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ELEMENTAL CHRISTIANITY -- FIRE If you think that talking about being "born again" last week was tricky, have I got news for you. The whole reason that the phrase "born again" has such negative connotations for so many people is because of its common association with the theme for this week. Judgment. But in this month of dealing with the Christian basics in terms of the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, I could hardly ignore the theme of judgment on "fire" week. I tried, believe me, but it didn't work. It's part of basic Christian doctrine and ultimately our lives will lose their balance if we ignore it. So I hope that by now you can trust me enough to allow me to take your hand and lead you into the fire. Hey, wait a minute...I thought going into the fire was for the bad guys.. The wicked get hellfire and the good get harps and halos...what do you mean go into the fire? Well, there is some talk of that in Scripture, but many other passages, including the ones read for today, seem to indicate that we all get a pass at the flames...that fire somehow is necessary for us all. What is that all about? Well, put on your thinking caps for a moment and consider this. A passage that we didn't read this morning is Hebrews 12:29 which reads, "Our God is a consuming fire.." Suppose that is true? It sounds harsh and scary, but suppose we combine that verse with the one in 1 John 4 that says, "God is love," and create a sentence that reads "Love is a consuming fire." Would anybody disagree with that? Not if you've ever loved, you won't. True love refines us...it makes us better people. It makes us happier, more gracious, and it burns away impurities. Somehow, God and fire do go together. God appears as a fire to Moses in the burning bush and as a pillar of flame guiding the Israelites through the wilderness. When the Holy Spirit shows up at Pentecost, we get rushing wind and tongues of what? Flame. When the Word of God fills the prophet Jeremiah, he describes it as a fire in his bones. And when John the Baptist tells about Jesus, he describes Jesus as the one who comes to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus himself says he has come to bring fire to the earth (Luke 12:49). It's all over the place, and if our faith is to be well-rounded and complete, we have to find a way to deal with it. If you look at the acts of God throughout Scripture, you will find that, in fact, God does what fire does. Think about fire. Civilization could not advance until the discovery of fire. It allows us to cook and to be warm. Even the forest fire is necessary for the survival of the forest and Redwood trees never reproduce if there is never a fire to force open the pods that hold the seed. Fire is energy and light and heat. But if you have ever touched a hot stove, been burned out of your home, or lived in an age or place where they burned people at the stake, you know that fire is not something to take lightly. When I lived in San Antonio, there was a little boy in my apartment complex who used to come and visit me and my dog. He was wrapped head to toe in bandages like a mummy. It was part of his treatment at the local burn clinic. He had been playing with matches on his bed. Fire. It refines metal, it consumes straw. But the first thing to notice, at least for the sake of this sermon, is that the fire does not change. It has the same nature and properties it has always had. It acts in the same way. But the results are different depending on the objects that the fire touches and the respect that the fire is given. I think God is like fire in all of those ways. Keep a healthy respect, and you're less likely to get burned, although there are some whose growth will be stunted or who will never bear fruit until they first go through fire. Get to know its properties and you'll discover all kinds of benefits. God is certainly energy, light, and warmth. But remember that God is a consuming fire. Whatever has no substance will be burned away when God's fire sweeps through the forest of our lives. What does it mean to have no substance? That's where the Scripture passages from this morning fit in. Look at this gem in Isaiah 33. The passage that we read comes right after Isaiah has spoken of the breath of God as a consuming fire. He says, "The peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire." So then the prophet asks, "Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames?" Is he talking about hell? No...listen to who lives in the everlasting flames..."Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil, they will live on the heights; their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks; their food will be supplied, their water assured." Isaiah seems to be saying that the fire sweeps across the good and the wicked alike, but the fire that destroys the wicked does not harm the righteous. Who survives the fire? The righteous...those who work for justice and peace. Who is destroyed? The wicked. One fire, two results. It's the same message in the New Testament passage in 1 Corinthians 3. The Day of the Lord comes with fire and it tests the work of each builder. Those who built with good materials survive the fire...the fire even improves them as gold and silver are purified in fire. But those who built with unsuitable materials will suffer loss. It's a stretch, but I suppose you could say that it's the same message as the Three Little Pigs. The wolf does the exact same huffin' and puffin' at all three houses, but the effect is different depending on the way the house was built. Straw and sticks are too weak and are destroyed, but the brick house stays up. What determines the outcome is not the wolf, but the house. The difference between that story and the Gospel is that in the fairy tale, the pigs in the flimsy houses get eaten by the wolf. But in Corinthians, don't miss the last part of verse 15... "If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire." Even though the entire work of our lives turns out to be straw, the poor work alone is not enough for God to condemn us. If our work cannot withstand the fire, there is still another chance...if we ourselves are able to pass through the flame. I was reading an article in the Emory alumni magazine about a story told at a popular Hindu festival. The story describes an evil woman "named Holika, who conspires with the King to have a pious young prince killed for his belief in Krishna. Taking a secret potion to protect herself, she jumps into a bonfire with the young boy. Yet because of the strength of his faith, the prince emerges unscathed while the evil Holika is consumed by the flames." I really think that this is how God's judgment works. It is not that God decides to be merciful and save some while being harsh and condemning others. I think the difference is not in God, but in us. The consuming fire sweeps across everyone, and whether the fire shows us to be gold inside...whether it releases seeds that we have held tight in our branches...or whether it consumes us in an instant is up to us. I first discovered this concept as I was writing a paper for a class in seminary. I was dealing with sin and forgiveness and decided to base the paper on a reading we had done by philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard said that when sin is forgiven, the sin is actually destroyed...there is less sin in the world when a sin is forgiven. Forgiveness obliterates sin, destroys it, and it is no more. Well, I thought. If that is true, think about what that means for God's judgment. If God were to forgive everyone, that would have different results for different people...depending on how much sin was there. Whatever is sinful in a person would be obliterated...destroyed, which means that if a person had managed to become completely sinful...down to the very core, so that there was nothing good left at all...God's forgiveness would destroy them. Forgiveness obliterates sin...like matter and antimatter coming together. So if all you are is sin...bang, you're gone...not by the wrath of God, but by God's forgiveness. I sat back and took a deep breath. Wow, I thought. Maybe we've been wrong in thinking that God forgives some and damns others. Maybe what we have divided into salvation and damnation are really two sides of the same coin. Maybe God forgives everybody, and it just affects us differently, depending on the choices we have made in our lives. Maybe, like the fire, the nature of God does not change, but it affects different materials differently. When fire touches gold, it is refined and purified. When fire touches straw, it is consumed and disappears. OK, Anne, maybe that's right. Or maybe it's not. However it happens, why is it we need to think about judgment at all? You keep saying we're not supposed to focus on our reward or punishment...that faith is not about us but about God. So why think about it at all? What does it have to do with my life? Why can't I just dwell on the kindness and mercy of God? Good question. The trouble is, I have a feeling that the question is most often asked by those of us in positions of privilege or whose lives have never been touched by real cruelty and oppression. If you are a Jew who watched your parents die in the ovens of Dachau; if you are the mother of a little girl killed in the Oklahoma City bombing; if you are persecuted for the color of your skin, ignored because you are poor, or beaten to a bloody pulp because you are gay...let me tell you...you want the wrath of God. You do not want a God who simply says to your rapist, "Tsk, tsk, that wasn't very nice...but it's all forgiven, come on in." No. If you are violated, you want a God who is spitting mad about it. You might be willing for the person to be saved...but only as through fire. You want the evil burned away so that if there is something left to love, you can see it and appreciate it. And if, when the evil is burned away, there is nothing left...well, point made. We need to come back to the theme of judgment now and again because for the oppressed and persecuted, for the victims of hatred and cruelty, the knowledge that there will be judgment brings hope. In the book of Revelation we see a scene in Heaven where the martyrs are gathered under the heavenly altar and they are crying out to God... "How long, O Lord, how long?" So much of the world cries out today...How long, O Lord, how long must we suffer? Do you hear us? Are you blind? Do you care? Talking about judgment is a primary way of voicing the conviction that God does hear...God does care...and God is madder than the hellfire of a thousand angry preachers that we are not a people of justice and mercy. Without the message that God will one day judge each and every one of us...that we will all pass through the fire and only what is pure and good in us will survive....without knowing that, is it any wonder that we want to take justice and revenge into our own hands? Maybe if we are reminded that God is a consuming fire, we could back off from our lust for revenge and wait for God's fire to do its work. Maybe if we thought God could muster up some justice, we wouldn't find as much satisfaction in watching Timothy McVeigh die. Judgment belongs to God. Vengeance belongs to God. Why? Because God is the only one who can get it right. God is the only one who has figured out how justice and mercy can be perfectly balanced and equally applied. I believe that God forgives everybody...but that forgiving love of God is a consuming fire. That act of forgiveness will wipe out any sin in you...in me. For those with even the tiniest speck of good down deep in their hearts, that speck will survive. For those who have allowed themselves to be completely consumed by sin...they will be no more. Forgiveness will obliterate the sin and when all is said and done, there will be nothing left. Perfect justice, perfect mercy. "Hear, you who are far away, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: ‘Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames?' Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil, they will live on the heights; their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks; their food will be supplied, their water assured." Amen and Amen. (c) 2001, Anne Robertson Return to Sermon Page |