SUNDAY REFLECTION FOR OPEN PRAIRIE UCC – APRIL 30^th, 2017

Overlap

I’m going to start by asking you to use your imagination.
“WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?”
When I use the word ‘heaven’, what kind of image comes to your mind?
I can’t seem to get rid of the mental picture I had as a child. The image that always pops into my mind when I hear the word ‘heaven’, is angels with wings playing harps, constantly worshiping God.
If I’m being honest, I’m not really looking forward to an existence like that. It’s not attractive to me at all, but I know it’s some kind of leftover from my childhood. The OLDER ME pictures heaven as a place of peace and love, everyone getting along, enjoying each other, good food and laughter, and just feeling GREAT all the time. That’s what I WANT heaven to be like.
So where did the angels with wings come from?

This is not what I’m really here to talk about today, but let me get off-track for just a moment to make a point: If you search the whole bible, there’s never any mention of angels with wings!
Never. In fact, it says angels look just like us. Well, maybe not like ME, but like beautiful people. We might not even recognize an angel, it would just look like a very attractive human. Maybe artists HAD to add wings so we would know which characters were angels and which were people. But in the bible, the only references to wings are:

• on birds (usually eagles and doves), sometimes locusts, or
• used in kind of a poetic way about God, like “we rest in the shadow of God’s wings”
  (I don’t believe that means that God really has wings), or
• in describing the wings of cherubim and seraphim.

Cherubim seem to be creatures that guard the Ark of the Covenant  (and they probably DON’T look like the baby cherubs you see on Valentine’s Day cards) and seraphim are some kind of mystical creature with four faces, and I don’t understand them at all.

But the point is; Angels don’t have wings!

Okay, that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. It’s related, because I’ve been thinking about the Physical World versus the Spiritual world lately, and whether they INTERSECT with each other, or if they are SEPARATE from each other. From what we know about ancient civilizations, it seems like most of them believed that the two worlds were overlapped.
So they might have believed in a goddess of fertility or a god of the harvest or spirits in the trees or that you could do some kind of ritual to get rain.

But I was raised just the opposite, and I think a lot of modern people these days are, too;  that first we live HERE in the physical world, and that what we experience has natural causes (you can’t REALLY do a rain dance and expect it to rain), and if there is a spiritual world it is SOMEWHERE ELSE, in the afterlife; Heaven is UP and Hell is DOWN. It’s not the direction that’s the problem (after all, the bible says Jesus ascended into heaven, which seems UP to me), but the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that I need to revise my assumption that they don’t OVERLAP.

I’m hoping you’ll consider a few examples of overlap that I want to describe today.
I started out talking about angels, so I suppose that’s the most obvious example, because
the bible talks about angels going back and forth between the two worlds constantly.

But let’s dig a little deeper:

Ok, I was raised to believe that when I die (if I’m good), my soul will go to heaven.
Let me ask YOU. If that’s true, if you believe in an afterlife, what exactly is “your soul”?
When you die, are you just like a spirit or a ghost that just floats up to heaven?

More specifically, does your soul include your mind?
Does your soul include your emotions?
Does your soul include your will power? Your ability to make decisions?
I was listening to a bible teacher named Ray Stedman, and he claimed that our souls are composed of our minds, our will and our emotions. Something about that statement didn’t sound right to me at first, or at least I had never thought of it that way before, but I think it makes sense.

I mean, what good would heaven be if you couldn’t even think about it? It seems reasonable that you would have to keep your own mind. I don’t think God would appreciate having mindless beings around. He could have made something like THAT – much easier than starting with something like THIS, don’t you think?
And what would be the point of being in heaven if you couldn’t feel anything about it? No joy? No appreciation?  It makes sense to me that we would keep our capacity to feel, emotionally. If scripture teaches that it’s all about love, we would have to be able to feel and respond to love, right?
And it makes sense that we would have some kind of will power. Would God enjoy hanging around with a bunch of robots? Forced to obey? No. In fact, I think just the opposite. The way I understand it, one of His most crucial points is that He wants US to DECIDE that we want to be with Him. It’s probably safe to assume that He doesn’t want mindless automatons.

Scripture says we are made in His image.
To me, that means He prefers us to be unique individuals; willful companions who think and feel. I don’t believe these are going to be taken away from us when we die.

But besides mind, will and emotion, the other component I think of that might be desirable is some kind of sensual experience. I hope I can continue to enjoy sensations – like taste, and smell, and hearing, and touch. We don’t want to be comfortably numb, do we? Will we have our senses? Well, having senses implies having some kind of body.

-=-=-=-
Now, you could say that everything I’ve suggested so far is just speculation.
What can a person like me really know about the big picture? I mean, I can make statements about the PHYSICAL world that I inhabit right now, just like anyone can. But what can I know about the SPIRITUAL world?

Well, I’m thinking about a New Testament passage in Luke chapter 24. Two men are walking on the road to Emmaus, and they are joined by Jesus. This is after his crucifixion and resurrection, because that’s what they’re talking about. It says they didn’t recognize Him as Jesus, but more interesting to me is that they didn’t notice anything UNUSUAL about him. Jesus has become the first fruit of the resurrection, the first person to ever conquer death, but to them he looks just like anyone else. So Jesus obviously still has his mind and his will and his emotions, but He also has a body. Other people have been brought back from death, like Lazarus, but Lazarus still inhabited his physical body, and I think that body would have died again.  But Jesus is different. He has a resurrection body that has overcome death.

This is another example of overlap that I’m presenting (the model of Jesus himself),
a spiritual being back in the physical world, with a body that could travel between them. Maybe we can learn something from that.

The bible gives us a few clues about what it could be like. For example, even though He looked like a normal person on the road to Emmaus, there were other people who knew Jesus in real life but didn’t recognize him after the resurrection, at least not at first. That suggests that our appearance may be changed. There’s a good chance we’ll look different.
I’m not trying to make a joke, but many people will be relieved by that.

And scripture is clear that it was a real body. In the gospel of Luke chapter 24, it says that

Luke 24:36-39  As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you! But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

So the resurrection body is a real body. And the bible never implies that He abandoned that body as He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of The Father.

There’s also a good chance that some of our uniqueness will be retained. I’m surprised to learn that Jesus still had the scars on his hands and in his side. I don’t understand why that would be necessary, but this experience with Thomas states it clearly

John 20:26-27  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

One more event that Luke records:

Luke 24:41-43  And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

In my understanding of the way things are, GHOSTS DON’T EAT. And if you know anything about me and my relationship with food, I’m happy to learn that I’ll be able to eat.
As a matter of fact, it says that we are invited to a FEAST!

There are also verses that imply that He appeared and disappeared at will. The implication is that our resurrection bodies won’t be subject to the same laws of Physics that our physical bodies are, but we probably already assumed that would be true, so let’s move on…

-=-=-=-
Many ancient cultures created idols for their gods. When they made a physical thing as an idol, they didn’t see the object AS a god, or even representing a god. It was created as a DWELLING PLACE for a god. When they had completed it, and gone through whatever ritual they believed would consecrate it, they would INVITE the spirit of that god to inhabit it. That was their idol, a dwelling place for a spirit.

In the Jewish culture, they wrote that they had received specific instructions for how to build a dwelling place for God here on earth. God knew what he needed to be with his people,
and he provided all the details about how to build it and prepare it, and if it was done correctly it would be clean and pure enough to be a suitable dwelling place for Him here on earth.

Well, taking one step back just for the sake of accuracy, He was already dwelling in a suitable place here on earth with His people in the beginning, that was in the Garden of Eden.
But when our rebellion made it unsuitable to keep living together, He had to back away – or force us away from Him, at least temporarily.  But it seems clear that He WANTS to be with us.
In Exodus chapter 40 it says that when Moses finished constructing the TABERNACLE

Exo 40:32-34  When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the LORD commanded Moses. And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

So God found the tabernacle to be a suitable dwelling place among His people.

Many generations later, it is recorded in 1Kings that when Solomon finished building the TEMPLE, it says

1Ki 8:10-11  And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD,  so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

So that’s at least three different instances where God set up an arrangement where He could be with us; in the garden, in the tabernacle, and in the temple.
But that’s not the end of the story.
I think God has a more permanent solution in mind…

And that might be the most significant overlap between the spiritual world and the physical world, something that I’m still trying to wrap my brain around.

What no one could have predicted was that when Jesus came here, he referred to His own body as a temple. He said if they destroyed this temple (referring to himself), that he would rebuild it in three days. And if you are paying attention to his work, whenever anyone asked him how he got the power to heal or perform any of his miracles, He was very careful to say “It’s not me! It is the power of my father working THROUGH me”. And His example became a model for us. If you remember at his baptism, the Holy Spirit descended into him like a dove. It was only AFTER that did he ever do anything miraculous. He had become a suitable container; a means for God to resume doing His work.

• Then He offered the same power to His disciples when he breathed the Holy Spirit into them in the upper room,
• and then on the day of His crucifixion the temple veil tore in two, the spirit came OUT of the temple building like a wind,
• and then at Pentecost, the Spirit descended into everyone who believed.

THAT is the mystery that no one ever predicted! That we, ourselves could become the NEW TEMPLE; that our own bodies could become a suitable dwelling place for the Lord.

But you might think, “Wait a minute, the temple had all kinds of complicated rules and rituals to preserve its purity, and we are selfish and flawed and unclean. How could WE be a suitable temple?”
Well, that’s the beauty of it! We AREN’T suitable, on our own, but the sacrifice of Jesus was enough. God figured out a way, and He says that it’s good enough for Him. If we allow Him to do the work, we will become clean enough for Him to come in and dwell with us.

The real church becomes the BODY of Christ working in the world today, of which He is the HEAD. The Christian church is composed of all the people everywhere who have opened the door enough to let the light in; to get clean enough to invite the Holy Spirit in, allowing Him to accomplish his work through us.

I believe that’s the ONLY way God works now – THROUGH PEOPLE.

-=-=-=-

Now I would like to read four single verses from the New Testament, then I’ll bring this to a close. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he says :

1Co 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

The next one is from the letter to the Ephesians:

Eph 2:22  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

This one is from the second Corinthians:

2Co 6:16  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That’s why the bible forbids us to make idols for God, because God already has a suitable dwelling place, made in His image. US!  And here’s the last one:

1Co 3:16  Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

That’s Paul for you, “Do you not KNOW this?”

Just to put a cap on this idea, a short time after these events took place,
the physical Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, except for a little piece of the Western Wall  (that was in the year 70 AD). We just don’t need the temple anymore!

All of the beautiful churches and cathedrals that have been built since then might be fabulous works of art and architecture, and might help to create a spiritual mood, or an appropriate setting for worship, but in essence they’re just meeting rooms or monuments.

YOU are created in His image, not some expensive building.
And God has already announced where He wants to live now – with YOU!

But I should be careful to point out that the Holy Spirit does not INVADE our lives. He has to be INVITED in. We have to give our PERMISSION for his power to start working through us.

-=-=-=-

Anyway, some Christians seem to be just hanging around waiting for the world to end
so they can “go to heaven”, and I think they’re really missing the point.
The bible teaches that the spiritual world is working IN the physical world

RIGHT NOW.

So, I think I have to give up the understanding I was given as a child;
that that the world is HERE and everything else is THERE, somewhere else.

If I’m taking the bible seriously, I CAN’T continue to believe
that the physical world is SEPARATED from the spiritual world.
They are both right here, right now.
The bible teaches that they are intimately OVERLAPPED,
and I just wanted to share that thought with you today.

Thank you.

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GOSPEL READING FOR SUNDAY APRIL 30^th, 2017  

In the passage we are looking at today, women have just returned from the empty tomb, and the text says they reported the resurrection “to the eleven and to all the rest”. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
Here’s a story that Luke recorded about that day:

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

-=-=-=-

NEW TESTAMENT READING FOR SUNDAY APRIL 30^th, 2017

Luke wrote two long letters to someone named Theophilus, and fortunately, we have copies of both of them today. The first became known as the gospel according to Luke, and the second was named the book of Acts. This is the first paragraph from the book of Acts:

ACTS 1:1-5
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Thank you for sharing your Holy Spirit with us, Holy One, so that we may participate in your work as the body of the church, of which you are the head.

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