sermon 1

Just Like Heaven

matthew 18.15-20

I hear a lot of talk about Heaven on Earth. You see someone bite into some delicious food and sigh, “Heaven,” “just-like-heaven…” Usually people say something is “just like heaven” when they are describing a perfectly contented moment in their life. Holding Caden, my nephew, for the first time was JUST LIKE HEAVEN. He was hardly 12 hours old, so small…when he peeked open his eyes and looked at me I felt like the luckiest person in the world. That moment was just like heaven.

You know, honestly… and I think some of you might agree with me… when I hear the phrase, just like heaven, I usually think about that song The Cure wrote in the 80’s, not today’s Gospel. That song, holding my nephew, eating something delicious…all of those things are about wonderful fuzzy-feel-good stuff. However, when comparing those things with today’s Gospel, I think it becomes clear that when Jesus talks about truly living “just like heaven” he’s on a bit of a deeper level.

Usually, when we think of something being “just like heaven” we are most likely talking about something egocentric; something that appeals to us individually. The focus is on our own feelings, which then shapes our world view to appear absolutely perfect. When I held my nephew Caden for the first time and watched him open his eyes, of course a thought that went through my mind was, “My nephew, perfection. Look how cute he is, looking at me…”

Yet, as Jesus talks to his disciples the focus isn’t on any one individual, but rather the church body. Though we may sin against each other… sometimes very personally hurting each other… as the Church, we are never to turn our backs on each other.

Looking at the beginning of today’s text, Jesus speaks about sin. However, while sin is part of the conversation, it is not the focus, it is not the center. He doesn’t begin talking about degrees of sin (like little white lies vs. some monstrous act) or say anything about “leaving it to God…” Jesus talks about the relationships involved. Communally, we are held accountable to each other, to this world, and to God. As Pastor Chad likes to say, we are held “countable” to each other. I count on you, you count on me, and we count on each other.

Think for a minute about your life and the people you’ve known… Is there someone there that you know you could totally count on? I mean, you knew with them they would give you the absolute truth. They would challenge you and let you know if you really did mess up. But at the same time, they were the first person you’d go to if you needed a good cry or wanted to laugh about something, right? Have you ever felt so completely safe with someone that it didn’t matter how bad you did mess up, they would still be there for you? And all along you know that you would absolutely be there for them in just the same way. It’s hard to find someone like that. It’s kind of scary sometimes too because there comes a point when you realize your own vulnerability, you realize you need to choose whether or not you go or pull back… Personally, I’ll admit, that’s scary to me.

Now, think for a minute on what Jesus is saying in today’s Gospel.

Jesus hasn’t said anything about the person who sinned being anyone’s close friend. If it’s scary to imagine the time, effort, and vulnerability involved in creating close relationships, it’s easy to see how terrifying it would be to go to someone you hardly know who has done some sort of harm toward you. And this is when Jesus comes back in the picture, takes out a Kleenex and squeaks clean our vision again saying…

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU…IT’S ABOUT ME, JESUS.

It’s interesting to think about what the world would be like if we could always remember that. As the Church, Jesus is telling us not to wander around in our lives, focused on all of the ways we did or didn’t get what we want. Jesus calls the church to focus on him, the Risen Christ. Like Pastor Rick said last week, Christ has already died, Christ bore the cross, and now Christ is alive! In baptism we have died only so that we may live in full communion, full connection, full “countability,” with God and each other – even those who have sinned against us, even those that we may see as an outsider and those who live far from us.

I am pretty sure that the people who have survived natural disasters and the people surviving Hurricane Katrina are having a hard time seeing how anything could resemble Heaven right now. But it is at moments like these that the Church can most live out heaven to the world. When reaching out to the victims of disaster or crime, or when simply saying a prayer, we as the church are saying to the world that Heaven is not some far off place where we will forget everything, play with cuddly puppies, and eat good food… The Church is saying Heaven is now because God is here and now, in our midst, bringing us together even in the middle of disaster and pain, even though sin runs rampant.

When Jesus says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them,” he is talking not just about those times we hang out with our best buddies, but about every time the Church reaches out to the world…to those who have sinned and won’t listen…to those who are outsiders and those who make us uncomfortable... to those living through disasters of all sorts. Jesus is talking about the Church living in a way that is open to all people, as Heaven is open to all people; he is talking about the Church actually LIVING Heaven.

As we come to the table for communion today, kneeling side by side with family and probably some people we really don’t know very well…As we leave church to complete all the other things on our to-do lists and prepare for our week…let us remember that for everyone we invite to worship, for everyone we take a chance on, and for everyone we respond to in Christ’s love, God is surrounding us and within us, leading us to live “just like heaven.”