August 7, 2013 Dear Family and Friends of the Diocese of Eau Claire, About 20 years ago, just prior to an Ash Wednesday service, a reporter from a local Milwaukee television station interviewed me. She was doing a piece on services and asked me about Lent. Then she asked, “Do you believe there is a hell?” I paused and said, “Yes.” I next explained to her that I could not see God permitting Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, and Sadam Hussein to be in the same place with the rest of humanity. C.S. Lewis wrote that heaven and hell are physically alike. In both places everyone sits down to a banquet. Each person has elongated forks and spoons tied to her or his forearms. They could not pick up food with the fork or spoon and put it in their mouths. The utensils were too long. As a result, everyone in hell starved as each person threw food everywhere in frustration. In heaven the banquet was a true feast, for instinctively the people solved the problem by feeding each other. What C.S. Lewis was saying was the best part of heaven is the company you keep. The worst part of hell is the company you keep. As Hitler, Stalin, and their awful companions can testify, your character on earth matters. As Christians we have knowledge of the Good News of Jesus Christ. What are we to do with it? Is keeping it to ourselves and being “good people” sufficient? Could we be accused of hoarding the faith? As an Easter people, folks who live into the resurrected life right now, we have to share this jewel we call the Good News. This is an art that must take high priority in our lives. We are called by God to develop skills that provide an environment where a life with Jesus is caught by others and claimed as their own. This takes effort that is no different than a young person who wants to excel at baseball, piano, or ballet. In the end this labor for the Lord shapes our character. As we give ourselves away, we grow in faith and as people. We also become ever more precious to God. In the 1970’s there was a saying that is still appropriate for today. If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Let us in the Diocese of Eau Claire do everything we can in the name of Jesus to be as guilty as possible. With my best wishes, I am, Your brother in Christ, +Jay
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 14:15:56 +0000
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