anyway?” Thanks to Mark Terwilliger for that amusing look at the Sermon on the Mount but it raises a really good point. In order to share the word with others we first have to hear the word. Everyone already has enough hell in their lives, people don’t need the devil what they need is the Word. Today is the Sunday when we celebrate Jesus ascension into heaven as we read in the first passage this morning. The point being that the second passage we read was fulfilled. Jesus was preparing the disciples for that time when he would no longer be physically with them and that time is now. But people still need the Word; fortunately Jesus has passed this Word on to us and calls us to share it with others but in order to share it, in order to live it out we first have to know it. So give ‘em the Word.
Sharing the Word begins with reading the Word, witnessing the Word as it is revealed to us in the person of Jesus the Christ which leads to us knowing the Word and equips us to share the Word with others. We can’t share the Word if we don’t know it, that is the first step.
There is an old missionary story about a convert to the faith that lived in Africa. A missionary had given this man a copy of the Bible and the man was extremely pleased with and appreciative of this treasured gift. This made the missionary all the more surprised when the missionary and the man met again a few months later and the missionary saw the condition of the Bible – worn, torn, battered, and what looked like lots of pages missing. “I thought you would have taken better care of the bible I gave you” the missionary remarked.
The man replied “it is the finest gift I have ever received. It is such a wonderful gift I gave a page to my father, and a page to my mother, and then a page to everyone in the village.” God’s word is not meant to be kept in pristine condition on a shelf somewhere. You may keep your Bible nice and neat but it won’t do you or anyone else a much good if all it does is looks pretty collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. Before you ask, a better dust jacket isn’t the answer. The answer is taking it off the shelf and reading it and then putting it into practice. God’s word is meant to be shared with all. Perhaps you can pull out a page and share it with someone else. Even better perhaps you can work on a page, work on studying what it says; work on perfecting what it tells you to do, then show someone else the page by doing it.
As a church we may be called to go to hell. We might be asked to enter into scenarios like the one in