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.

Following the call of God

Sermon preached at 11am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 8th March 2009
Lent 2, Year B, but with a special reading from the Parish Lent Course. The Parish Lent Course follows the book Life Calling by Robert Warren and Kate Bruce (London, Church House Publishing, 2007).

Readings: Genesis 1: 26-31 Mark 9: 1-2-9

Many of you will be familiar with the Life Calling course used by the Parish Lent Groups this Lent. In week two of the Lent the course encourages us to reflect on the relationship between our creation and God’s calling to us. To do this the course invites us to listen to the part of the creation story from Genesis 1, which we heard as our first reading today. This creation story does not provide many details about the way in which humanity was created, but it does offer some profound reflections on what human beings are, and on how they relate to God. Above all, the story affirms that human beings are created in the image of God. Created in the image of God! What does this mean?
Well it means that there is something about us which is like God, or at least has the potential to be like God. I once read a fascinating commentary on this passage which noted that in verse 26 of the story, God resolves to make humanity in his own image and likeness. But when God actually creates human beings in verse 27 we are told that they are created in the image of God, but nothing is said about the likeness of God. The commentator’s explanation of this point was that although humanity was created in the image of God, we still need to be nurtured and to grow and to develop in order to attain the likeness of God. It is a bit like a baby, who is born the image of its parents, but who still needs to grow up in order to become the likeness of his parents. Or perhaps it is like an apple pip, which already contains the blueprint or DNA of an apple tree, but still has to be planted and watered and to grow, before it attains the likeness of an apple tree.
I think this understanding of our creation has much to commend it because it suggests that there is a profound link between what we are now, as we have been created, and what we are destined to become. It recognised that God is always calling us, drawing forward, seeking to move us forward towards our destiny in the likeness of God. This call of God is uniquely personal to each one of us. Importantly, it reflects both the person we already are, and the person we shall be.
For example, let’s think about God’s call to Abram or Abraham, as he later becomes, in Genesis chapter 12. God calls Abraham to leave his country and his father’s house and to go to a new land that God will show him. God promises to make Abraham the father of a great nation and to bless him richly, such that through him all the families on earth will be blessed.
Now this call of God to Abraham reflects many aspects of who Abraham already is. It reflects the fact that Abraham’s father Terah had already moved his family away from their origins in Ur and to Haran, which is half way round the fertile crescent, towards the land of Canaan, the land that God promises to give to Abraham. God’s call to Abraham also reflects that fact that Abraham is already master of a household, so he has the freedom to make the kind of choice that God is requiring.
On the other hand this call of God is also about what Abraham is destined to become. Abraham is called to be the father of a great nation. Now at the moment when God makes this call to Abraham it has to be said that being the father of a great nation looks very unlikely. Abraham has no children. He is seventy five years old. His wife Sarai is not much younger and she is barren. Abraham’s anxiety about his lack of children becomes an on-going theme of the story, but we know, that in the end that Abraham does in deed become the father of several great nations. God’s call brings new dimensions to Abraham’s life, dimensions which would have been quite impossible to predict at the time of his call.
Notice however that while God’s call draws Abraham forward towards a wonderful destiny, it also requires Abraham to leave certain things behind. He has to leave behind his father’s house and all the securities of Haran. Later in the story he has to leave behind his nephew Lot, and later still his slave wife Hagar and his son by her Ishmael. These are costly losses to Abraham, but it is characteristic of God’s call that we have to leave things behind in order to take on the new things that God wants for us.
Now it is unlikely that any of us have a calling as important as Abraham’s, but we can all be certain that God does call us. The call is directed to us, exactly as we are right now, with all our sins and weaknesses and failings as well as our few good qualities and our particular talents. The call draws us towards the fullness of life in heaven, where we will be more in the likeness of God, more like Jesus (1 John 3: 2).
So how, in practice, do we follow God’s call? Well I believe that the best way to do this is to always practice following God’s promptings in each present moment of our lives. God prompts us through his commandments, especially his commandment to love other people. Growing in love is, after all, growing in the likeness of God. Sometimes God prompts us through the things people ask us to do. Sometimes, if we listen, we can hear God prompting us deep in our hearts. In most present moments of our lives the things that God want from us are very simple; to concentrate properly when driving, to listen properly to those who speak to us, to help with household jobs, to set aside time for prayer, to take care of our bodies and rest properly. However by doing these things well, for love of God and for love of the people around us, we build a discipline of listening to the prompting of God and following his call, moment by moment through are lives. And if we do this in all the small things of life we can be confident that we have the training and discipline to do it when the bigger decisions come.
Our gospel reading today was the story of the transfiguration. Jesus’ disciples saw Jesus in his heavenly glory. This is the glory which we are called to share (Romans 8: 17, 2 Thessalonians 2: 14). Let us try to follow the promptings of God in each present moment of our lives. In this way, moment by moment, we follow God’s calling and will realise the great destiny he has promised us.

Transfiguration

Preached at St Alphege Church on Sunday 17th February 2008 at 11am Eucharist
Second Sunday in Lent, Year A

Readings: Genesis 12:1-4a Romans 4:1-5,13-17 Matthew 17:1-9



Perhaps you are familiar with J K Rowling’ series of Harry Potter books? The books are primarily set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the school one of the first subjects that a new student is likely to encounter is called Transfiguration. Transfiguration is magic that changes something into something else. Professor McGonagall demonstrates transfiguration by changing her desk into a pig. In their first lesson the students are asked to change a matchstick into a needle.
And so it is that for a whole generation of children, and probably many adults too, the word “Transfiguration” conjures up images of witches and wizards, wands and incantations, which have absolutely nothing to do with the Transfiguration that we heard about in our gospel reading today!
As a child I remember hearing the Transfiguration story from the gospels. I remember thinking that the Transfiguration was just about the strangest story in the whole of the New Testament. Healing miracles I could understand. Bringing people back from the dead was easy to imagine, but the Transfiguration was very hard to picture. It was very hard to imagine what happened, why it happened and why it was necessary.
The story starts as Jesus leads his three most trusted disciples up a high mountain. The scriptures do not tell us which mountain this was, but traditionally it has always been assumed to be Mount Tabor, to the west of the Sea of Galilee, not far from Nazareth. While they are on the mountain, the three disciples witness a most extra ordinary event. It is as though the disciples are briefly allowed to peer into some heavenly realm and see things that are not usually seen from earth. Important things about Jesus are revealed to them.
First of all the disciples see Jesus’ face start to shine like the sun and his clothes turn to a dazzling white. This hints at the divinity of Christ, or at least of his closeness to God. Then the disciples see Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus and talking to Jesus. Moses and Elijah are the two most important prophets in Judaism, so their appearance alongside Jesus emphasises the importance of Jesus, and his relevance to the Jewish tradition. Mark’s account of the transfiguration emphasises that the disciples were overcome by fear. Luke’s account has them overcome with sleep, but in both those accounts Peter hardly knows what he is saying as he offers to build shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
Then suddenly a bright cloud envelops them and a voice says, “This is my Son, the beloved with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!” This is the voice of God, and a clear affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God.
Then suddenly it is all over. The cloud has gone, Moses and Elijah are gone. It seems that Jesus look like a normal human being once again. He helps the disciples to get up and tells them not to be afraid. He also tells them not to discuss this incident until after the resurrection.
The Transfiguration is very strange, but it clearly tells us some important things about Jesus.
But there are also some aspects of the Transfiguration story that make us think about the very start of Jesus’ public ministry; the moment when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the River Jordon. The most powerful link is the voice from heaven that proclaims “This is my Son, the beloved with whom I am well pleased.” This is almost exactly what is said by the voice from heaven at the Baptism of Christ. But there are other links too. If we had read a few verses further in Matthew’s gospel this morning we would have heard Jesus explaining that John the Baptist has the role of Elijah, the prophet who comes before the Messiah. So Elijah’s presence at the transfiguration can be compared to John the Baptists presence at the Baptism. Moses was present at the Transfiguration. He was not present at the baptism, although passing to new life through the waters of baptism always reminds us of Moses leading the Israelites through the waters of the Red Sea.
There are also things about the Transfiguration that make us think about the very last moments of Jesus’ ministry on earth; the Ascension. The account of the Ascension in the Acts of the Apostles (acts 1) is also set on a mountain; Mount Olivet, near Jerusalem. Jesus is hidden by a cloud and two men in white robes appear to the disciples and talk to them.
So the Transfiguration reminds us of the Baptism of Christ at the start of his ministry and it reminds us of the Ascension at the end of his ministry. It also reminds us of the Most Holy Trinity. God the Father speaks, God the Son, Jesus, is transfigured and God the Holy Spirit is often associated with the bright cloud that envelops them all.
And it seems to me that it is very helpful for us to have this image of Jesus in Glory and to keep this image before us. As Christians we are on a journey towards heaven. We aspire to eternal life, and this life is in Jesus (1John 5:11, 2Timothy1:1). We aspire to share in the holiness of God (Hebrews 12:10), to share in the glory of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 2:15, Romans 8:17) and we don’t necessarily really know what this means or what the experience might be like. And perhaps the Transfiguration starts to give us a glimpse of what it might be like to live in heaven, to dwell permanently close to Jesus with his face shining like the sun and with his clothes dazzlingly white. The disciples seem to have found this experience completely overpowering. Probably there is part of us that wants nothing more than this, that longs for it and waits for it. A yet probably there is also a part of us that finds the idea very exposing, very exhausting, very threatening. We all have our saintly tendencies that rejoice in the presence of Christ, and will all have our sinful tendencies which want to turn from Christ and to hide in the dark. The Transfiguration reminds us that we need to develop and practice and grow in our saintly tendencies that are of Christ, and that rejoice in the presence of Christ and that want to bring us to Christ. Similarly it reminds us that our sinful tendencies have to be left behind. We have to be ready to lose them and to let them die and wither away. We know that it is the pure of heart who will see God. Our impurities might be very hard to live with in the intense light of the glory of Christ.
This is what Lent is about. It is about reminding ourselves anew that we must turn from sin and to follow Christ. This means following in the commandments of Christ and seeking always to grow in love for God and grow in love for our neighbour. Of course we can only do this by the grace of God, but we can pray for that grace and we can make sure that we make the best possible use of the grace that God gives us. Growing in love means living according to our saintly tendencies, it means be generous to others, serving others and wanting their good. It means forsaking our tendencies towards greed and selfishness; our desires to reject, dominate or manipulate others.
So let’s choose to always live in our “saint” so that our saint can grow and develop and come to maturity. Let’s be ready to let our “sinner” wither away, because we know that when we come to encounter Christ in his glory, our “saint” will rejoice to share in the life of heaven, but our “sinner” will find it quite impossible.