Patiently Pulling Out All the Stops

Patiently Pulling Out the Stops

When I was growing up, two of the churches that my father pastored in Texas had old, majestic looking, domed sanctuaries built in the early twentieth century. And one of the things I enjoyed as a kid, and still enjoy today is the sound of a big pipe organ. Both of these old churches had these big, beautiful expensive and and complicated pipe organs. And each church employed an organist, both ladies, who could truly make those instruments sing. And by the way, today, there are very few people who know how to play one of these wonderful instruments. And only a few hundred students worldwide training to play them. I remember sitting in the pew and listening to the wide range of pitches that the organs had, singing along to the hymns of the day, each person in the congregation feeling like they were a part of an angelic chorus. But, what I really liked was when the organist really cranked up the depth and volume of the huge pipes by pulling out more and more of the stops on the organ. In these organs, air rushes through the pipes and the volume of air that passes through determined how loud and full the sound would be. Some pipes could be completely shut off, or only partially opened to produce different sounds. Think how you speak quietly and how you speak loudly. The amount of air that you are forcing through your vocals chords determines the volume and fullness of your voice. Same with pipe organs. Pulling out all the stops is giving the instrument a massive blast of air, producing a full-throated and majestic voice. Gives me goose bumps to think about it. When pulling out all the stops, the organist is letting the organ do all it can possibly do to make its beautiful contribution to the music. And in thinking about those pipe organs, I can see in the way an organ works an important lesson about our salvation and God’s grace.

On this first Sunday of Lent, the theme of the scriptures is about Christ’s suffering on the cross and the salvation that it brought for us. And as usual there are lots of takeaways from the scriptures. Today, let’s read the scripture lesson and hear a message that points to the one of the greatest gifts we have been given in Christ. From 1 Peter 3:18-22, we read about our suffering Christ, and how his death on the cross was just the beginning in the saving grace of God.

The New Revised Standard Version Suffering for Doing Right

18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

In this passage, the author is addressing the early Christians who were suffering for their faith. They were oppressed because of their beliefs, and the writer was trying to let them know that through their suffering for God they would be glorified as Christ was. The passage tells us that Christ suffered for the unrighteous to bring believers to God. It goes on to say that through the Spirit, he was resurrected from the dead and that he has ascended to Heaven to be at the right hand of God. Remember in those days that the suffering for believing in Christ was a very real thing. In much the same way, Christians in some parts of the world still suffer for these beliefs today. But, in our country and other parts of the western world where Christianity is the predominant religion, the idea of suffering for Christ has been almost trivialized, and the dangerous situation of these 1st century Christians is used as an inappropriate analogy for things like Christians because of the so-called War on Christmas, or the anxiety some Christians feel because soccer practice competes with Sunday School. The main point is that believers have no need to fear that suffering is the last word, because they shared the same destiny as their Lord, whose suffering had secured victory over all hostile powers. Jesus Christ died on the cross to bring us into God’s graceful salvation.

But, in this scripture we read earlier, there is this little matter of Christ after his resurrection in the Spirit. Let’s look again at that part of the scripture from the second half of vs 18 through vs 20.

The New Revised Standard Version Suffering for Doing Right

He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

God’s grace and God’s patience are full display here. A reference is made to the story of Noah and the flood, and how God destroyed the earth, because of the violence and depravity the world had devolved into. The passage says that God waited patiently during the construction of the ark, and saved Noah and his family from the waters of the flood. Just previous to this reference, the verse says that Jesus was put to death in the flesh, and made alive in the spirit. From the Fortress commentaries on Peter, the argument is not “that only Jesus’ spirit was made alive, but that he was made alive in the power of the Spirit.” The next passage in these verses has led to much difficult debate. The passage reads, again, “he went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey..” These “spirits in prison” may be the souls that were lost in the flood of Noah’s story. These were the souls that so offended God that he saw it best that they be destroyed.

But, while we see the Almighty destroy much of the creation through God’s justice, it is at this point that we see the most miraculous work of God through Jesus that gives us the hope of our own salvation. There are so many theological issues involved in this section of the scripture, but I want for you to see this demonstration of God’s patience and grace as we understand to be in the nature of our loving God. Jesus’ descent into Hades, or Hell, is a concept that is not universally accepted in all Christian faith traditions, and I am not here to argue one way or the other. The great theologian, William Barclay, wrote this about the doctrine of Christ’s descent into Hades, “It may well be that we ought to think of this as a picture painted in terms of poetry rather than a doctrine stated in terms of theology. But it contains these three great truths---that Jesus Christ not only tasted death but drained the cup of death, that the triumph of Christ is universal and that there is no corner of the universe into which the grace of God has not reached.”

What we can learn from the idea of Jesus’ reported descent into Hades, or somewhere between earth and heaven, or wherever it may have been, to proclaim the gospel, the good news of God’s grace and forgiveness of our sins, leads us to the knowledge that God doesn’t give up on our salvation. Even after his death and resurrection, Jesus continues to work for our salvation. He continues to gather us to himself. Pastor and author, Rev. Dr. David Hartman wrote that “death is not the deadline for grace. Although death might be the beginning of judgment, it is not the end of grace. Grace doesn’t stop when breath stops. It keeps going. It keep working towards its ultimate goal of restoration.”

As I mentioned before, the theological discussions that can arise from these passages will go on for ages. One of those I’ll mention is the timing of judgment. In Romans 5:12, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned.” He seems to be saying that if there had been no sin, there would be no death, and therefore death in itself is a judgment. Barclay wrote, “So, Peter says, all people have already been judged when they die.”

We will indeed have an accounting of our lives at some point. In 1 Peter 4:5, it states, “But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.” But, in the very next verse it says, “For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.”

In this time of Lent, as we prepare ourselves through reflection on the suffering and death of our Lord on the cross, and then his ultimate resurrection to the right hand of God, and when we reflect on our own mortality and our sin toward God, we also have the hope that God will not give up on us. Barclay explains that Christ “…gives the dead another chance to live in the Spirit of God. In some ways, this is one of the most wonderful verses in the Bible---for, if our explanation is anywhere near the truth, it gives a breathtaking glimpse of a gospel of second chances.” As with the full-throated pipe organ, God will pull out all the stops, reach us wherever we are, and give us chance after chance to be restored to him. God is patient with us. Jesus will come to us, even after death to restore us in God’s Spirit, so that we might live for eternity in the presence of our Savior who sacrificed his life that we might live.