"The Heaven or Hell Machine" | The Rev. Heidi Thorsen | December 7, 2025

Sermon Preached: Sunday, December 7, 2025 at Trinity on the Green

Year A, Advent 2: Isaiah 11:1-10 | Romans 15:4-13 | Matthew 3:1-12 | Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

May I speak in the name of God, who is to us Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Wildwood Boardwalk is one of the south-most summer destinations along the Jersey Shore. Wildwood offers the usual boardwalk attractions: a Ferris wheel, beach volleyball, vendors selling neon t-shirts and saltwater taffy. In short, it has everything you might expect from a summer beachside town in New Jersey. But there is one aspect of Wildwood that stood out to me when I visited ten years ago.

One of those beachy storefronts hosts a summer Christian mission project, and every day they wheel out an old arcade game, called the Heaven or Hell Machine. It’s about the size of a pinball machine, with the same vintage appeal. Volunteer evangelists invite passersbys to stop in for a moment and play. 

The machine lists a series of seven statements, each one with the answer “true” or “false.” For example, statement number two says: “There are many ways to get to heaven. It doesn’t really matter what religion you follow as long as you are sincere.” True, or false? Statement number 6 says, “All humans are born with a sin nature, and because of sin, are headed for hell.” True, or false? Once a player answers all of the questions as either “true” or “false,” the machine lights up with the result in large print: “heaven,” or “hell.”

The Heaven or Hell Machine is described by these evangelists as a conversation starter, a friendly way (more or less) to begin talking to people about Jesus Christ. Nevertheless the Heaven or Hell Machine also reveals some key things about this group of Christians. Firstly, they  believe that salvation is a matter of answering questions in the right way. And secondly, they believe that they know the correct answers to those questions. They believe that you have to believe in a substitutionary atonement theology— an interpretation of the Bible that insists that Jesus took our place on the cross because human beings are desperately sinful; rotten to the core.

Now I’m going to stop there and say, first and foremost, that this is not the only belief that Christians have about how salvation works. I am not going to stand here and tell you that you are going to hell if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, because I’m not sure that’s true. I believe in salvation– yes. Absolutely. But I believe that salvation is not as simple as a series of seven true or false statements. I believe that Jesus is far more interested in abundant life for all people than in condemning them to hell– a word which, by the way, is mentioned far fewer times in the Bible than other words such as love, neighbor, and forgiveness. I believe that there is nothing on heaven or on earth that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. And I believe that salvation is ultimately a mystery, like so many gifts that God has given us. We may never understand how it works but we can feel in our bones, and live it out in our lives, and hope in it for the life to come.

And yet– there are still evangelists standing on the boardwalks of Wildwood, New Jersey in the summer telling people that God will punish sin. There are still people standing at the intersections of our own streets, spreading more or less the same message. And there are certainly Christians online, on talk shows, and in churches nearby preaching a certain kind of my-way-or-the-highway Christianity. It’s things like the Heaven or Hell Machine that make me very sad and worried about how far we have strayed from the Gospel of Jesus Christ– a Gospel that begins and ends with love, not punishment.

It is all too easy to hear today’s Gospel passage and imagine John the Baptist as one of those street evangelists. John does not mince words, after all, as he cries out in the wilderness:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!”

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

These are fighting words. Words of urgency and conviction. And I bet John would have found himself a megaphone and a street corner, if he had lived in this day and age. But take a closer look at what John is saying. John’s core proclamation is this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 

John doesn’t say: Repent, because you are going to Hell unless you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. 

Instead he says: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

There are a few notable things about this proclamation. First of all, it is a call to action: Repent. Repentance involves a change of heart and a change of mind. It is about more than saying sorry. It is about turning in a new direction– turning away from the things that are harmful to ourselves and to others, and turning towards a life that is more healthy, more holy, and full of love. Repentance isn’t just about believing the right things about God or Jesus Christ. Repentance is about transforming our lives, and following in the  footsteps of Jesus. 

Repentance, for John, isn’t even necessarily about heaven or hell. Instead repentance is about making way for the kingdom of heaven. Throughout the Gospels Jesus makes it clear that the kingdom of heaven isn’t about the afterlife. It is about the here-and-now. It is about God’s vision of peace becoming a reality in our own world. As Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For in fact, the kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:20-21). Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

When we start with scripture, it is shocking that Christians have made such a big deal about heaven and hell. There is a good deal about judgment in the Bible– we see that in today’s Gospel passage too– but we are jumping to conclusions if we think that judgment is all about whether a person will go to heaven or hell. Jesus was far more interested in the kingdom of heaven than in heaven itself, and yes there is a difference. 

But we are not the first generation to make the mistake of putting too much of an emphasis on our own, individual salvation. We can see the Pharisees and the Sadducees make a similar error when they come to John for baptism. John seems to have some prior knowledge about this group that we don’t, since he shouts out these words as the Pharisees and Sadducees approach: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”

I think we can agree that the phrase “You brood of vipers” is not a term of endearment. But it’s the following words that interest me more: Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? It’s as if John knows that the Pharisees and Sadducees have come to be baptized out of a sense of self-preservation. Members of these groups had their own understanding of Jewish theology– the Pharisees believed in an afterlife; the Sadducees did not. Nevertheless members from both groups come to John for baptism, as if they are “covering all the bases,” so to speak, in terms of what might please God. The Pharisees and the Sadducees come with a motive– they want to “flee the wrath to come.” They are hedging their bets, in this life and the next. But baptism isn’t ultimately about heaven or hell. Instead, baptism is about a new way of life, starting here and now. “Bear fruit worthy of repentance,” John says. Don’t live for the end alone but commit to God for the journey– and offer to God fruits of thought and action that are worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

The way of Jesus is the way of salvation. It is a gift, given by God to human beings who are lost, broken, and longing for a renewed vision of the world. Christianity is the way of Jesus, as we understand it and live it out today. 

Unfortunately some believers have contorted Christianity into a kind of Heaven or Hell Machine– a machine that requires conformity to a narrow understanding of what it means to be a Christian, and what it means to be human being. These followers of the Heaven or Hell Machine often believe that they are following the Bible. And yet– their beliefs and values have far more in common with the American cultural icon John Wayne than they do with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. 

I want to get back to the heart of Christianity; to the heart of Jesus. At the very core of Jesus’ teachings we don’t find the depravity of humanity. Instead we find the centrality of love. Love that builds up, rather than tears down. Love that is the foundation of the kingdom of heaven. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. Repent, from our narrow cultural constructions of Christianity. Repent, from our idolatry of heaven and hell. Repent, and follow the way of love. Amen.