Text: Matthew 5:1-12
A month or so, one of you asked me a pretty simple and yet very difficult question:
Why don’t we talk more about heaven?
One reason is there is simply a lot we don’t know about the life that awaits us.
We have a lot of metaphor and imagery in our scripture and we have a strong sense of being present with God, but I can’t answer any concrete questions about what comes next.
So, personally, it feels like something I feel ill equipped to talk about.
I also started to think about how there is a strong narrative in the culture at large that focuses on our eternal rewards and the life that awaits us after we die.
We live our lives, we believe in God, we do the best we can, and when we die, we go to heaven and spend eternity with God.
With this kind of understanding, if this life is merely temporary, we probably should be talking a whole lot more about the life that awaits us.
Except, when we really dive into our scriptures, that really isn’t what our faith teaches.
Our scriptures do not talk of heaven as something that we wait for, but something that we begin to experience right here and right now.
The message of the prophets consistently proclaimed a kingdom upon this earth, under the heavens, with all nations gathering and all of creation being filled with the knowledge of God.
When the ministry of Christ starts, he proclaims that the “Kingdom of God is at hand.”
In the Lord’s Prayer, we say every single week: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven.”
Brian McClaren reminds us that the Greek term “Zoein aionian” is often translated as eternal life in the New Testament, but it isn’t meant to refer to life after death. Instead, it is literally, “life of the ages” which we should compare with a sense of “life in the present age.”
We see a contrast between these two ideas in the Gospel of John – we are either of the world or of God or heaven – but as Jesus tells Nicodemus, we enter that life in God when we are born of the Spirit, not when we die.
Eternal life, abundant life, “true aliveness” as McClaren puts it, is found also in the writings of Paul whenever he talks about fullness and life in the Spirit and freedom.
Even the book of Revelation tells us of a new heaven and a new earth where God will come down from heaven to make a home among us.
Our hymnody reminds us that heaven is something we experience right now. Charles Wesley, in his famous hymn, “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” calls us to anticipate our heaven below and own that love is heaven.
So, why don’t we talk more about heaven?
In some ways, we are always talking about it… even if we aren’t using that word.
Every week, when we talk about how God invites us right here and right now, to step into that abundant life.
We constantly focus on what it means to embody God’s will on earth.
We point to the Kingdom of God that is already here, even if not fully.
But I think the real reason that we avoid exploring the Kingdom of Heaven we find in scripture is because it challenges our faith.
It turns our world upside down.
It pushes us beyond that quaint and comfortable idea that I can simply live my life, doing the best I can, and someday I’ll be with God in heaven.
If, instead of some far off reality, heaven is something we experience right here and right now, how would that change the way we live?
What would it mean if God is with us right now in everything we do?
How would it change how we treat one another?
How would it challenge the decisions we make every day?
Over the next month in worship, we are going to exploring the Gospel of Matthew and what he calls the Kingdom of Heaven.
During five weeks of daily devotions, we are going deeper into the text and studying every mention of this Kingdom so that we might discover what it means for our lives right now.
Today, on All Saints Sunday, we begin with the Beatitudes.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Right here. Right now.
Those who are the poor in spirit, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
Already the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
It’s theirs.
They experience it.
They know it.
They live in it.
These blessings that Jesus is proclaiming “bring into being the reality they declare,” writes Eugene Boring (NIB, Vol 8, p177).
God has brought it to them.
In many ways, I think what Jesus is doing here is demonstrating a contrast between the values of this world and the values of God’s Kingdom.
Those Jesus calls “blessed” are not blessed by worldly standards.
The world tells us we should focus on our happiness, not our grief.
The world tells us our leaders should be strong, not meek.
The world tells us we should strive for a better economy, not more righteousness.
The world tells us we should seek retribution, not mercy.
As David Lose puts it in his commentary, “Jesus seems to invite us to call into question … all the categories with which we structure our life, navigate our decisions, and judge those around us.”
Jesus is challenging the way this world, our culture, views blessing and power and success.
And Jesus proclaims a new reality.
Jesus calls us to repent.
To turn around.
To totally change our lives.
To renounce our citizenship in the world and to embrace life in a different kind of Kingdom.
To be people of mercy and humility and love and boldness and grace and peace.
The problem is… we have a really hard time letting go of this world.
We like living in a world defined by what we can see and hold.
We like our individual freedoms.
We like the sense of control we have from drawing borders and distinctions.
And you know what, in this time of national division, this is a really perverse part of ourselves that actually likes fighting and arguing with those who disagree with us.
We relish the conflict and are so immersed in the outcome of this one national election as if one way or another it might save us.
But friends, the only one who can save us is Jesus.
This nation is simply one more kingdom of the earth.
I do believe that this election matters and I believe our votes matter and I believe that there are real impacts to who wins or loses.
And you and I might completely disagree about those outcomes or impacts.
But whoever wins or loses, here is what I know and believe:
It doesn’t change how Jesus calls us to live.
Kingdom of Heaven is about abundance for those who have nothing…
comfort for those who are grieving…
justice for the oppressed…
mercy for the troublemakers….
It is about peace and humility and openness and love…
It is about choosing to walk with God every single day.
And if we decide to live in that Kingdom, we might find ourselves in conflict with this world.
We might find ourselves in conflict with people that we love.
But even in those moments, Jesus calls us to rejoice, because this world has no ultimate power over our lives.
I’m reminded that the Beatutides are not just a check-list of attitudes or habits.
This is a whole life transformation.
And God doesn’t ask us to do it on our own.
God is moving in our midst and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God is constantly equipping us and growing us and challenging us and forming us into Kingdom people.
God is already actively turning this world upside down.
And we have a glimpse of that Kingdom of Heaven reality on days like today.
You see, every time we break bread with the communion of saints, we remember that those we have lost this year are not really gone from us.
They might be beyond our physical reach, but they fully exist in God’s presence and we are connected today by “something that transcends our immediate experience.” (David Lose)
We have an opportunity to proclaim our confidence that “God’s love and life are more powerful and enduring than the hate, disappointment, and death that seems at times to surround us.”
And right here at this table, we are fed by grace a meal that has the ability to transform us.
To change the way we see one another.
To transport us into a new reality.
It is an invitation to be blessed.
A call to life.
Life abundant.
Life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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