1 Peter 3:18-22

What is Hell like? As a preacher I have had people ask me that before. So I did a little research. Hell has a country store and a Halloween shop. It also has an Inn, and a dam. Hell also has a wedding chapel, but they do not have a postmark. It has a place to rent canoes but at this time of year the temperature of Hell remains under 32 degrees, so for all intents and purposes Hell is frozen over at least according to the weather underground.

Of course I am talking about Hell, Michigan (www.hell2u.com). It's an unincorporated community about 15 miles from Ann Arbor. They like to have a little fun with their name. On June 6, 2006 they had a 6/6/6 festival. The Hell Country Store had a $6.66 sale on souvenirs.

But all humor aside. What is Hell really like? Not the one in Michigan, but the place the Bible talks about.

The traditional description is a place of fire and torment. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus Jesus give us a description. The rich man in Hell while Lazarus is in heaven. The rich man begs for a drop of cool water. He says "I am in agony in these flames."(Luke 19:24)

In other places it is also described as a place of fiery torture. In Mark 9:43 Jesus calls is a place "where the fire never goes out." In revelation the final destination of the Devil is a pit of fire.

Of course this is the favorite description of the "fire and brimstone" preacher. And you can understand why. Anyone who has even has a small burn knows the pain of it. Imagine a place where the burning continues and there is no relief. That truly would be Hell.

But some have argued that the "fires" of hell are just a metaphor but that the torment is actually much worse. For instance one of the aspects of Hell in the story of the rich man and Lazarus is separation. In the parable there is a chasm that separates the rich man from the bosom of Abraham. It is an uncrossable crevasse that separates the condemned from God.

Is that the ultimate torment? To be separated from any relationship with God. To be alienated from any grace or forgiveness or love. When I as growing up one preacher described Hell as place where one is constantly accused of the sins one committed in life with no hope of forgiveness.

That would be a place of torment. It is a torment not of the burning of the body. It would be a torment of the burning of the heart and soul. It would be a torment of unbearable ultimate aloneness. Certainly a place like that would fit the biblical descriptions "outer darkness," or a place where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Some have suggested that it is not even a place in the literal sense at all. Pope John Paul II spoke of Hell as a state of mind. According to this understanding Hell is "a 'state of being,' in which a person suffers from the deprivation of God." Pope John Paul II elaborated on this idea by saying "rather than a place, Hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God."

We have all known people who have lived in their own personal Hell on Earth. People who sometimes by circumstance but often by their own decision have made their world a living Hell. People who make choices that destroy themselves and alienate them from any source of love.

If people can know that kind of emotional torment in this life, can't we imagine that being amplified by the length of eternity. The kind of emotional, mental, and psychological Hell that some people put themselves through could fit the Biblical descriptions. It would be a place of outer darkness. It would be a state of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It would be state of mind where a person is constantly burned alive by their own sins.

I have to admit I can't tell you exactly what Hell is like. I can tell you that according to the Bible it is a place where people who have not been forgiven go in the afterlife. It is a place of torment and punishment. Perhaps the idea of eternal punishment is really beyond our capability to fully describe. Maybe the flames and the alienation and the psychological torment that we use to try to describe are all really metaphors for something much worse.

I can't tell you exactly what it is like but I can tell you how to get to Hell. First you get on I-26 west and then in North Carolina we get on I-40 West and � Wait a minute. Oh, these are direction to Hell, Michigan.

Let me see where are those directions?

Wait a minute. You don't want to go to Hell do you? Then I really don't need to give you direction to get there. What you need is directions on the way not to go to Hell. I may not be able to give you directions to get to Hell. But I can give you directions on the way not to go there and I don't even need Mapquest for that.

Jesus is the way. He is the way not to go to Hell. The Bible says, "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18) Jesus, who was innocent of any sin, took on our sin and experienced our hell on the cross so that we would never again have to know separation from God.

I can't tell you what Hell is like because I have never been there. And thanks be to God I will never have to go there because of what Jesus did. If I ever witness Hell it will be like Lazarus seeing it from a distance. Jesus descended into our world to give us a way not to go to Hell.

If you want to go to Hell, MI I will give you these directions. But if you don't want to go to Hell, the place of darkens and weeping and gnashing of teeth, go to Jesus. Accept him as your Lord and savior. He will forgive your sins. For he is the way!

Mark 1:9-15

Hot - Dry - sandy - wilderness! The Jordan River had only been five weeks before, but it seemed like an eternity - an eternity of hunger and thirst - and temptation. Jesus was so hungry! He looked around at the desert. He rubbed his eyes. The stones began to look like the loaves of bread his mother used to bake. If only he could pick up just one and tear a piece off to eat it. There must be a easier way than this! 40 days in the wilderness, then after a brief ministry, rejection. If only he could simply take over the nations. That's how others became King. At least then he would have plenty to eat and a bed to sleep in. Jesus felt weak. How could he face the evil in the world and defeat it if he could barely stand? If only he could do something spectacular so that everyone could see and know that he was God's Son. Then he wouldn't have to face the crowds and the rejection and the cross.

Meanwhile, the heavenly hosts watched on in wonder. One seraph covered her eyes with her wings and chanced a glance between a few feathers. A class of cherubim on recess were all peering over the edge of a celestial cloud. They all knew what was going to happen, what had to happen, but the drama had caught their attention. Just then Michael looked back at the clock. Gabriel nudged him, "Watching the clock won't make it move faster." "I know. but I still had to look." After a few minutes Michael looked back again. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glance of the Father. Sitting on the throne his hand was rubbing his forehead as he looked at the empty throne beside him.

Suddenly an alarm went off. Michael jumped up, "It's time!" And in a flash Gabriel and Michael and a crack team of commandos from the heavenly armies descended to Jesus. Michael quickly poured Jesus a large glass of water. As he handed it to Jesus he couldn't help but remember a similar incident. And the way he had painted that rainbow for Noah. Forty days was a long time to float or to thirst. Gabriel tore off a chunk of bread and handed it to Jesus and their eyes met. They both thought the same thing - "This is my body." And as they dined there together at Jesus' first supper they thought about his last supper to come.

When you think of temptation you think of the Devil. And when most people think of Jesus' temptation in the desert they think of the Devil and the ways he tried to trick Jesus. We are familiar with Matthew's and Luke's accounts of the dialogue between Jesus and Satan. How Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones to bread, to rule earthly kingdoms or to put on a publicity stunt. And we remember the way Jesus responded in righteousness to those temptations.

But Mark doesn't mention any of that. He simply says that Jesus was tempted by Satan - and the angels waited on him. In Matthew and Luke the arrival of the angels is just an epilogue to the drama between Jesus and Satan. But in Mark the angels seem to be the point of telling the story.

Yes, Jesus was in the desert fasting. Yes, he was tempted by Satan. Yes, he was surrounded by wild beasts. But the angels watched over him. That's the point is Mark's account of the event. In Matthew and Luke is says that the angels came after the devil departed. But Mark simply says that the angels ministered to him. I am sure they did indeed come after the temptations like Matthew and Luke say, but maybe Mark wants us to see that even in the midst of his temptations their care for Jesus was a ministry to him. Maybe the hope that they would come running to his aid, when the time was right, gave Jesus strength in that hour of his weakness.

The temptations are about more than just Jesus overcoming Satan. They are that, but they are also an example for us to learn from. Often preachers will look at the temptations and preach on how we face the same temptations today. The temptation to give in to fleshly appetites is like Jesus temptation to turn stones to bread. The temptation to live for power and wealth is like Jesus' temptation to rule earthly kingdoms. The temptation to seek the acceptance of others and public fame is like Jesus' temptation to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple.

But I am going to follow Mark's lead today and concentrate on the angels. You know we all live in a desert. This world is a wilderness of sin. Like Jesus in the wilderness we thirst for something real. Like Jesus we hunger for something that will fill the emptiness inside of us.

In the desert there is little water or food to quench those needs. In the same way this world offers us nothing real and meaningful to fill our emptiness. Oh, once in a while the world shows us a mirage, but it is only an illusion. And so we are tempted to try to fill the emptiness with things that are not good for us. We try to fulfill our need for love with superficial relationships. We try to fulfill our need for peace by trying to ignore or escape the pain around us. So just like Jesus we are tempted. Tempted to take shortcuts. Tempted to make up our own way.

But the angels are watching over us! If we can understand the temptations of Jesus as a model for our lives, then that must extend to the angel part. In the midst of this desert the angels are watching over us. In the midst of our trials the angels are ministering to us.

We all face temptations and trials in this life. There is no way around that fact. And daily we are faced with the choice of living God's way or living the Devil's way. But we don't face those trials and temptations alone. God's Son was there and he faced similar trials and triumphed. And as in his case God's angels are waiting on the ready to minister to us when we triumph.

I don't know what trials and temptations you are facing today. You may be faced with the temptation to fudge on your taxes or bow down and worship the dollar. You may be tempted to pursue an illicit relationship or to go too far with a boyfriend or girlfriend. You may be tempted to make life easier by compromising your Christian principles instead of standing up for what is right. At times it may seem there is no end to the temptations and trials.

But there is an end. Strive for the victory. Don't let the Devil win. And when it is all over watch as God's angels minister unto you. They did it for Jesus and if he lives in you they will do it for you too.

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Genesis 9:8-17

A little water is all it takes. When I was growing up I was like most little boys. I attracted dirt. I would make an attempt at cleaning myself after a hard days play, but often I would fail my mother's inspection and I would be sent back to the tub for a second wash and rinse. And my mother, who knew my bathing habits better than I thought she did, would say, "A little water is all it takes." If a little water can do a little good, then a lot of water can do a lot of good. That is the logic at work in the story of Noah's Ark.

The story of "Noah and the Ark" is a familiar one. From Childhood we have heard how God told Noah to gather the animals and march them into the Ark two by two. The story lends itself to children so much that people paint cute pictures of the ark. It is one of the Bible stories that Young children are taught early. And cute songs are written about it for children to sing. When Melissa and I were shopping for baby things while Melissa was expecting Mary, being a preacher, looked especially for items with some theological theme to them. Besides Precious Moments items I found only one. Over and over again I found the Noah's ark theme. Did you know you can buy all the linens you need or could want for a crib with the Noah's ark theme on them? Plus you can get wall hangings that go with those linens. Noah and the Ark are familiar to us.

Just because a story is familiar does not mean we understand it.

Despite our familiarity with the story we often miss the point. The story of Noah's Ark is not about the things we often associate with that story. It is not about animals. Oh, there are animals in the story. But they are not the subject. It is not about a flood, although the flood is an important part of the story. It is not even about one righteous man and his family, but just such a man is a leading character in the events. The story of Noah's ark is about sin.

It is about the sinful nature of the human race. This morning I read for you the end of the Noah's Ark story, but the beginning goes like this:(Genesis 6:5-7):

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, 'I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created - people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."

Only six chapters earlier in Genesis God had pronounced all creation as good. But human sinfulness had ruined all that. God had breathed life into humanity and had formed the creatures of the earth. Now the Creator was sorry it had ever happened. So God decided to destroy it all by a flood.

Noah's Ark is about the sinfulness of human nature, but it is also about God's desire to save the World. God didn't just flood the world there is more to the story. God also set aside enough of the creation to start it over again.

This desire to save is where the logic of the flood comes in. If a little water can do a little good, then a lot of water can do a lot of good. Water is used for cleaning things. Like dirty little boys, and girls or dusty floors. Sometimes all it takes is a little water. But in Noah's day the world was filthy. The people of the earth had made a mess of things. They had committed all sorts of evil deeds. The earth was covered with every kind of filth that humanity could conceive. It would take a lot to clean up this mess. So it seems God reasoned, if a little water does a little good, then a lot of water will do a lot of good. We humans may think that the Almighty went a little overboard with this use of water as a cleansing agent, but God's point was well made.

The problem is that we all know what floods can do. They destroy all that is in their path. And to do the cleaning required this flood had to be so thorough that there was no high ground to go to and escape it. Now when God cleans house God cleans house. The cleaning job was thorough. After the flood all that had roamed the earth was destroyed. All the wicked temples and the evil people who ruined the earth were gone.

But God's desire from the beginning was to save not to destroy. So God made a promise to Noah and to all humanity. God promised never again would a flood destroy all flesh. Never again would God clean house with a fire hose. That was a promise from God almighty. God didn't say, "If you be good, I will not destroy." God said, "I will not destroy with a flood again period." No conditions. That is how loving and gracious God is. And as a sign of God's Grace, God gave us the rainbow.

Back in Noah's day God looked at the World, that was pronounced good at creation, and was disgusted by it. I imagine that when God looks at the world today, God feels the same way. We have made a dreadful mess of things. When our big brother Jesus comes home he and Daddy will be very disappointed with us.

I would say that the world is overdue for some Divine house cleaning. But remember the rainbow. God promised never to destroy the world with water again. So no matter how bad things get that is one eventuality we don't need to worry about. None of us needs to go home today and stock up our fishing boats for a forty day cruise on high seas, because our gracious God promised it.

But there is one problem: the world is still filthy. This house we call the world still needs cleaning. What is God going to do about it?

"If a little water can do a little good, then a lot of water can do a lot of good" was the logic of the flood. But my mother said "Just a little water. That's all it takes." I have found that if just a little water is put in just the right place it can do the job. And I have found that if the right person applies it, the dirt can be wiped away.

That is exactly what God did in Christ Jesus. God needed just the right person, someone with a strong arm and the patience to do the job. So God sent Jesus the Son of God. And one day they hung him on a cross. And they pierced his side and water and blood flowed out. Christ applied that water and blood to the human soul to cleans it, because that is where all this dirt came from in the first place.

God has every right to destroy the earth again; there is no earthly reason to save us. But instead of a destroying flood, God sent us a Saving Lord. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. God made a covenant with Noah not to destroy and the sign of that covenant is the rainbow. And God makes an agreement with us that all who believe in Jesus Christ shall not perish but have eternal life. The cross is the sign of our covenant.

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