Tuesday, August 9, 2011
What Jesus Said about Being Good Enough - Anger, Lust, Marriage, Divorce, Part 7 of 34
TEXT: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" (Matthew 5:21-26).
IDEA: When Jesus referred to Gehenna, he had a vivid picture in mind.
PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate the significance behind the images Jesus uses about hell.
Have you heard many sermons on hell lately?
Who told us the most about hell? Is that significant?
I. When Jesus talked about "hell," the particular word that he used was "Gehenna."
What was Gehenna?
It was the name of a place, the Valley of Hinnom, southeast of Jerusalem.
In previous times the valley was a place where foreign gods were worshiped and human sacrifices were offered to those gods.
The Jews felt that the valley was cursed and as a result Hinnom became the city dump.
People threw their garbage there, and fires fed on that garbage day and night.
When Jesus referred to hell as Gehenna, he used a vivid image.
II. What does Gehenna picture about hell?
Hell is a place of wasted lives. "Hell is the garbage dump of the universe" (C.S. Lewis).
The city dump of any city is filled with waste, things once useful but now thrown away because they are useless.
Jesus warns us that this is true – eternally true – of some lives. Have you ever met people who gained their world and threw away their lives to get it? That's the hell of it – eternal regret that mourns a wasted life.
Hell is a place where life has no meaningful relationship with other people. Gehenna was a bleak valley filled with "stuff" that people no longer wanted. As far as the citizens of Jerusalem were concerned, the garbage had no value or meaning to them. Hell, therefore, is a place of utter self-centeredness. We are interested only in seeing our picture and hearing our name. When we reach out to others, it may be only because of what they can do for us.
We become like the character in the novel, "Mary was like an island – surrounded on the east by Mary, on the west by Mary, on the north by Mary, and on the south by Mary."
