There and Back

I have read a good bit about heaven, but I have never been.  In recent years there have been some who say they made the trip, stayed awhile, and came back to their lives on earth.  They have told their story in books and even movies.  I am not one to say their story is not true.  The reason I cannot live with skepticism is because of the story of Lazarus.  It is not in me to say that the Holy Scripture propagates untruth and neither can I imagine Jesus not bringing Lazarus back from the dead. This is the story of 11th chapter of the gospel of John.   

Either Jesus went to the tomb of His friend who had been dead for three days and cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" (John 11:43), or He did not.  I choose to believe He did and Lazarus did as he was told.  Did the spirit of Lazarus wander around in some invisible virtual space, or was he united with the God who created him?  I choose to believe not in his floating around in some strange world, but that in those days he experienced the glory of heaven.  I wonder, too, if Lazarus grabbed hold of the gate of heaven when he heard his name, or if he returned willingly at the call of Jesus. These are thoughts for speculation and might embellish a weak sermon, but the truth is Lazarus made the trip to the eternal home and then was called by Jesus to return.  

The truth is I know very little about the ins and outs of heaven, but I do know that the Word of God speaks of it as home.  God has not only come to dwell with us in the person of Jesus, but the Word tells us He will dwell with us, His people.  "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them." (Revelations 21:3).  What heaven looks like is unimportant because of the One who dwells in this invisible realm.  It is and will be a realm empty of tears, empty of death, empty of "mourning and crying and pain."  (Revelation 21:4). I would not be a bit surprised if old Lazarus did not grab the gate and hold on for everything he was worth!

At the Cross

When I was a seven year old boy grieving for a father who died too soon, I thought a lot about heaven. I was told my father who was not here was in heaven.  I had no reason to doubt what I was told by those who knew more than me.  About the same time I concluded that if there was a heaven, there had to be a God.  I remember looking for Him in the white billowing clouds that blew across the sky.  Not knowing exactly where God could be found, it made sense to look upward toward where I figured heaven to be.  

Some respond to loss and tragedy with anger directed toward God.  Some declare He cannot possibly exist, or He would prevent tragedies like mine and others.  The seven year old boy I once was discovered his first awareness of God in the midst of impossible to understand loss.  From that time going forth, I had my eye open for God.  Of course, I never found Him with my seven year old understanding of God and heaven.  It was actually some years later that He found me and called me to forsake a dead end search.  Knowing God does not begin with finding Him, but in coming to see and know His revealing presence in the world.  

The One for whom so many like myself have searched cannot be found through our futile search, but can only be known through His revealing grace.  Many years after I was seven, I knelt at the foot of the cross of Calvary and the One I sought as a seven year old boy was revealed to me.  There I came to know God as the One who loved me enough to willingly suffer loss, grief, and a broken heart.  There at the foot of the cross, God revealed Himself as One full of forgiveness, unconditional love, and unfathomable grace.  At the foot of the cross the God I sought revealed Himself and showed me the way Home to the prize of heaven.    

Kneeling

Recently I have worshipped in the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church.  I am not turning in my credentials as a Methodist pastor, I have just been visiting.  One of the things I have noticed is that these folks spend a lot of time on their knees.  Kneeling rails are on the back of each pew and everyone but me seemed to know exactly when the knee time began and ended.  Some people even come in and immediately go to the kneeling posture.  

I grew up in a Methodist tradition when kneeling was not as uncommon as a shooting star.  We did not kneel on kneeling rails in the pews, but went to the altar up front to kneel and pray.  Most Sunday night worship services (another anachronism) ended after prayer time at the altar.  It has been a long time since I have seen a Methodist kneeling.  Why, we don't even bother to kneel while receiving communion.  We just get up, walk up front, hold out our hands and receive the Communion without breaking stride.  It could be said that it is almost as fast as the drive through at the fast food joint.  

I commend my Catholic and Episcopalian brothers and sisters for kneeling so much.  I wish the church that ordained me could once again embrace the practice of inviting people to kneel.  Kneeling is good for the ego.  It gives it some much needed perspective.   Kneeling is good for the soul.  Modeling a contrite heart is a good thing.  An old friend and Episcopal priest used to say, "There is a God and it ain't you!"  Kneeling helps us remember. 

Morning Repentance

"Lord, I am not what I seem to be.  I find myself doing those things I ought not to do and at the same time I do not do those things that I ought to do. (Romans 8:19).  It is not the visible things I do which trouble me, but those thoughts and attitudes lingering in a heart which looks like to others that it longs for nothing but Your love.  Forgive me, Lord, Jesus.  Each time I come to the moment of receiving the bread and the cup in holy gatherings, I see Your unconditional love and the sin in me which still seeks to control.  

Along with all the others I must confess that I have sinned against You, not once, but more times than I can count.  How grateful I am for Your mercy and grace.  I must also confess, Lord Jesus, that my sin is not just in my thoughts, but also in my word and deed.  I see my neighbor in need and look the other way.  I find it too easy to justify my not doing by saying I know not what to do.  You have never asked anything of me except to love You with my whole heart and even this I fail to do.  The heart I have given is the heart I often reach out to take back.  Lord, how can You invite me to Your table?  

I know I am not worthy to be present, but to be present is life giving to this weary soul.  Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me and once again I ask for the blessing of Your forgiveness.  Strengthen me, Lord.  Keep showing me the way.  Enable me by the power of Your Holy Spirit to live in Your will and to know nothing but hunger for righteousness.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I pray and ask once more for the blessings of grace which abide in Your heart.  Amen"

Morning Blessings

Bless the sun that rises to give light and life.  

Bless the tree that gives shade and fruit.

Bless the squirrels that find their home.

Bless the birds that herald the new day.

Bless the grass sparkling the new light.

Bless the wind that stirs the stillness.

Bless the gifts all these blessings give.

Bless You, Creator God, for every gift.

Bless You, Son, for the light of lights.

Bless You, Spirit, for showing the way.

Bless the gracious grace that gives life.

Bless the precious blood that was given.

Bless the tongues of fire still burning.

Bless the Kingdom here and coming.

Bless the ones overcome with fear.

Bless those who live full of hunger.

Bless lives long empty of any hope.

Bless the old ones living but forgotten.

Bless the bodies being eaten by disease.

Bless those who expect no blessings.

Bless souls who have forgotten home.

Bless the hurried on their way nowhere.

Bless the seekers of a different way.

Bless the souls who have had enough.

Bless the hearts who are thirsty for more.

Bless all those longing only for love.

Bless those who search for truth.

Bless all these folks for they are we. 

Morning Intercession

 "Lord, I am here again this morning to pray for some people in need of Your help.  I cannot help but remember that story Luke tells about four guys who bring a paralyzed friend to Jesus.  "They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way...they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of of Jesus..."  (Luke 5:17-19).  

Lord, I want to pray like those four men.  I really care about the people for whom I pray.  Some of them are not going to live without Your help.  Some of them are battling needs far greater than they can meet own their own.  Some of them are really desperate for you to touch them.  I feel like I have been letting them down.  I know their need and I fall asleep while praying.  They have told me of their hurt and I often give up without being as persistent as those men on the roof who interceded for their hopeless friend.  Lord, I sometimes feel that the folks for whom I pray stay trapped in their circumstance because my prayers lack the expectation and the persistence of those roof top intercessors.  

As I say this to You, Lord, I want to cry for letting them down.  For letting You down, too.  I ask You to forgive me, Lord.  I ask You to use my inadequate prayers because these folks need the help of real spiritual intercessors and not those like me.  Let them not suffer because of my unfaithfulness.  And, Lord, keep looking up.  If You can help me in my weakness, maybe one day You will look up and see my face peering through the broken roof.  Amen."

Not A Snake Handler

There was a time, and perhaps that time still exists in some places, when some churches of the Appalachian mountains practiced snake handing in worship.  Of course, the snakes being handled were not the common rat snake which is found in barns, or the common green snake which stays hidden in the grass, but venomous snakes such the rattlesnake.  It is based on a few verses at the end of Mark which are not normally included in most of the ancient manuscripts. The supposition is that if you have faith the poisonous snake will not bite, or if it does, it will not be a killing bite.  

I thought about this today after coming home from worship in the local Episcopal Church.  This thought came as Communion was offered by use of a common cup.  Dipping the bread in the common cup is about as near as I can go to taking the cup and drinking from it after a hundred or more have had a sip.  Oh, I know wine is regarded as an antiseptic and I watched the priest wipe the cup after each person took a drink from the cup.  I even noticed the cup being turned just a tad after each person shared the common cup.  

Don't get me wrong.  I love Jesus.  The Sacrament which is shared is regarded highly.  There is nothing like sharing the Holy Meal with the people or God.  My problem is I did not even eat or drink after my own children and to drink after a room full of strange people is a bridge I cannot cross.  Intinction is about as close as I can come to sharing the common cup.  I guess I just don't have enough faith to think that a rattlesnake bite would not be fatal.  Neither can I force myself to believe that faith will wipe away all the germs from the holy cup.