red capacity alert

On my long drive down the mountain today I listened to a sermon on Hell.   (Baptist peer pressure maybe?:)  John Ortberg taught inspiringly about the lengths God has gone to win us and how much He values our free will.  He talked about the church not being a building but a group of people so won over by God's lavish love that they go on a rampage to win others.  He talked about us being so passionate to spread the news that "nothing can separate us from the love of God", that we assault the gates of hell and batter them down. 


A few hours later I was sitting at my desk in the resident's office when I heard the familiar "Red Capacity Alert" over the intercom.  This alerts the hospital that the ER/trauma facility has reached maximum patient capacity and can not receive any more patients. As I heard the alert, I pictured the gates of hell bursting at the seams with sickness and death and fear. I thought about our coworker who is anxiously waiting test results for his wife.  I thought about our teacher who is transferring her mom from ICU to Hospice.  I thought of the wife of 65 years, whose hand I held today as she was told her husband didn't make it.  I thought about the slash marks on a behavioral health patient's wrists and the tiny tubes that intubate the NICU babies. I thought about the tears and devastation that I had witnessed in the last few days. Hell is overflowing. 


Then I heard Ortberg's words ringing in my ears.  It seemed so necessary that there should be people in God's name banging their fists on the gates of Hell reminding others that "nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.  Not trouble or distress, not death nor life, not height nor depth, or anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."


I was proud to be an assaulter today.  And grateful to be surrounded by such dedicated gate bangers each day.  Rock on church.

And...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  Matthew 16:18  ESV