The Harrowing of Hell

"The Harrowing of Hell" by Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308-1311)

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,

to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when 

God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built... (1Peter 3:18-20a)

...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:10-11)

"He descended into hell." (The Lord's Prayer)

Holy Saturday. We don't talk about it much.  We are reminded of the cost of our salvation on Good Friday and then the actualization of our salvation on Easter Sunday. We skip over Saturday because we don't like to dwell on the dead body of Jesus lying in the tomb.

But Jesus wasn't dead. Not totally...

Crucified in the body but alive in the Spirit, Jesus went to Hades where he preached to the prisoners who had long ago died during the deluge.  

It makes us uncomfortable.

Because if Jesus was made known to those who did not have a chance to know him in their lifetime on earth, those that even "disobeyed" God, than there is the suggestion that those who die without a saving knowledge of Christ today will still have a chance to meet him face to face and accept Christ as Lord and Savior when they die. 

Perish the thought.

Because if the Lord really "descended into Hell" and if 'every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth," then our belief in Christ has to mean more than just life with Him after we die. If Jesus is available to the living and the dead, then those of us who are living can no longer think of salvation as just a divine insurance policy, redeemable upon death.  

At least, not according to Scripture.

The harrowing of hell means that no one is really beyond the love of God. And if this is true, than Christianity limited to a post-mortem, empty-tomb, reward is not enough. There has to be some merit to knowing the Lord before death. 

Of course there is. 

The veil has been torn between us and the holy. We have access to the Creator...the wonder of this world and the promise of the world to come. Our faith has one foot planted in the sealed tomb of Saturday and the other planted in the empty tomb of Sunday. We are Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday people.  We have life with God today and life with God for ever and we can never fall out of the reach of our Savior who will storm the gates of Hell for all who would follow Him.

Church Stopping. Less Doing, More Being.

Sleep on It

Nearly done with the tree house!

(Elijah) lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, and angel touched him, and said 

to him, "Arise and eat." (1 Kings 19:5)

When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. (Proverbs 6:22-23)

Have you ever noticed that the solution to a problem, or the answer to a major decision in life, seems more clear after you lie down?  We shouldn't be surprised. Neuroscientists  believe that the brain receives nutrients and believe that toxins are removed during sleep.  Researchers believe that the brain organizes and stores memories during sleep. And, I believe, God speaks to us as we sleep.

And, sometimes, angels come to us in the night.

When Elijah was on the run from Jezebel, he was led to a broom tree where he slept for two days before a forty-day journey to Mt. Horeb.  Angels came.  And it was God himself that spoke to young Samuel while he slept.   Jacob saw the ladder to heaven while he slept and Joseph dreamed dreams.  God appeared to Solomon in the dream where the king asked for wisdom.

Because wisdom, sometimes, comes in the night.

Over the last three months, working on the boys' tree house, I have often come up against various problems; Where should we build the tree house? How tall should the tree house be? How can the roof be sealed around the tree branch growing through the center? How are the kids going to get into the tree house when I remove the ladder?  How far apart should the floor joists be? Sometimes I can just call my friend Steve who has a lot of wisdom about tree house construction (and real house construction!). Sometimes, I don't even know how to ask Steve. Then, I just sleep on it.

After all, God speaks in the night.

I know, it is just a tree house, but it is also a backyard adventure, a secret hideout, a meeting place, and a place for boys to get off the ground and dream.  However, I am convinced that the solution to every problem that I have been faced with, not just with the tree house but in life...if I sleep on it...has become much clearer and often less scary.

And I believe that this is one of the main promises of Sabbath. We set down the hammer and nails and rest and allow God to speak to us, not just of floor joists, but of parental decisions and career moves, and relationships. God speaks to us, pragmatically, when we sleep, but also to that deep part of our minds connected to our hearts; that place where dreams live and we are reminded who we were created to be. 

Neuroscientists and researches talk about nocturnal brain activity in the form of nutrients and toxins and memories.  The faithful know that it is God that speaks in the night.

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.

Road Trip: by Larry Snook

(The author hard at work on a tree house for the grandkids.)

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

Just before retiring, Geoff, Burl, and I took an awesome road trip to LaGrande, Oregon where I met with a member or the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System and got signed up for my Oregon retirement. But, to get to LaGrande, we took a fun route.

We had decided to go to the Oregon Coast and see my mother and Geoff's grandmother. We decided to leave the main highway when we left Ontario and cut across country through the Owyhee and Steens Mountain area. It was scenic and wild and we were running out of daylight when we approached the National Antelope Refuge in south central Oregon. We pulled off on a side road and drove out through a sagebrush-covered landscape and decided to pitch our tent along the two-track road. Geoff and Burl took a walk down to a pond in the draw below and Burl had the time of his life harassing the Avocets who lived there. After dinner we walked down the road as the sun was just setting and seemed to be sitting right on top of the tall sage. It was an awesome and beautiful sight. Then things changed. The setting sun seemed to trigger the howling instincts of coyotes and they began howling from all directions. Burl wanted to be carried back to camp. When we bedded down in our small tent, we had a visitor for the night. Burl crowded in between the two of us and did not give up his spot until daylight.

The next day we traveled on than, shortly after getting back on the refuge road, we saw a sign which read, "No camping allowed on the refuge". We traveled on to the refuge headquarters and took a long soak in the hot spring pools. Then on to Grants Pass, Oregon and took a beautiful back road over the coast range, down the Rogue River, and on to Bandon to see mother.

After our visit there we were on to Eastern Oregon and LaGrande for my meeting. After the meeting, we traveled through Wallowa County and my old stomping grounds and over to Lewiston, Idaho, We camped on the Lochsa River that night. Then, on over Lolo  Pass the next day and we made it to Butte, Montana for lunch. We toured the big copper mine and Geoff insisted on taking me to the famous Butte landmark, Pork Chop John's, to have their famous park chop sandwich! 

(What a fun trip, Dad! Thanks for the reminder.  It's about time we do it again. I love you, Geoff)

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.