The Four Last Things - Hell

The Four Last Things - Hell
Part 3 of 4

How many of us, when we think of hell, think of something like this Far Side comic? It’s funny! But it misses the mark.

When it comes to thinking about hell, there are a lot of good questions that come up. “If God is good and loving, why does he send anyone to hell?” “As long as I’m a good person, or at least not as bad as Hitler or Stalin, I’m going to heaven, right?” “Pope Francis said there’s no hell! An atheist journalist said so!” 

I would counter: Hell has to exist in order for God to be Good.  What?!?! Before you crumple up your bulletin and throw it at me during the homily, hear me out. 

First we have to ask: is it true that Hell exists?  I think it’s sufficient to say that Jesus referenced Hell quite often in his teaching, either under this name or others (sheol, Gehenna, hades, etc.).

Why, then, does it exist? Why would God allow anyone to go there? 
Pope Francis was asked a great question by a young woman, “How can Hell exist if God forgives everyone?” He responded by telling her about the fall of Satan, and observed, “Satan wanted God’s place. And God wanted to forgive him, but he said, ‘I don’t need your forgiveness. I am good enough!’” Pope Francis went on, “This is hell. It is telling God, ‘You take care of yourself because I’ll take care of myself.’ God doesn’t send you to hell, you go there because you choose to be there. Hell is wanting to be distant from God because I do not want God’s love.  This is hell.”

Last week, we talked very briefly about free will. Free will is one of the fundamental ways we are made in God’s image and live in His likeness. But free will is a gift we are called to be careful stewards of. You see, free will is not the license to do whatever I want.  Rather, it is the ability to do what I ought.  It is the ability to make moral choices that have meaning and consequence, good or evil.  Free will is required for love, with the potential also to reject.  Think: if I cleaned the kitchen table because my mom made me, did I do it out of love? Ah, but if I cleaned the table of my own free choice, now it is possible that I did it with love!  (As an aside, doing things out of duty can prepare the heart to do them out of love.  Kids, listen to your mom and dad.)

This helps us to under the nature of sin. Sin is not simply an accident or just ‘hurting someone else’.  If it’s an accident, it’s just an accident. Hurting someone else may be a sin (or not). Rather, sin is always a choice. Sin is when we say to God, “God I know what you want, but I don’t care. I want what I want.” 

Ok, so how does this help us to understand that Hell has to exist in order for God to be Good? Some hold the position that God, after we die, will simply overwhelm us with His goodness in such a way that nobody could say no to Him. Sounds nice, right?  But again, we have to ask: is it true? There’s plenty of evidence in what God has revealed to us in Scripture and Tradition that says ‘no’. For starters, see Matthew 25:1-13, or Matthew 25:31-46. 

Perhaps the most clear parable is that of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. The rich man ends up in hell, with a great chasm to prevent crossing. He asks for mercy, but none is given.  When he asks for a ‘special mercy’ for his father and brothers, he is told that they already have all they need to be converted – if they decline listening to Moses and the prophets, then a supernatural event will not convince them either. Wow, tough love.
But on the flip side, consider the consequence: What if God were to make me choose Him by overwhelming me? 

Well, first, then my free will doesn’t matter. My choices don’t matter. No matter what good or evil I’ve done or endured, it doesn’t matter. Because in the end God overrides them.

Second, it means this earthly life doesn’t have any meaning. There’s something within us that rebels against the idea of having a meaningless life! But if God overrides my free will, it means that whether I sacrifice and strive for holiness, give myself to a life of debauchery and evil, or just loaf around, in the end it doesn’t matter, because I’m going to heaven no matter what.

Lastly, consider how much suffering there is.  Why does God permit it?  Yet if God’s ultimate plan is everyone is going to heaven, then why even give us this earthly life? Why not take us all now, and end all suffering? Yet God permits suffering to happen, sometimes in long and excruciating ways. So either our suffering somehow has meaning for what will happen to us or others, or God is a monster toying with us for a while before letting us in. 

But God is good. He gave us the power to make decisions that have consequence, and thus the potential for real love! He gives our life ultimate meaning in that what we do in this life really matters in the end! And though suffering is a great mystery, God has proven to us through the Cross that in Christ it has the power to grow us in faith, hope, and love – the things that endure unto eternity! 

And because God, in His Goodness, gave us the power to love, to make choices that matter, to choose Him in a definitive way, then it is also true that God in his Goodness gives us the power to reject Him in a definitive way. 

Friends, Hell may not be good, but it is good that Hell exists.