Preached at St Alphege, Solihull, 9.15 and 11am, Sunday 22/10/06
Year B – Trinity 19 (Proper 24)
Readings: Isaiah 53:4-12, Hebrews 5:1-10, Mark 10:35-45
In our gospel reading today Jesus draws a sharp contrast between normal worldly standards of leadership and the kind of leadership that he wants to see in the life of the church. He points out that worldly leaders often lord it over their subjects and act as tyrants. But this is not the kind of leadership that Jesus wants in his church. In the church, he explains, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first must be slave of all.”
We all have leadership roles in the church. For every person in church today there must be at least 10 members of our nominally Christian community who are not in church. We all have a leadership role to these people in particular. So let’s think a little bit about this leadership role, about being a “servant”, being a “slave of all”. What do we understand when Jesus says we must learn to serve? More important; what does Jesus what us to understand? Well let’s think about this by looking at the example that Jesus himself gives us.
First of all Jesus is very clear that being a servant often means doing very practical things that a household servant might do to help the other people. The last supper was perhaps Jesus’ most important gathering with his disciples, and he started the whole evening off by washing their feet, a job which would normally be done by the lowest servant of all (John 13:1-15). After washing the disciples feet, Jesus says, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me Master and Lord and rightly; so I am. If I then, the Lord and Master have washed your feet, you must wash each others feet. I have given you an example that you may copy what I have done for you.”
John starts his account of the washing of the disciples’ feet by saying, “Having loved those who were his in the world, he loved them to the end.” The service of Jesus is therefore an expression of his love for the people around him. It is the desire to do good for them. To want their good, and to do his part in bring about their good.
We see this same attitude of wanting the good of the other in all of Jesus’ works of service. We see it when he healed the sick. We see this attitude in his teaching ministry. His teaching helps people to grow towards God and to build better relationships with one another. So the service of Jesus is always an expression of love. It always seeks the good of the other.
Our reading today from Hebrews drew attention to another aspect of Jesus’ service. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus did not seek to glorify himself by becoming a high priest, but rather he was appointed to that role by God the Father. It is clear from this that the service that Jesus offered to humanity, was offered in obedience to God. It was first and foremost service to God the Father. And if service to our neighbour is a big theme of the New Testament, then service to God is an even bigger theme.
Sometimes there might seem to be a contradiction between the service of God and the service of our neighbour. We might think “Well this Sunday I can either serve God by going to church, or serve my neighbour by going to visit my elderly relative.” In reality however there is no contradiction. If God wants us in church then the best thing we can do is go to church. We must entrust the elderly relative to God, knowing that he loves her and serves her more than we ever can. On the other hand, if God wants us to visit our relative then to avoid that visit by going to church would be going against the service of God. I would like to give another example. I find that if I am saying my prayers and the doorbell rings then it is almost always a sign from God that he wants me to stop my service of God in prayer and go and serve God by serving my visitor.
So there is a complete harmony between the service of God and service of our neighbour. God is present in our neighbour, created our neighbour, has a plan of love for our neighbour and wants their good. If we seek to do what God wants of us in each present moment, then we can do no more than this to properly serve our neighbour.
And this can be very reassuring because it gives meaning and value to many of the very simple and mundane tasks with which we fill our day. I find I spend a lot of time laying tables, washing up and giving lifts to children. Last week we moved house. Consequently I have found myself doing lots of cleaning floors, crawling around attics and crouching behind washing machines. It is wonderful to think that if I am seeking to do what God wants from me, motivated by love, then all these mundane tasks of service become a key part of my Christian life. They become a way of making real progress on my spiritual journey, a way of developing my relationship with God and my neighbour.
I want to mention one final characteristic of Christian service, particularly leadership service, and that is the readiness to accept sufferings out of love for other people. This is completely counter cultural in our present society, but it comes over very strongly in all three of our scripture readings today. It is especially strong in our OT reading from Isaiah. In this very famous and important passage, Yahweh’s suffering servant is “wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities”. This is one of the hallmarks of a true servant of God, and, of course 570 years after it was written it received its supreme fulfilment in the passion and death of Jesus.
So let us not be afraid if we suffer a little as we serve of God and serve our neighbour. If a suffering comes, let’s not assume that we have done something wrong. Rather let us accept these sufferings because they put us in the company of the truly great. God generously rewards his suffering servant in the end and we can discover with St Francis that it is through the cross of Christ that Joy comes into the world.
So if we can learn to serve like Jesus in all these different ways then we can become great leaders in the church. “However wishes to be great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
22 October 2006
15 October 2006
Can the rich enter the kingdom of God?
Thought for Pew Slip – 15th October 2006
Readings: Amos 5:6-7,10-15 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31
In our gospel reading today Jesus reflects, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God”. This is very disturbing for us in Western Europe because we live in a very wealthy society. What can we do about this?
I suggest that we make sure that we practice the core skills of “giving”, “receiving” and “sharing” because we will need these skills to enter the kingdom of heaven. Let’s practice giving generously as a service to others. Let’s give with love, overcoming our tendencies to hoard and our desire to remain in control. Let’s not be too proud to receive gracefully and to give thanks. Let’s practice receiving other people; putting aside our own ideas and concerns in order to properly take on board what the other person wants to say to us. Let’s try to share as much as possible with other people; not only goods, skills and talents but also hopes, fears, sorrows and joys.
If we can get good at these core skills then all God’s good gifts start to circulate freely among us, benefiting everyone. This transforms us into equal members of one family under God. It gets us ready to enter the kingdom of God.
Readings: Amos 5:6-7,10-15 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31
In our gospel reading today Jesus reflects, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God”. This is very disturbing for us in Western Europe because we live in a very wealthy society. What can we do about this?
I suggest that we make sure that we practice the core skills of “giving”, “receiving” and “sharing” because we will need these skills to enter the kingdom of heaven. Let’s practice giving generously as a service to others. Let’s give with love, overcoming our tendencies to hoard and our desire to remain in control. Let’s not be too proud to receive gracefully and to give thanks. Let’s practice receiving other people; putting aside our own ideas and concerns in order to properly take on board what the other person wants to say to us. Let’s try to share as much as possible with other people; not only goods, skills and talents but also hopes, fears, sorrows and joys.
If we can get good at these core skills then all God’s good gifts start to circulate freely among us, benefiting everyone. This transforms us into equal members of one family under God. It gets us ready to enter the kingdom of God.
11 October 2006
Prayer for Healing in Relationships
Heavenly Father,
We hold up before you all our difficult relationships.
We offer to you all the problems and complications that they cause us.
Heavenly Father, your son Jesus suffered terribly through his cross and passion so than our relationship with you might be healed. Help us to be ready to suffer a little so that our own relationships with one another might be also healed.
We make our prayer in Jesus' name and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We hold up before you all our difficult relationships.
We offer to you all the problems and complications that they cause us.
Heavenly Father, your son Jesus suffered terribly through his cross and passion so than our relationship with you might be healed. Help us to be ready to suffer a little so that our own relationships with one another might be also healed.
We make our prayer in Jesus' name and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
08 October 2006
Mission
Preached at St Alphege, Solihull, 6.30pm Evensong, Sunday 08/10/06
Trinity 17 (Proper 22) - Evensong
Readings: Joshua 3:7-17 Matt 10:1-22
Our gospel reading today came from Matthew Chapter 10, which is Matthew’s Handbook for Mission. In this parish, as we think more about “Going for Growth” we find that we are thinking more and more about mission, so the gospel reading is particularly appropriate for us. With this in mind I would like to offer you a few reflections about our own mission, and on how today’s gospel reading might help us.
In this gospel reading Jesus gives the disciples special authority and sends them out to proclaim the message, “The kingdom of God is near”. The word “Mission” means “Sending” so when we think about mission we are thinking about the things God wants us to do as he sends us out into the world. We often think of mission as proclaiming the gospel and to converting souls to Christ. Certainly this is part of it. However, first and foremost mission has to be about love and practical service to our fellow human beings. Jesus does not simply tell the disciples to proclaim the kingdom. He also tells them do some important acts of practical service. He says, “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Probably it was because the disciples were unusually good at doing these very difficult things that the people wanted to listen to their message.
I don’t know about you, but my personal track record on healing the sick and raising the dead is not all that impressive! Certainly it is not as good as the NHS’s. However I can find lots of other ways (all be they much less dramatic) of loving and serving the people around me. It is very important that I always practice loving and serving the people around me, before I start to talk about the gospel. If I am not loving and serving then my message about Christ has no credibility.
One important thing to note about the mission of the twelve disciples is that it was requested by Jesus and done out of love for Jesus. It was Jesus himself who sent them, and Jesus who gave them their instructions. This is very important. We have to do the mission that Jesus asks from us. Not the one that sounds glamorous or the one that looks important. Not the one that we feel “ought” to be done, because of some worry or because of guilt. No, we need to be attentive to what God asks personally of us, through our prayer life and by listening to the people around us. God calls each one of us, and has a mission for each one of us. In each present moment we need to discover what it is.
Another point is that God provides us with the grace necessary to do what he wants from us, just as he provided the disciples with the authority to drive out evil spirits to heal the sick and to raise the dead. We must not worry about our mission, but rather we must trust in God’s grace and use the gifts that he gives us. Jesus tells the disciples, “Take no gold or silver or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals or a staff; for labourers deserve their food.” (Matt 10:9-10). This phrase totally inspired St Francis 800 years ago. He realised that God was calling him to take the phase completely literally and start a new life as a wondering preacher. Must of us are not called to that, be we are called to move forward trusting that God will take care of his servants and not worrying too much about the different things that we need. (E.g. Matt 6:25-33)
Who were the disciples sent to? They were sent out to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”. Only much later was the church sent out to the Samaritans and the Gentiles. This is very characteristic of the mission of God. We are usually sent out to love and serve the people closest to us first; our family, our local community, the friends that we see regularly, the people we meet at work or at the school gate. God might call us on to other things later, but how can be the love of God for someone far away, if we have not first been the love of God for the people who are near?
Jesus says to the disciples, “You received without payment; give without payment.” This is very important. Our mission is at its best when we simply want to share the good news and the love that has been freely given to us. It is because we are loved by God that we seek to love others. It is because Jesus came to serve us that we want to serve other people. It is because we are grateful for our knowledge of the gospel that we want to share the gospel with others.
And sometimes this can be difficult. Perhaps we don’t feel loved by God. Perhaps we experience our Christianity as a burden rather than as a joy. If this is the case then we need to keep reminding ourselves of God’s great love for us, that he created us out of love, that he calls us to a great destiny in heaven, that he forgives us always, and that Jesus died on the cross so that our sin could be overcome. As Fr Patrick has suggested in today’s pew sheet, we need to practice saying “Thank you” to God for all the good things we receive. Reminding ourselves of God’s love and saying, “Thank you” helps us to see things from God’s perspective and helps us to realise how blessed we are. Of course the more blessed we feel, the easier it is to share our blessings with others.
So lets quickly summarise.
Mission means sending. Just as God calls us to himself, so he sends us out to love and serve others and to spread the good news of his kingdom. We do the mission that God wants from us, as part of our love for God. God provides the grace that we need for mission. We do it trusting in God rather than in our own strength. Usually our mission is first to the people immediately around us, and then later to those further away. Finally, our mission is at its best when we simply want to share the good news and the love that has been freely given to us. If we can remember these things then it will stand us in good stead for “Going for Growth”.
Trinity 17 (Proper 22) - Evensong
Readings: Joshua 3:7-17 Matt 10:1-22
Our gospel reading today came from Matthew Chapter 10, which is Matthew’s Handbook for Mission. In this parish, as we think more about “Going for Growth” we find that we are thinking more and more about mission, so the gospel reading is particularly appropriate for us. With this in mind I would like to offer you a few reflections about our own mission, and on how today’s gospel reading might help us.
In this gospel reading Jesus gives the disciples special authority and sends them out to proclaim the message, “The kingdom of God is near”. The word “Mission” means “Sending” so when we think about mission we are thinking about the things God wants us to do as he sends us out into the world. We often think of mission as proclaiming the gospel and to converting souls to Christ. Certainly this is part of it. However, first and foremost mission has to be about love and practical service to our fellow human beings. Jesus does not simply tell the disciples to proclaim the kingdom. He also tells them do some important acts of practical service. He says, “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Probably it was because the disciples were unusually good at doing these very difficult things that the people wanted to listen to their message.
I don’t know about you, but my personal track record on healing the sick and raising the dead is not all that impressive! Certainly it is not as good as the NHS’s. However I can find lots of other ways (all be they much less dramatic) of loving and serving the people around me. It is very important that I always practice loving and serving the people around me, before I start to talk about the gospel. If I am not loving and serving then my message about Christ has no credibility.
One important thing to note about the mission of the twelve disciples is that it was requested by Jesus and done out of love for Jesus. It was Jesus himself who sent them, and Jesus who gave them their instructions. This is very important. We have to do the mission that Jesus asks from us. Not the one that sounds glamorous or the one that looks important. Not the one that we feel “ought” to be done, because of some worry or because of guilt. No, we need to be attentive to what God asks personally of us, through our prayer life and by listening to the people around us. God calls each one of us, and has a mission for each one of us. In each present moment we need to discover what it is.
Another point is that God provides us with the grace necessary to do what he wants from us, just as he provided the disciples with the authority to drive out evil spirits to heal the sick and to raise the dead. We must not worry about our mission, but rather we must trust in God’s grace and use the gifts that he gives us. Jesus tells the disciples, “Take no gold or silver or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals or a staff; for labourers deserve their food.” (Matt 10:9-10). This phrase totally inspired St Francis 800 years ago. He realised that God was calling him to take the phase completely literally and start a new life as a wondering preacher. Must of us are not called to that, be we are called to move forward trusting that God will take care of his servants and not worrying too much about the different things that we need. (E.g. Matt 6:25-33)
Who were the disciples sent to? They were sent out to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”. Only much later was the church sent out to the Samaritans and the Gentiles. This is very characteristic of the mission of God. We are usually sent out to love and serve the people closest to us first; our family, our local community, the friends that we see regularly, the people we meet at work or at the school gate. God might call us on to other things later, but how can be the love of God for someone far away, if we have not first been the love of God for the people who are near?
Jesus says to the disciples, “You received without payment; give without payment.” This is very important. Our mission is at its best when we simply want to share the good news and the love that has been freely given to us. It is because we are loved by God that we seek to love others. It is because Jesus came to serve us that we want to serve other people. It is because we are grateful for our knowledge of the gospel that we want to share the gospel with others.
And sometimes this can be difficult. Perhaps we don’t feel loved by God. Perhaps we experience our Christianity as a burden rather than as a joy. If this is the case then we need to keep reminding ourselves of God’s great love for us, that he created us out of love, that he calls us to a great destiny in heaven, that he forgives us always, and that Jesus died on the cross so that our sin could be overcome. As Fr Patrick has suggested in today’s pew sheet, we need to practice saying “Thank you” to God for all the good things we receive. Reminding ourselves of God’s love and saying, “Thank you” helps us to see things from God’s perspective and helps us to realise how blessed we are. Of course the more blessed we feel, the easier it is to share our blessings with others.
So lets quickly summarise.
Mission means sending. Just as God calls us to himself, so he sends us out to love and serve others and to spread the good news of his kingdom. We do the mission that God wants from us, as part of our love for God. God provides the grace that we need for mission. We do it trusting in God rather than in our own strength. Usually our mission is first to the people immediately around us, and then later to those further away. Finally, our mission is at its best when we simply want to share the good news and the love that has been freely given to us. If we can remember these things then it will stand us in good stead for “Going for Growth”.
01 October 2006
The journey to heaven
Sermon 01/10/06 – Year B – Trinity 16 (Proper 21)
Preached at Solihull School 6.30pm Eucharist, Sunday 01/10/06
Readings: Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50
In our gospel reading today Jesus is at his most radical. He says, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; for it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell…if your foot causes you to stumble cut it off…if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. This is violent language… extremely challenging.
Well fortunately for us, it is clear that Jesus does not literally want us to go around chopping off bits of our anatomy every time we sin. If I personally were to have taken literally these words of Jesus I would be standing before today with no hands. In fact, I don’t really think I would be standing at all because at some point I would have had to have chopped my feet off. In fact, I think it would be even worse than that; surely by now I would have chopped my own head off!
But God does not want us to respond to our own sin with self-hatred and self-mutilation. Instead we are called to admit our sins, and to trust in the saving power of Christ’s cross and passion. Admitting our sins can be a painful business. It means owning up to the pain and suffering that we have caused to God and other people through our selfishness. Fortunately God is always more ready to forgive us than we are ready to forgive ourselves. God always loves us and is full of mercy. He understands our failings better than we do ourselves. However bad we are, God always calls us to draw closer to him, leaving our selfish ways behind. Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us is on a journey towards God. We too have to love ourselves and forgive ourselves and entrust to God’s great mercy those bits of ourselves which keep going wrong.
But let’s go back to the words of Jesus. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; for it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell.” These words should not be taken literally, but they remain very important. In fact they are repeated three times in the different parts of the gospels and we need to take them very seriously.
Jesus wants to make the point that some things are just far, far more important than others. The question of whether we are going to heaven or to hell is just far, far more important than how many hands we have, or how many feet we have. We need to keep things in their proper perspective. We need to remember that we are on a journey towards God, towards heaven. We need to adopt attitudes and behaviours that will help us on that journey. We need to leave behind the attitudes and behaviours that hinder our progress.
In the society that we live in today it is all too easy to lose that perspective; to forget that we are on a journey towards heaven. We are continually bombarded with TV adverts telling us we need to spend money on our own comfort and pleasure in this life. Modern medicine has become so effective that, compared to previous generations, we seldom have to think about the death of people who are not already old. Our lives are very busy and very pressurised. It is hard to find the time to stand back from it all and get a proper perspective. It is hard to find time to come to church, or to spend time with the family or to pray, or indeed to do any of the things that remind us of our journey towards heaven.
So let’s spend a moment thinking about heaven. What will it be like? What do we know about heaven? Of course, in many ways we don’t know very much about it. I always imagine that there will be lots of singing. Sitting in the pews in this chapel and listening to the anthems that the choirs sing is, I always think, one way of preparing myself for heaven. Jesus tells us something about heaven in the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father, who art in heaven.” One thing we know about heaven is that God will be there. We will dwell in the presence of God; God who made us and loved us and brought us to fulfilment. The Lord’s Prayer continues, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So heaven is the place where God’s will is done, where we move in perfect harmony with God’s plan for us. In heaven we will move in perfect harmony with God and with one another. Our love for one another and for God will be so perfect that we will not hurt each other any more in any way. Nothing will be hidden. There will be no secret agendas. All sins will have been forgiven, so that they no longer damage our relationship with God, or our relationships with the other citizens of heaven. There will be perfect peace.
And at this point we might become disheartened. Are we ready to dwell in the presence of God? Are we ready to live according to “Thy will be done”? Do we really want to be obedient to God’s plan for us? Is it possible for us to have perfect relationships with the people around us? Probably we are not yet ready for this. Probably there is a lot more journeying to be done before we are ready for life in heaven. But God most emphatically wants every one of us to reach heaven. Let us trust in Him, and walk the journey he has planned for us. His grace is sufficient to cover all our shortcomings.
So how do we walk the journey towards heaven? We do this by practising to live the life of heaven while we continue living here on earth. So how do we do that? Well firstly we can practise standing in the presence of God. We can do this in prayer, and by coming to church where we receive God’s presence in Word and Sacrament. Second we can practice being obedient to God’s plan for us. Our own plans can never fulfil us like God’s plan. Let’s serve God in the way that he wants to be served, not in the way that we want to serve. Thirdly let’s try to live in harmony with the people around us. Let us try to love them as God loves them. Let is try to love all the people around us, even the once we instinctively don’t like, even the ones we think of an enemies. Let’s be prepared to suffer for one another, as Christ suffered for us. Let’s pray that God will help us to live this life of love, that he will help us to forgive the things which need to be forgiven and that he will help us to start again when we get it all wrong.
When we love, we are sharing in the life of God and we get to know God. We start, while here on earth, to live the life of heaven. We start to understand heaven better and to believe in it more fully. What is more, this is the life that does not die, the life that survives our earthly death. Truly, loving as God loves is the best way to journey towards heaven.
Preached at Solihull School 6.30pm Eucharist, Sunday 01/10/06
Readings: Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50
In our gospel reading today Jesus is at his most radical. He says, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; for it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell…if your foot causes you to stumble cut it off…if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. This is violent language… extremely challenging.
Well fortunately for us, it is clear that Jesus does not literally want us to go around chopping off bits of our anatomy every time we sin. If I personally were to have taken literally these words of Jesus I would be standing before today with no hands. In fact, I don’t really think I would be standing at all because at some point I would have had to have chopped my feet off. In fact, I think it would be even worse than that; surely by now I would have chopped my own head off!
But God does not want us to respond to our own sin with self-hatred and self-mutilation. Instead we are called to admit our sins, and to trust in the saving power of Christ’s cross and passion. Admitting our sins can be a painful business. It means owning up to the pain and suffering that we have caused to God and other people through our selfishness. Fortunately God is always more ready to forgive us than we are ready to forgive ourselves. God always loves us and is full of mercy. He understands our failings better than we do ourselves. However bad we are, God always calls us to draw closer to him, leaving our selfish ways behind. Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us is on a journey towards God. We too have to love ourselves and forgive ourselves and entrust to God’s great mercy those bits of ourselves which keep going wrong.
But let’s go back to the words of Jesus. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; for it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell.” These words should not be taken literally, but they remain very important. In fact they are repeated three times in the different parts of the gospels and we need to take them very seriously.
Jesus wants to make the point that some things are just far, far more important than others. The question of whether we are going to heaven or to hell is just far, far more important than how many hands we have, or how many feet we have. We need to keep things in their proper perspective. We need to remember that we are on a journey towards God, towards heaven. We need to adopt attitudes and behaviours that will help us on that journey. We need to leave behind the attitudes and behaviours that hinder our progress.
In the society that we live in today it is all too easy to lose that perspective; to forget that we are on a journey towards heaven. We are continually bombarded with TV adverts telling us we need to spend money on our own comfort and pleasure in this life. Modern medicine has become so effective that, compared to previous generations, we seldom have to think about the death of people who are not already old. Our lives are very busy and very pressurised. It is hard to find the time to stand back from it all and get a proper perspective. It is hard to find time to come to church, or to spend time with the family or to pray, or indeed to do any of the things that remind us of our journey towards heaven.
So let’s spend a moment thinking about heaven. What will it be like? What do we know about heaven? Of course, in many ways we don’t know very much about it. I always imagine that there will be lots of singing. Sitting in the pews in this chapel and listening to the anthems that the choirs sing is, I always think, one way of preparing myself for heaven. Jesus tells us something about heaven in the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father, who art in heaven.” One thing we know about heaven is that God will be there. We will dwell in the presence of God; God who made us and loved us and brought us to fulfilment. The Lord’s Prayer continues, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So heaven is the place where God’s will is done, where we move in perfect harmony with God’s plan for us. In heaven we will move in perfect harmony with God and with one another. Our love for one another and for God will be so perfect that we will not hurt each other any more in any way. Nothing will be hidden. There will be no secret agendas. All sins will have been forgiven, so that they no longer damage our relationship with God, or our relationships with the other citizens of heaven. There will be perfect peace.
And at this point we might become disheartened. Are we ready to dwell in the presence of God? Are we ready to live according to “Thy will be done”? Do we really want to be obedient to God’s plan for us? Is it possible for us to have perfect relationships with the people around us? Probably we are not yet ready for this. Probably there is a lot more journeying to be done before we are ready for life in heaven. But God most emphatically wants every one of us to reach heaven. Let us trust in Him, and walk the journey he has planned for us. His grace is sufficient to cover all our shortcomings.
So how do we walk the journey towards heaven? We do this by practising to live the life of heaven while we continue living here on earth. So how do we do that? Well firstly we can practise standing in the presence of God. We can do this in prayer, and by coming to church where we receive God’s presence in Word and Sacrament. Second we can practice being obedient to God’s plan for us. Our own plans can never fulfil us like God’s plan. Let’s serve God in the way that he wants to be served, not in the way that we want to serve. Thirdly let’s try to live in harmony with the people around us. Let us try to love them as God loves them. Let is try to love all the people around us, even the once we instinctively don’t like, even the ones we think of an enemies. Let’s be prepared to suffer for one another, as Christ suffered for us. Let’s pray that God will help us to live this life of love, that he will help us to forgive the things which need to be forgiven and that he will help us to start again when we get it all wrong.
When we love, we are sharing in the life of God and we get to know God. We start, while here on earth, to live the life of heaven. We start to understand heaven better and to believe in it more fully. What is more, this is the life that does not die, the life that survives our earthly death. Truly, loving as God loves is the best way to journey towards heaven.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
