Matthew 16:13-19
Colossians 2:6-15
“Storming the Gates of Hell!”
By: Rev. Ken Sauer,
Pastor of Grace UMC, Soddy Daisy, TN
My little five-year old nephew, Davis, is Catholic and on a recent trip Davis asked his mother (Kristen) what happens to people after they die.
Kristen tried to explain it in a way that a child would understand.
She told Davis that if we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and do our best to live a godly life, then we will go to heaven.
At this, Davis became very serious, “I don’t live a godly life.”
To which Kristen replied, “That’s why we have confession. Before you take your first Communion you will go into a booth and confess your sins to the priest.”
To which five year old Davis responded, “That’s not going to be a pretty sight!”
People are yearning to be saved in this life.
As Descartes once declared, “Human beings are created with a God-Shaped Void,” and we will never be satisfied nor at peace until that God-Shaped Void is filled with a relationship with God through Jesus Christ!
We all need to be saved!
In our Gospel Lesson,
Jesus said that “the gates of Hades” shall not prevail over His Church!
In this context, Hades can either be interpreted as the place of death or as the place of torment.
I have a blended interpretation—I believe it means both—death and hell!
In Revelation 1:17-18 the Victorious Jesus declares: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
In Matthew Chapter 12:29 Jesus uses the metaphor of “a strong man” in reference to Satan when Jesus asks, “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.”
And in the Epistle Lesson that Ron Read for us earlier Paul declares: “…having disarmed the powers and authorities, he [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
In any event, Jesus declares in our Gospel Lesson for this morning, “…I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
And that Triumphant Church is made up of you and I, my friends!!!
Many of us have a gate at home.
Is a gate an offensive or a defensive weapon?
Notice that there is no two-week cooling-off period before a person can purchase a gate.
Police don’t pack loaded gates.
Terrorists don’t hold victims “at gate point.”
We don’t send weapons inspectors overseas to search for “gates of mass destruction.”
Dogs don’t run loose with a little sign around their necks that read “Beware of gate.”
Gates are not a threat; they are defensive.
And the Church is to be on offense, not defense.
Sure, the enemy we face is powerful.
But, Jesus Christ entered the Strong Man’s house when God became flesh, and He tied up the Strong Man by His death and Resurrection.
And through this, the greatest act of love to ever occur, it is Jesus Who carries off the Strong Man’s possessions which are you and me and everyone else who is saved by the blood of Christ…
…Jesus is in the business of robbing Satan’s house!
And this is also the business of Christ’s Body, the Church.
How are we doing at this most important task?
Satan is on defense—not the Church!!!
We, the Church, have been held hostage—at gate point—for far too long.
It is time we stop being intimidated by a gate!
It is time for the devil to be back on his heels rather than the Church of Jesus Christ!!!
Can you imagine what would happen if the University of Tennessee’s Football team decided to bring only their defensive unit to play against the Georgia Bulldogs?
No matter how well their defense plays, they can never win without scoring some points.
And as the Church we need to switch from defense to offense if we are going to be all that Jesus intends us to be!
My friends, the devil can only play defense.
His hands are tied.
He only has control over those who are still living inside his gate, and his control is only as strong as the free-will of people.
The devil strives to hold onto all who live inside his prison house, but Jesus’ Church will triumphantly storm the gates and rescue those who live within.
Why are we so often afraid to share our faith, to go on the offense, with those who are grasping to be saved?
Or why does it often fall so very low on our priority list to invite the people we work with, go to school with, live next door to, work out with…whatever…to come to church and meet Jesus with us?
Are we afraid that people will dislike us or try to harm us?
That’s what Satan would like us to think!
Sure, some people will be offended by our invitation…Jesus promised that would happen if we are doing what we are called to do…but the vast majority will respect us…at the very least for caring enough to try!
Most people in the world know that something is not right about their lives.
Many are stuck in dead-end jobs that they hate, but must spend most of their time doing because it’s the only way to put food on the table.
Do you think that this was their plan?
“When I grow up I want to have a mean boss, a boring job, and feel as if I am contributing little to society.”
Is that what children say when asked what they want to be when they grow up?
“I want to grow up to be miserable, hopeless and lost.”
I’ve never heard those words come from a child’s mouth, but I have seen them lived out in the lives of so many who were once—and not too terribly long ago--children.
Do children say, “When I grow up I want to be a Meth. Addict,”
“or a child-molester,”
“or a wife-beater”
Or “a woman caught in an abusive relationship,”
“Or an alcoholic,”
“Or a deadbeat dad?”
People know that there must be more to this life…it’s a miserable existence without the Lord!
And what about the so-called beautiful people in this world?
The rich, the popular…
…are they getting what they bargained for?
Are they satisfied by the things money can buy, or do they become easily bored?
… when it comes right down to it many, many lost souls yearn to be rescued…
…deep down inside they are crying out with the rest of the world…
“…save us…
…save us…
…I want to be made whole…
…I don’t want to be part of this hellish existence any longer!!!”
My friends, Jesus Christ holds the keys to hell and death!
So why do we sometimes act so wimpy?
If anyone thinks that the Christian life is not the most daring, adventurous, and exciting thing going…it is only because they are not living into what it means to be Christian!!!
They are, instead, living with one foot in the Kingdom and One foot in the other side of the gate!
Remember what Jesus said to the Church in Laodicea in Revelation Chapter 3?
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were one or the other!
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
As United Methodist’s we don’t believe in the doctrine of “once saved, always saved.”
We believe that we live by freedom of choice, and we can step right back inside that gate of hell if we so choose, although we will never, never ever be happy there if we do!!!
In Matthew Chapter 5 Jesus told us that we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.”
Living as salt in a bland world means playing offense!
Otherwise, “if the salt loses its saltiness…it is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and be trampled by men.”
Being light in a dark world means playing offense!
Ultimately, Jesus and His Church win!
Jesus is building His Church…
…are we in the blueprints or not?
There is nothing more rewarding, nor is there anything more important in all the world!!!
Because the Church that Jesus builds is unstoppable!!!
The saving of souls is the most important job in all the earth, and we are called to do this job for the sake of Christ!
It is neither boring, nor is it miserable.
The Boss is not mean.
And the pay and benefits far exceed anything imaginable!
If you are not particularly fond of your job, think of it, instead, as your mission field…and the excitement will start to build.
You might even find that you will be happy about going to work.
If you find school to be boring, think of it as your mission field and it will be anything but boring!!!
If you get bored at the gym—think of it as your mission field…
Jesus, looking at the poor, lost and harassed people of this world said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”
Are we jumping in head first to be used to do His work?
And if not, why not?
We have a lot of churches, but how many of us are living into what Jesus intends for us?
Jesus said in John 20:21, “As the Father sent me, I also send you.”
We are sent to storm the gates of hell, in order to save those who are poor, oppressed, and who are destined for an eternity without God!
We are sent, but are we going?
When was the last time you witnessed to someone about your faith in Christ?
When was the last time you invited another to come to church?
When was the last time you put up door-hangers and handed out invitation cards?
We are to be the presence of Christ behind enemy lines.
We are to sow seeds of love, kindness, grace, redemption and Good News behind enemy lines.
We need to become deeply entrenched in our communities…
…not just focused on our facilities, but focused on living, demonstrating, and offering a biblical community to a lost and dying world.
Are we doing this or are we more concerned about protocol and ego?
The Church does not exist just for itself.
Instead, we are to be incarnational, functioning as “the body of Christ”—representing the presence of Christ in our community and in our world.
We are to be driven by Scripture and radically different from the way the rest of the world lives.
We are not to look different or be snobby.
We are to be filled with the love of Christ!!!
We are to be in the world, but not of it!
Who do we associate with?
Who are we building relationships with?
Who did Jesus associate with and build relationships with?
Was it not the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the criminals, the lepers, the poor, the insane?
Is that who we are relating to?
Are we eating in their homes?
Are we hanging out with them?
Are we reaching out to those folks with the message of hope?
Are we inviting them to go out to lunch or come over for dinner?
Do we offer them a ride to church, Bible study or other related activities?
Would they feel welcome within the Body of Christ that meets at 9833 Hixson Pike in Soddy Daisy?
Would we feel comfortable with them?
Let’s all ask ourselves, “What impact does Grace United Methodist Church have in our community?”
We do not exist just for ourselves.
We are to function as “the Body of Christ” because we represent the presence of Christ to our community and to our world.
Do we, each and every one of us, intentionally think like missionaries in our context?
Are we a Missional Church or just another institution?
Are we driven by Scripture inside and outside the church building?
Are we focused on meeting needs both inside and outside of our community of faith?
We are to take care of one another…and I can think of no better way to do this than through our band societies…and we are to also reach out to the world for the sake of the Gospel.
As Robert Lewis so pointedly asks in his book The Church of Irresistible Influence, if our church closed its doors today, would anyone but us notice?
“Would the city be sadden because such a great community-transformation partner—a missional church of impact—was gone?
Or would it even miss a beat?”
In order to storm the gates of hell we must grow deeply in love with the lost.
Jesus came into this world to save us because, “God so loved the world…”
Shouldn’t we exhibit the same love for the lost that God has?
Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson write in their book Comeback Churches that “Most Christians don’t like lost people.
We wish it were not so, but it is.
Lost people don’t think like us; they often don’t vote like us;
they influence our kids;
they don’t know our inside references.
They are not ‘our’ people.
Let’s face it: people outside the church can be messy!
Most of the time there is at least one or more divorces, meaning blended families.
Their credit card debt is so high that they cannot be financial givers to the church.
Their kids can be unruly…”
But if we are going to storm the gates of hell we will love the lost as Jesus did!
Are we willing to love people who are sometimes not very lovable?
Some say that Churches often want to “clean people” before we “catch them.”
But we must love lost people the way they are!
The church should be as diverse as the people standing at a busy bus-stop!
Think about what Jesus did when He picked Zacchaues out of that crowd in Luke Chapter 19.
Old Zack was not exactly the most popular guy around town.
Jesus not only spoke to him, He also asked to visit his house.
You can almost hear the collective gasp!
How could Jesus go over to the house of someone like Zacchaues, much less talk to him?
As the Scripture says, “All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’”
Are we making anyone mutter about the lost people that are being reached by our church?
Is so, rejoice!
If not, we better get to work storming the gates of hell!
