Sun Kwak, “Putting an End to the GOAT Debate” (Copy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq0USrCgngg

TEXT: Mark 9:42-50

[42] “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. [43] And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. [45] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. [47] And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, [48] ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ [49] For everyone will be salted with fire. [50] Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

SERMON: “H-E-Double Hockey Sticks”

In the Harry Potter series, Voldemort is the antagonist. And for most of the book, the characters refer to him as You Know Who or He Who Must Not Be Named. And the reason was that there was this fear that if one spoke his name out loud, then he would be able to track the one who said his name aloud. And so, Dumbledore, who happened to be the only wizard that Voldemort himself had feared, tells Harry later on not to be afraid of saying the name — that fear of the name only increases the fear of the thing itself. And maybe this isn’t the case for your church background or upbringing. But I grew up hearing and being told, at least in church, never to say hell — that it was a bad word. And also, to not talk about dying and death — that people don’t die but they pass away. And I don’t know if he meant to have his little Dumbledore moment, but I remember my professor in seminary Michael Horton getting really serious on us. He didn’t get too practical for a lot of things, but this one of his most meaningful off the notes moments. I remember him imploring us, especially when we’re either preaching from the pulpit or counseling those near death not to avoid using the words death and hell. That death is something that is real, but it’s something that Jesus, in his death and resurrection, has conquered over. And so, we ought not fear using the word. And in the same vein, as he implored us, that this absolutely goes for hell as well. We not only say it, but we preach about it. Because as those covered in the hope of resurrection, it’s not something to fear if we are in Christ, for in him, we are ultimately protected from it. Now, it doesn’t mean it’s not something serious and dire. It’s a real word, it’s a real place that real people go to. It’s not a curse word, and it’s not something that should have power over us. Because even the place of eternal torment is within the sovereignty of God. Because something we hear often from this pulpit — God’s grace is deeper than our sin, and God’s love is stronger than our rebellion. And his hold on us will ensure that we never slip into the hell, if we hide behind the righteousness of Jesus.

And so, we’re going to talk about it today. Not just because we don’t fear it, which we don’t. But because Jesus did here in our passage, not just one time, not even two times, but three times. And this isn’t an isolated moment. In fact, he did it throughout the course of his ministry. Flannery O’Connoronce said, “To the hard of hearing you shout, and to the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” And you might be surprised to know that the one who spoke about hell most was Jesus. We have this caricature of Jesus sitting in pastures with children on his lap. But that’s maybe what we call Bradley Cooper Jesus, this American evangelical Jesus who wouldn’t hurt a fly and was gentle with children. But something that the Bible tells us about Jesus — he, especially, as he approached his last days before the cross, talked a lot about hell.

And you could say that he presented some shock value to his audience whenever he would describe it or use it in a discourse. And in the case of our passage, he uses vivid imagery — cutting off your hand or cutting off your feet or gouging out your eyes. That it’s better to lose these members of the body than to continue sinning and walking down the pathway to hell. And some have historically taken this literally and dismembered their body parts that have caused them to sin. And I get the severity of the words from Jesus here. But I don’t think that’s his intent. But as Flannery O’Connor says, once again, “To the hard of hearing you shout, and to the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” Because this isn’t an isolated passage. In fact, the whole of verses 30-50 are actually one discourse and one large section in the Greek. And the context is that Jesus has just spoken about true greatness, using the example of a child in their midst. And we see the link in verse 42, where we read — Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. The millstone around the neck was an ancient form of punishment. It was heavier than a person, and it was guaranteed to take you into the depths of the sea, which the ancients saw to be the depiction of hell. This was the dark abyss, the deep parts of the unknown and uncontainable. We see depictions of Leviathan roaming the deeper parts of the sea in Old Testament, and this was where it was thought that evil roamed.

Abbie Wedgeworth has this multi-part series for kids, something we have in our toddlers and preschool classroom — about what we do with our hands, our feet, our mouths, our eyes, our ears. And this is to teach kids to not only to use our bodies and our movements and our actions not to harm others, but ultimately about how Jesus used his bodied and his movements and his actions not only to not harm but save us. My favorite is What Are Eyes For? And I want to read the book for us, in its entirety — because it’s not that long — to direct us toward how I want to look at this passage this morning. That it’s not about doing our best not to sin but about allowing for the power of the gospel to transform the way we use our eyes. Here’s how it goes.

God made my eyes! What are eyes for? God made my eyes to look! God made my eyes to wink and squint! God made my eyes to open and close. God made my eyes to see feelings on faces. God made my eyes to watch! Did God make my eyes to glare in anger? No, of course not! Did God make my eyes to look down on others? No, of course not! Jesus was a child with eyes just like me! Jesus always used his eyes to look for what God wanted him to do. His eyes closed when he died so I can be forgiven, and then opened again so I can live with hope! So when I roll my eyes in disrespect or look away from the feelings of others, I can close my eyes and ask God to forgive me! I can lift my eyes to ask his Holy Spirit for help. God’s Holy Spirit helps me to see people’s needs just like Jesus. My eyes were made to look for what God wants me to do and see all he’s done for me!

And so friends, let’s look at Jesus and the power in his name, where we can talk about hell with gospel perspective. Because something that Jesus talks about towards the end here is about being salted. And this is the language of sacrifice. And it’s not about sacrificing our body parts or giving up pleasures. But the most fundamental sacrifice that you and I can look at and toward for transformation is the sacrifice of Jesus. And so, let’s find him through our navigation of the topic of hell.

You might notice something in your Bibles — that when you read verses 42-50, there are two versesthat are actually missing. And those are verses 44 and 46. And the reason that these are missing are because some manuscripts fill in a definition for what hell is. And it’s actually the exact words found in verse 48 — where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And the reason that these are repeated in some of these manuscripts is because this is the Bible’s best definition of hell, as quoted from Isaiah 66:24, the very last verse in the book of Isaiah. And you might know the story of chapter divisions in the Bible. Scholars aren’t necessarily fond of them, but Stephen Langton, who was professor at the University of Paris and archbishop of Canterbury in the twelfth century was one who is widely known to have created these chapter divisions in the Bible. And sometimes they’re helpful, sometimes they’re not. But in particular, with the book of Isaiah, his chapter divisions tell a neat story. Because many have come to call the book of Isaiah the little Bible. That for the first 39 chapters, there is God and his judgment impending on the people. Then, for the following 27 chapters, there is good news and the Servant of the Lord who emerges and is sent to proclaim this good news to God’speople. And if those numbers sound familiar to you, it’s because it’s the number of books respectively from the Old Testament and the New Testament. And the two total to 66 books, which amounts to the total number of chapters in Isaiah.

And so, with Isaiah 66:24, the very last verse of the book, this is shown to be the depiction of the last and final judgment, what we know as hell. And this place where the worm shall not die and the fire is not quenched. It’s actually a loaded Old Testament reference. It’s something that we find repeated in 2 Chronicles 28 and 33, with Kings Ahaz and Manasseh, respectively. And with each generation, sin seems to intensify. And what followed Ahaz’s rule, as followed in the Chronicles is the reform of King Hezekiah. And what followed Manasseh and Amon is the reform of King Josiah. And for both, there is a cleansing of the Temple, because idol worship had gotten so disgusting. And just a quick summary of what this idol worship looked like, we see in 2 Chronicles 28:2-4: “He even made metal images of the Baals, and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.” And then, we see a repeat of this with Manasseh, where we read in 2 Chronicles 33 that he undid everything that his father Hezekiah had done and went back to building altars to the Baals and made Asheroth. And this is all in that same place — the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. And with that same practice — burning and offering his sons as sacrifices. And in Jeremiah 7and 19, we get the prophet’s added commentary on this. We read in Jeremiah 7:31 that the idolatrous people had worshiped idols in the house of God and in Topheth and in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, where they burned their sons and their daughters in the fire. And I know this is a lot of info, but stay with me here. This same Valley of the Son of Hinnom is mentioned in Jeremiah 19 with these molten jars. And what these jars were said to contain was human excrement. And it’s these that would be thrown into the fire, thus, the molten jars.

So, let’s put all of this together, with all of these disturbing references. The word Topheth, in the Hebrew, is derived from the word drum. And the reason why the Valley of the Son of Hinnom was called Topheth was that when this idol worship was occurring, these children would be thrown into the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. And to cover up the noises of the cries and the shrieks of the children being burned alive in the valley, the idolaters would chant and bang on the drums. But when Josiah does what Hezekiah does in removing the idols from the high places, he goes a step further. Where there used to be idol worship where the children were burned, he ground the Asheroth and broke down the high places. And in these metal jars that were once used to worship the Baals, he threw into the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. And he made that a place that collected human excrement. And thus, where the children once burned, he puts the idols, the molten jars, mixed with human excrement. And he would burn these. And so, this Valley of the Son of Hinnom would come to the place where the fire is unquenched but where the worm never dies. Because out of the human waste would be maggotsas a result of flies laying eggs there. And all of this is a picture of hell. And so, there’s deep history with the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and with verse 48 of our passage today.

And Jesus uses this imagery, this reminder to the disciples to bring about these sharp reminders from the Old Testament of the cruelty, of the brutality of parents who gave up their children to idol worship. Saying that those who seek for self-aggrandizement and self-accomplishment — this is their destiny, to the place where the worm never dies and the fire is unquenched. And so, he tells them to sever their body parts that make them sin, in order to prevent being eternally tormented in this Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Now, there are Old Testament texts that disallow for body parts to be mutilated. And so, what is Jesus doing here? And it’s to use this startling images to reach the hard of hearing and seeing. That there is something even more severe than breaking the law, and it’s misusing the law — to use the law as a ladder instead of as a mirror. We read in verse 42 the word for causing one to sin. And that word for cause is the Greek word derived from the use of traps and baits. And there is a way where the lawcan bind your heart and give false hope, as a trap and a bait. The law is not meant to save but to direct us to our Savior. For what is it we have with the severing of these body parts — our hands, our feet, our eyes. It renders us helpless and no longer self-sufficient. And the pathway to hell, the slow and gradual slope, as C. S. Lewis calls it, is self-sufficiency. Because what is it that Jesus has been stating to his disciples? Not that they or we would suffer. But that he would suffer and die and rise. Because cutting off is the language of judgment. And he breaks their self-sufficiency that they might direct their eyes upon him. Not that they might cut off but to show how he was cut off.

As we bring our time to a close, I want to revisit one last time this Valley of the Son of Hinnom. What do we read in 2 Kings 23? This Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Do you know what else it’s called? The brook Kidron. And where else do we see this appear? In John 18:1, the night he was betrayed, [Jesus] went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. That garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Son cried to his Father. But just as generations before, when the children cried and the place of Topheth and the drumming and the idolatrous chants had swallowed the cries of these children. Here, when Jesus cries out to his Father, asking him to take the cup of judgment, he gets no response from the heavens. For his cries were muffled up, as he was placed next to the molten jars, the human excrement. For hell is the place where people are burned alive. And as Flannery O’Connor reminded us: “To the hard of hearing you shout, and to the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” And intended to shock the sensibilities, here we have the Son of God placed amidst dead babies and blazing fires and human excrements and crawling worms and molten metal. This is the place of the weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hell is a horrible place. And it’s a horrible place that Jesus experienced. We confess every week — He descended into hell. And we make sure not to leave that out, because we know what Jesusexperienced in our place. Friends, let’s look at Jesus and the power in his name, where we can talk about hell confidently and with gospel perspective. Because something that Jesus talks about towards the end here, once again, is about being salted. And this is the language of sacrifice. And it’s not about sacrificing our body parts or giving up pleasures or making life commitments. But the most fundamental sacrifice that you and I can look at and toward for transformation is the sacrifice of Jesus. And may that transform us toward joy and exclamation. Knowing that he died in my place and went where I was supposed to go. And because of this, we get to go where he was alone supposed to go — into the smile and love of our Father.