I've Been Thinking About This…

Do you have a garden hose? But you know what one looks like, right? So there were two ants – their names were Bert and Ernie – and they were walking along the garden hose on the inside. Now ants don’t need a lot of light, which is a good thing, because there wasn’t a whole lot of light in there! And ants aren’t looking for any change in their surroundings – which is another good thing, because it was pretty steady work. In fact, if you think about it, from their perspective everything can be measured in 2 dimensions – the distance around the pipe and the length of it (they can’t even tell that it bends, they’re so small and blind).

If this was a ritzy kind of garden hose, where you could see in but they couldn’t see out (sort of a one-way mirror thing), we could see them plodding on and on round the coils. But now let’s get vandalous and cut a hole in the hosepipe, right where Bert is about to walk. (They’re walking side by side.) So Bert and Ernie walk on, and suddenly Bert finds himself turned around on the outside while Ernie continues forward on the inside.

Ants aren’t the brightest of creatures, and I expect Ernie has been chatting away: “I say this is a jolly long hosepipe Bert isn’t it Have you ever been in such a long hosepipe Bert I sure haven’t and it’s really really dark Bert I don’t think I’ve ever been in such a long dark hosepipe before old chap have you Bert Of course we wouldn’t remember even if we had ‘coz we’re ants and we don’t ‘coz we’re not the brightest of creatures but …” and the sound of his little ant voice trailed off into the dark. Meanwhile, Bert has taken several dozen steps before he notices anything different, but then he stops and looks around.

And he sees that he is in a very different place. For one thing, he can see. This is new. And what he sees is that he is in a place that has more than just circumference and distance. This is a proper ‘up’ and ‘down’, and the ‘up’ bit is vast. It also has a left and right, and a front and back (although he has to turn around for that).

He also sees that he is standing on the hosepipe they had been walking through. And because I set it up with a clever bit of writer’s prescience earlier in the story, he finds that he can see into the hosepipe. When he looks a little up and to the left, he can see Ernie, apparently unaware that Bert had fallen out of the tube somehow because the dear old chap is still chatting away (Bert can see his mouth moving). And Ernie plods along and moves off to Bert’s right. And Bert waits for a while, and Ernie doesn’t come back from the right … he shows up from Bert’s left instead, and on the next higher piece of hosepipe, which is a bit puzzling.

And Bert waits some more, and … yes, there’s Ernie again, on the next higher piece still, coming in from the left again. And Bert tries to tell Ernie (if he’d only stop talking!) that all Ernie has to do is go up instead of forward all the time, and he could skip the loop and get to the next one in 2 seconds flat … and then Bert realizes that (1) he has no words to tell Ernie what to do, (2) Ernie (who had long forgotten the outside of the hosepipe) would havw no concept of what Bert is talking about, and (3) Ernie has no way to break out of one part of his universe to get into another.

Which brings us to John the Revelator. John was ‘caught up in the spirit’, in the book of Revelation, and saw things in the spirit that were absolutely incredible … amazing … different. He was given the gift of understanding some of what he saw, but how do you leave the closeted dimensions of our universe, see the realness of Heaven and then go back and describe it to people who have no words for the things you saw? Can you describe snow to a Saharan? So he used images that we could understand.

Even Jesus, who as Man was on Earth for 33 years and as God was in Heaven for quite a bit longer(!), used images – “The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed-leaven-treasure-a merchant-a net-a master…” (Matt 13:31,33,44,45,47; Matt 20:1)

What images come to mind as you think of Heaven? Are there parables you’ve used to help describe part of the Bible?

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Here’s a story I used to tell the confirmation class:

Imagine that you are in high school and best friends with someone who is a superb athlete. It could be any sport – we’ll say football. This friend has speed, power, stamina and brains. It’s obvious to everybody that he’s not just good – he’s exceptional. His plan is to get a football scholarship through a big-league college and then turn pro; and while for other people you’d just think it was a dream, for him everybody is convinced that it can be accomplished. He’s just that good! He’s also friendly, confident, approachable and popular.

He’s so good that the whole school turns out to watch him play. In fact, he’s so good that the whole community comes out. He’s so good that the college scouts have visited. Then one day in his senior year, he is hurt – deliberately and brutally. He’s hurt in such a fashion that he will never play ball again. He won’t get a football scholarship. He won’t turn pro. He can barely walk.

This premeditated attack was made by a person he recognized, and he took his attacker to court. As his best friend, you are with him in court. The evidence is presented, and it is irrefutable. Witnesses saw the attack, and they give testimony. There’s no question in anyone’s mind that this person will be put away for a long time. Further, he’s enormously wealthy, and will be able to pay for the mounting medical costs. The jury gives their verdict – guilty on all charges.

The time comes for the judge to pronounce sentence. He says something along these lines: “It’s very clear that this attack was deliberate and premeditated. It’s also clear that the attacker is very young and foolish, and that this is his first offense – this must be taken into account. He has shown remorse in court for his actions – this too must be taken into account. I have therefore decided that his punishment shall be limited to a written warning and probation. He will not be put away, and will not be liable for payment of any fines or fees.”

Everyone sits there stunned! It’s inconceivable! Slowly the courtroom empties. Your friend hobbles painfully out on his crutches. The room is empty except for the defendant and the judge gathering up his papers. On your way out through the door, you overhear the defendant say to the judge, “Whew! Sure dodged a bullet there, Dad!”

What do you think of this judge? Do you have any shred of respect for someone who should have recused himself before the trial began? Any respect for someone who perverts justice to that degree? We expect someone who has the authority of a judge to uphold the law – no question, no deviation from the absolute rightness of the matter.

Yet we expect God to go easy on us because we are His creation. We are so taken with – so indoctrinated with – the idea that ‘God is love’ that we expect all law-breaking, all failings, all sin to be forgiven and glossed over. For everyone.

I guess what that says is that we have lost respect for God. Because although we are told that God will judge us at the end of our days, we’re assuming that He will say, “No problem. I forgive you. I won’t look at all the wrong-doing you’ve committed. You won’t be put away from my presence, and there doesn’t need to be payment of any fines or fees.”

We hear so much in church today that reinforces this view:

• God will forgive everybody for everything.
• Live a fairly nice life and be fairly nice to others.
• What matters is that you mostly do your best.
• Be sincere.
• Just believe in God.

At funerals, what priest is going to say, “Well, sorry about this … Alice never believed in Jesus, so she’s in Hell now.”?

People have acquired such distaste for ‘Hellfire and brimstone’ sermons that the priest or pastor believes the very mention of sin from the pulpit will empty the church – so he doesn’t speak of it. And in the avoidance, he does his congregation a great disservice, for a warning now and then is essential if we are to counteract the view that the world has of a wussie conflict-avoiding God.

The truth is, God does want to forgive us. He understands better than we do why we commit each sin. He doesn’t want to condemn us, and He wants us to live forever in a loving relationship with Him. But He’s not just Love; He is also Holy, and Righteous, and Perfect. And there will be that reckoning at the end of our days.

A judge that would say “I’ll just forget about your crime” is a judge who cannot be worthy of our respect. He merits no glory, no praise, no honor. He is the kind of judge in our story. God cannot cover up our crimes; He has to punish wrongdoing – to fail to do so would be to be untrue to the Righteousness and Justice that is His nature, and He cannot be that. But the punishment that should be exacted is a punishment so complete and eternal that no one could ever be in relationship with Him.

In our place, and in an act of extraordinary Grace, He sends His infinite Son as payment of any fines or fees for our sin, so that we won’t be put away from His presence. And all He requires in return is that we own up to our own sin and acknowledge Him as our Savior. The debt is paid in full; we get a new start. We’re not even expected to be perfect (we are expected to try, though) – and in the new life we have His strength and His guidance.

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