The Divine Comedy

We talked about hell on Sunday.

This is one of the worst, and most damaging, misrepresentations of God and the bible:
when we portray God sitting in front of the world, with this nefarious grin, wringing his hands, gleefully condemning people to hell.

The story told in the bible is actually very different. The bible portrays people with the nefarious grin, thinking mostly of themselves, hording wealth, abusing power, conspiring to do evil, or just turning their back on most of the evil that transpires in the world.  

In other words, the bible is brutally honest when it comes to it's portrayal of people.

But the bible gives the reason for this state of humanity.  The bible says that left on our own we have already chosen the path to hell, the path away form God.  That we have condemned ourselves (Romans 3:23).

That's the bad news.

What's the good news?

God has intervened not with judgment, but with grace.  It is actually God who refuses to simply let people condemn ourselves.  Instead of sitting by an doing nothing, he comes crashing into earth, in flesh, and gives offers us a way out- through himself.  He died on the cross, he paid the price for our sin, he tastes death on our behalf.  Then he conquers sin and offers victory over death in his resurrection.  And he invites us to take part in this resurrection life.  

So Jesus intervenes in the lives of men women who have chosen hell.  He calls us to himself.  Jesus said to his disciples, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last."

Dante called it "The Divine Comedy."  Remember there are two basic stories in life- tragedy, and comedy. Without God's intervention life is tragedy.  Life is leads us down the path of hell and destruction.  Life isn’t always fair. The good die young and the wicked do proper. Horrible things occur, and life seems to just go on.

What makes a comedy?  When somehow things work out in the end. The prince chooses the peasant girl, the turtle wins the race, or in the bible, God saves us from ourselves.

God saves us from ourselves, and when we get that, we just have to laugh with joy.

Judgment will happen, the bible is also clear on that.  And just like salvation is God's business, so will be the judgment.  Until that time, we are simple called to share the "joke."

God has provided a way off the path of destruction, a way back into a relationship with himself, and way to eternity with him.  When we get it, we can't help by share it.