Becoming citizens of heaven

Sermon preached at 8am (shortened), and 10am Eucharists at St Helen’s Church, Solihull
Sunday 28th February 2010 – Lent 2, Year C (RCL rather than CofE gospel)

Readings: Genesis 15: 1-12 & 17-18 Philippians 3: 17 to 4: 1 Luke 9: 28b-36


In our gospel reading today we heard the extraordinary story of the transfiguration. Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain to pray, and while they are praying Jesus becomes dazzlingly bright and Moses and Elijah appear with him in glory and talk to him. So then there are two groups, each of three people, and it seems that the two groups experience the event in completely different ways. For Jesus, Moses and Elijah this seems to be a very normal experience. They seem to talk away completely unperturbed by the shining glory, or by the fact that two of them have been dead for centuries. But for Peter, James and John the whole experience is extremely weird and disturbing. First they are weighed down by sleep, but not actually asleep. Then Peter says things without knowing what he is saying. Then the cloud comes over them and they are terrified, and they hear the voice of God, and then suddenly everything is normal again.
So why is that for one group of three this all seems very normal, and for the other group of three it is so weird? Well it seems to me that Jesus, Moses and Elijah are all very conscious of their home in heaven. Moses and Elijah were very holy people. They have been dead a long time and must by now be completely accustomed to the heavenly kingdom and totally in tune with its ways. And Jesus of course is the Son of God, the one who came down from heaven to take on human form. Jesus has been completely at home in heaven ever since he helped in its creation!
But this is not true of Peter, James and John. They are born and brought up on earth. They might catch glimpses of the life of heaven through their scriptures or their worship or more recently through their relationship with Jesus. But despite these glimpses it is still a big shock for them to be exposed to the glory of heaven.
And so there is the life of earth with all its problems and limitations and frustrations, which we know about, and there is the life of heaven with its glory and light and perfection. And this reminds us of something that St Paul said in our epistle reading today. Paul was talking about those who live as enemies of the cross of Christ. He says their end is destruction because, “…their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven…”
And this is the great challenge. How do we live as citizens of heaven? How do we keep our minds set on heaven and not simply on earthly things? How do we use our lives to make sure that we grow into good citizens of heaven? This is a challenge because we all know that so much of our time and effort and energy every day is all tied up with very earthly outcomes.
[Let’s think about a typical day. Well in our house the alarm goes off at 6.45am and the first earthly outcome which has to be achieved is getting out of bed. Well that isn’t always easy! Then there is laying the table, making the tea, shower, shave, sorting out all the children’s issues “Can you sign my homework diary”, “I can’t find my music book”. Then, typically at about ten to eight Elaine and the children go off to their respective schools in the car and the house falls quiet. Quiet often I then manage to settle down and do some very simple spiritual reading, which does remind me that my citizenship is in heaven. But I don’t always manage that by any means! Often I have my own daily panics to sot out, the magazine article that must be in that morning, the phone call which has to be made early, or whatever…so quite often it is 8.30pm or even later before I settle down and start to say my prayers. And that is the situation for me, a priest, a full time professional religious person! How much more difficult is it for most of us whose professional lives do not encourage us to remember our heavenly home, and perhaps even discourage us from focusing on it through competitive pressures, through various stresses, perhaps even through greed, conflict or vice?]
Well I think there are three things we can do that are important here. First, we have to practice living out the laws and values of heaven in our very earthly lives. We have to do things for love of God and for love of other people. I try to get out of bed well, as an act of love for God. I try to love the family by laying the table and addressing the needs of the children. I try to love my wife by making the cup of tea. This is the great wisdom of St Teresa of Lisieux; do the simple things in life well, as love for God and love for others. [[And it doesn’t really matter if our efforts seem pathetically ineffective in terms of building the kingdom of God. Remember that when Jesus came to earth to build the kingdom of God, he got crucified. When I was working I used to find that my efforts to love others were often misunderstood; people sometimes interpreted them as weakness or tried to take advantage. I certainly never succeeded much in building the kingdom of heaven at my place of work, but through this process I believe God was able to build something of the kingdom in me.]]
Second important thing. We need a regular pattern of prayer and worship to remind us that we are citizens of heaven and to keep us grounded in the reality of God. When I look back at my life, the times when I have made progress son my spiritual journey have all been times when I have managed to sustain a regular pattern of prayer or spiritual reading, meditation and reflection. And this is so hard, in our busy lives, to make time for God. But really we have to get our priorities right. I expect many of us set aside two minutes a day, twice a day, to clean our teeth and keep them healthy because we know that we need them for seventy, eighty years. How much more time should we devote to keeping our soul healthy, which we need for eternity? Lent is a real opportunity to build up this discipline in prayer and worship.
Third important thing. We can’t do this on our own. We need the love and support and prayers and help of others. The life of heaven is all about our relationships with God and neighbour. They have to become relationships of sharing in which we give and receive. Sometimes we are too selfish to give. Sometimes we are too proud to receive, not humble enough to admit our needs and to accept the love and prayers of others. But without this sharing we don’t build communion among ourselves. We need to practice receiving, so as to receive eternal life from Jesus. So we need to share our faith, and house groups and Lent groups are an outstanding opportunity for this.
So three important things; to practice living out the values of heaven in our lives, to ground ourselves properly in prayer and worship, and to do these things together with others not on our own. These are three top tips for becoming citizens of heaven. My we all become good sharers in the eternal life of heaven. Amen.