Interruptions in Heaven or God's Biggest Fans

First, in order for you to “buy this” I think I may need to point out some things about Heaven which you may not have thought of before. Do you realize our longest and most detailed view into Heaven is during what is perhaps the most important ceremony to have ever taken place? It is the revealing of The Lamb that was Slain and the opening of the seals which only He could open, it is “The End Times,” which are just that “times” that are temporary.

Now think for a moment about the most important ceremonies which go on in your church, for instance weddings or funerals, if someone were to only be present during those times would they have an accurate picture of what your church normally is? Would they not likely come away thinking it's rather formal or somber rather than a mixture of formal, somber, joyful, fellowshiping, and all the other circumstances which happen in your church's walls?

Keeping the above in mind, now read the rest.

I watched a recent interview of Taylor Swift. As she came out from the back and then periodically throughout the interview the cameras would pan the audience. In this video and in others I have seen throughout the years of different stars, I was utterly amazed that anyone can get so excited merely to be in the presence of another human being that, in reality, they don't even know. To have one of your biggest wishes to be that famous person just touch your hand or (gasp!) give you a hug; to have one of the things you want most in to have a picture made with this person standing next to you.

You've been around those types of people, those people whose excitement is infectious; who though they may not quite convince you to show as much enthusiasm as they, still cause you to show more than you ever would otherwise. If nothing else you smile at their antics and their delight. Their delight in seeing a friend's baby for the first time, of seeing a long-lost loved one, of going on a trip, to a concert of their favorite band, or even going to a place you've gone with them a hundred times before.

Though a small part of you may think they're ridiculous and silly, you still may cherish a memory where you caused that excitement in them, when you made it to the luggage area and where gathered in their arms or when they saw your first child and they seemed to really realize it was the most perfect baby in the world (unlike some other friends and family). One of my very favorite memories is from an “overly” enthusiastic greeting that I received from one of my best friends in college after she first saw me after break; she caught sight of me as I came around a corner, ran to me and almost knocked me over by jumping into my arms.

Some of us, when we get to Heaven, are quite likely going to fall down on our faces before the throne or at the very least hang our heads a little bit, because we can't quite accept that we're allowed to look into the face of God, need reminded we're perfect enough to actually be in the presence of Perfection. Likely, it will be Christ who approaches us and gently lifts us up, or raises our chin and looks us in the eyes with a smile on his face to assure us that we are, in fact, wearing his perfection and that it has become our own.

Then there will be the other type. The type who in death, as in life, have enthusiastically embraced their newness, who truly know they are perfect in Christ. I believe this type will burst into the Throne Room, oblivious to all the solemnity and almost bowl Christ over in their embrace. I suspect that the first few times this occurs after a more somber soul has just recently arrived, there is a sense of shock until they realize that this approach to Christ is just as perfect as their own.

Now, I know that some of you may have a hard time buying into this interruption thing but, if you allow yourself to think about it, can you really imagine Peter or Mary Magdalene first greeting Jesus in any other way? On earth Peter threw himself out of a boat (in his excitement maybe he briefly thought he would again be able to walk on water) in order to get to Jesus sooner and Mary wouldn't stop clinging to her Lord when she first saw him.

I can see Peter running towards Christ yelling, “I made it! Thanks to you I made it!” and Mary embracing and maybe even kissing Jesus (in a purer way than we can even understand before we are given new bodies not made of flesh) saying, “Now you have ascended, is there any reason now I cannot cling to you to show my thanks and love?”

If you still do not believe in these interruptions which I fancy sometimes happen, perhaps my last thoughts will convince you. Have you had anyone in your life who, though grown, has the mind of a child? Who has held onto a child's enthusiasm? Who never developed past a certain point? Have you seen their excitement when they successfully tie their shoes or button all their buttons all by themselves? Or finish a race (and it doesn't matter what place they come in)? Do you really think these innocents will care for propriety when they see something beyond their wildest dreams? See the one who created them and are finally able to understand how he has used their “imperfections” to make them into exactly who he wanted them to be and how their differentness help to shape so many others in their lives for the better? Do you think they will hang their head? No, they will probably shout “I'm here, look at me!” and demand high fives of the Heavenly Host on their rush to their Heavenly Father's throne.

Speaking of innocents. What of those children who knew no real family on earth, who left life early because of neglect or war or famine? While on this earth Christ said, “Let the children come to me for Heaven belongs to such as these.” Will he not say the same in Heaven? When one of those young souls are welcomed home, will his lap not be waiting? I think those starved souls will see Him seated and know exactly what he wants, for it is part of what they were created to want, to be loved and touched and cherished.

Yes, I believe Heaven is about worship and praise. Yes, Christ and his Father are more majestic than anything we can begin to imagine, more awe-inspiring than our minds can now comprehend. But also our God is Love and we are reminded again and again that we are the Bride of Christ. The Church's relationship to Christ is compared to the relationship of a husband and wife and I firmly believe that we are called to try to work on and perfect our relationships here because they can better teach us how to relate to our Creator and will allow us to have a better relationship not only here but also There.

I do not think I will run into Christ's arms or run to hug my Father's knees but I do not think I will be too shocked when I see some of my Family do those very things. Then I will know some of God's biggest and most enthusiastic fans have just walked or rather ran through Heaven's door.

The Word That Never Came

I wrote this a few years ago for another blog. As I was re-reading it before I used it for a Lord Supper talk this past Sunday, I realized the ideas for it were strongly inspired by a skit I was a part of at Bible camp years ago. I don't know the name of the skit or who wrote it...so that's the best I can do in giving credit.

The Angel Michael stands in readiness with legions of angels flanking him and standing at his back. At any moment they expect the word, they are constantly on edge, leaning forward in their strain to hear, in case it is said in a whisper. They heard their Master crying, in so much pain he seemed to be sweating drops of blood. They do not understand his words to the Father, do not know what horrid thing Christ will face which causes him to say, “Not my will be done, but yours.” Michael cannot stand to see his Lord in such pain by himself, the Lord’s silly disciples are asleep instead of attending to the task Christ set them, so Michael comes to his side and reminds him he is not alone. “Whatever needs done, we can help you, you know what strength each of us has.” Christ looks to Michael with pain in his eyes, knowing he must face this task alone, but thankful for the comfort Michael has tried to offer.

Christ returns to his disciples, they are asleep, again. He rouses them and points to the torches coming up the road, to the mob coming through the shadows. Christ asks whom the mob seeks, they answer and Christ says, “I am he.” They fall to the ground from the power of his words, but foolishly still want to take him. Michael smiles and readies himself when he sees Peter draw his sword, now Christ will give the word. Instead all Peter’s clumsy attempt produces is a loss of an ear and, to Michael and all others amazement, Christ heals the injured man and allows himself to be taken.

All the humans who are with Jesus do not understand and flee; where is the warrior king they were expecting? Why is the Messiah going quietly? Even the angels do not know the plan, but instead of fleeing they surround their Lord more closely until he silently tells them to retreat a little and stand their ground, for his captors are losing their nerve. The captors do not see the angels but can feel their suffocating power.

A man, a mere puny man dares to call his Lord a blasphemer so Michael raises his sword to deal a killing blow, thinking, “Surely he will now give us the word.” Instead, Christ simply stands there as the supposed priests strike the King and spit in his face. One of the angels meekly asks, “Do you think he somehow lost his ability to speak?” not believing his Lord would allow this to happen to himself.

The nightmare of a night continues, the angels, of course, not growing weary but some of these ancient, almost timeless beings begin for the first time in their existence to feel impatient, as their Lord undergoes more accusations. Some begin to doubt the wisdom of God, why did he decide to become a being limited in power anyway, a creature who can be broken, hurt, and killed?

An angel yells to Christ as Christ is being beaten, “We are still here, can you not talk? Why Lord, why are you allowing them to do this? Just give us a sign.” Ending with a desperate, almost helpless voice, “We are still here…we are ready to stop all this.” But the Master of all still does not stop the blows and torture. And still the nightmare continues, more mocking, more accusations, more misunderstanding on mans part and the angels and finally, heresy of heresies, a sentence of death on the most innocent man who has ever walked the earth.

The Lord is forced to carry his own cross and falls beneath its weight. A tear slides down Michael’s face, the angels are crying at seeing their Lord so weak, knowing full well how strong he could be if he would only summon the power into himself. They are crying because he seems so alone, yes, they are standing all around, but the humans, the foolish humans whom Christ came to save are treating their Messiah as a thing of utmost contempt.

The nail is posed above Christ’s hand and Michael yells to his legions in a voice which shakes the sun, “All ready now, the word must come, has to come.” The hammer strikes, again and again, on to the other hand and a nail through the feet…still no word comes. The universe looks dark to the angels eyes, everything seems wrong, as if wrong has finally won, as if the Traitor has somehow cheated God and has finally gotten his way.

Michael and his legions surround the hill, keeping the sniveling, snickering demons away from the angels Lord. Michael looks into the the face of the devil and sees the smile on his face, his sneer thinking he has finally won. The sky seems to match the devil’s mood, for it seems the very sun has forsaken the sky and darkness appears to reign over the light. Michael’s face is grim but he says, “It isn’t over yet, we are only waiting for the word and all this will stop, then you will not be smiling anymore.”

Twice now the Lord has spoken and were it not for the lightening reflexes of the angels the universe would be no more, for when they saw his mouth begin to open the angels began to make their move, only to stop themselves and hear with disbelief the words which came from their Lord, words of forgiveness instead of a command.

Final words come from the Lord’s mouth, “It is finished.” The angels see that life has left the Savior’s body. “What is finished?!,” all their throats yell with a voice so filled with grief, confusion and power that it rips the world in half.

Michael hangs his head and says to his army in tones of sadness and shame which makes creation tremble, “Somehow we have failed.”

If only our Savior would have yelled or whispered to the waiting angels, “Now!,” the world would have stopped, the skies would have melted and the ones who were crucifying our Lord would have turned to dust before the angels fury…but that word did not come, Christ did not stop it all and God did not destroy the world because of the monstrosities committed against his Son that day. Instead, Christ died, taking our sins, our guilt for every sin we have ever committed upon his shoulders in hopes that we would look at that act of love and be won by it to an everlasting life spent with the Father and the Son.

Of course I do not really know what Michael or the other angels were really feeling, but even if they did know the plan (which God seems to like to have some mystery about him, so maybe they did not know), they must have felt helpless. Even with all their power, they could not take away the pain Christ was experiencing, they were not allowed to strike down the ones who were mocking the One they loved. The gift of Christ’s life which he gave, the gift which allows us to be born clean and pure into eternity, did not only cost Christ and God. It also cost the angels the pain they felt, and the women's pain who loved Christ with their all, and the men's pain who had put all their hope in Him. Happily, the seeds of their pain lead to more joy than the universe can contain, to a realized dream of God’s that will one day unite angels and man before His throne, to live forever sharing with each other the portion of God which they understand better than any other being because of the experiences they have had. And what an amazing dream that is.

The Lord Supper Thought I Shared Today

Daniel spoke of the Lamb saying:

“I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.”

John spoke and said:

Between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

And the Lamb says through the Psalmist:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron

and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

The Lamb spoke through Isaiah saying:

“Listen to me, O Jacob,

and Israel, whom I called!

I am he; I am the first,

and I am the last.

My hand laid the foundation of the earth,

and my right hand spread out the heavens;

when I call to them,

they stand forth together.

Luke spoke of the Lamb saying:

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And Paul spoke of the Lamb saying:

Though he was in the form of God, (he) did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Verses in order they were used:

Daniel 7:13-14

Revelation 5:6-14

Psalm 2:7-9

Isaiah 48:12-13

Luke 2:7

Philippians 2:6-8

A Communion Thought

I did the devotional thought for Communion on Sunday, I thought I'd share on here what I shared then. I originally wrote it for a Communion thought I did in Ukraine in 2009.

When I am thinking and praying as I take the Lord's Supper each week I do not always just think about Christ's death and resurrection; but also sometimes think of the life he lived and remember the fact that he did live a life in the flesh on this earth.

We serve an Almighty God and, though he knows everything, sometimes, when we are suffering, we may be tempted to think he does not know what we are going through and that he cannot know how we feel because he has never experienced it. But as well as coming to earth for the obvious reason of saving us, I also think Christ lived a life in the flesh for this reason, so that when we cry to him and say God cannot not know how we feel, he can whisper gently back to us that he does, for he has felt it, too.

While on this earth Christ actually dwelt among us, the Son of God lived day by day feeling sometimes hungry and sometimes cold, feeling the hard ground beneath his back as he slept in the wilderness and the warmth of the sun on his face in the morning. And he did not live in a palace while here, being served by humanity, but was born to a somewhat poor family and continued to live in poverty his whole life, even when he could have charged so much money for the thousands he healed.

While Christ was here he was tempted and tried; he was doubted and ridiculed by the very ones he loved; he was made fun of and called names which where lies; he was shunned and rejected by the very nation of people who should have recognized him as their Savior; and then, then the most innocent man to have ever walked the earth was beaten because of jealously and died a lawbreaker's death because he was hated by those who claimed to serve his Father most faithfully.

The most pure Being to ever walk the earth took the sin and filth of those hypocrites upon himself, he took our guilt and failings upon himself. And as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, he who had no sin became sin for us. We serve a God who was not only willing to die to save us but was also willing to live to save us, to dwell among us for a time so that by seeing Christ and his actions, we might see the Father. So that through seeing Christ' blood, sweat, and tears and hearing his words of love, we could see the kind of God we serve and the type of God we are loved by. Finally, he lived here in the flesh so that we may look at his life and see how God wishes for us to live and love and strive to serve him.

The Story of Simon the Zealot or Why I Ran From My Lord

Because almost nothing is known of Simon, there even seems to be disagreement as to what "Zealot" refers to, I feel free to tell his story, because I cannot be contradicted and cannot be told it is not true. Even so, remember this is fiction, I am merely trying to convey how he may have felt, especially if he was a part of the Zealot political group. To an extent, perhaps this is how a few of the Apostles felt and is the reason why they ran away. The time-line of events followed is from the gospel of Luke:

I know my name is not mentioned until the Lord healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, but I was with him before that. Like all of my people for hundreds of years, I hoped the Messiah would come in my lifetime. We had been oppressed for so many years that I felt certain he would soon come, that YHWH would surely raise up the King to reclaim his kingdom and set us free. So I listened to the rumors, to the scandal which arose after Jesus rose in the synagogue and read from Isaiah that he would "set at liberty those who are oppressed." I was with him that first time he healed many. It was then my heart first filled with hope, it was then I decided to follow this man who appeared to be more than a man, for I wanted to see where he would lead us.

Then I saw how people listened to Jesus, how he could not only heal but inspire followers by his words. How he was not scared to challenge authority, how, in claiming he could forgive the paralyzed man his sins and also claiming he was "Lord of the Sabbath," he was claiming to be much more than a man. So he appeared to be more and claimed to be more and I continued to follow him.

Imagine my delight when he called me by name to be one of his 12. I was a little confused by some of his choices, if you are going to be a King reclaiming the kingdom, it seems odd to include traitors like Matthew. I supposed he had his reasons.

I saw a multitude gather and hang on every word, I saw many healed and a smile played on my lips, I saw that even demons obeyed my Lord's voice and was awed. I have heard some tell the stories of those times, how they say the Spirit blinded our eyes, covered our ears, and shielded our hearts so we would not fully understand some of the things which Jesus spoke, but as for me, I know I did my share of purposely misunderstanding and hearing only want I wanted to hear. What kind of Warrior King speaks of loving your enemies, of doing good to them, of blessing them instead of praying for their demise?

I was near Jesus' side when a centurion came to ask him to heal his servant, I heard Jesus say he healed the servant from afar and later heard the confirmation that, indeed, the servant had been healed. A part of me wondered why the Lord would consent to do anything for a centurion, a soldier of the Oppressor, but a larger part of me was elated to learn the one I served could heal even at a distance.

Then, then I saw that Jesus had power even over death! The Lord spoke and, by his touch, gave back the widow's only son. This is when I knew, I knew that with this more than man we had a chance, we had a real fighting chance of casting off our oppressors. Also, I was there when the Lord answered John's disciples, and noticed that he did not encourage them to look for another Messiah, but rather to look at what he was doing.

I remember it had been a long day, filled with Jesus' teaching in parables and explaining their meanings to us. We were all tired, but especially our Lord, for he had been standing before the crowd from that morning. Then he asked us to cast out in a boat and cross to the other side of Galilee. The wind was behind us, so we all dozed for awhile but then the wind became stronger and the waves came crashing over the sides of our boat. We were all wide-awake then, well, at least for Jesus, who was still somehow asleep amongst the storm. We thought we would drown, we thought the boat would capsize at any minute, so we cried for him to wake up and save us. The Lord awoke and rebuked the wind and the waves and they listened to his voice. The very elements obeyed his commands! And we wondered, what man is this that even the wind and rain obey him!

After seeing other amazing things, Jesus gave us some of his power and sent us out. So we were able to heal the sick and broken, we were able to cast out demons by the very power of His name. And I was beginning to feel we were invincible, with this much power on our side, how could we fail.

We then returned to our Lord to be with him more, to learn from him and to walk in his shadow. Soon after this I saw the last piece of the puzzle fall into place, I saw the thing which convinced me that the Lord would indeed be the one who brought our people salvation. There were more than five thousand men gathered, who had been there all day, so they had eaten all they had brought with them. When we suggested to Jesus that he send the people away so that they might get food, he told us to feed them, but among all those people we could find only five loafs and two fish. Despite the lack of food, the Lord had us sit the people down, said a blessing over the little food we had, and told us to pass it around. The food began to multiply, every time we passed the baskets, there was more food to be had, until everyone had had their fill.

I had now seen how our Lord commanded the attention of those around him, how when he wanted them to, they would hang on every word. I had seen him heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast down evil. I had seen him command elements, with the power of his words. And in this last miracle, I had seen him feed thousands with food which did not even fill one basket. I saw all barriers to our victory stripped away and saw the certainty of our enemy's defeat.

What matter that my countrymen were small in number? If we were injured or even slain, the Lord would simply heal us and raise us up. Rome is evil, but I had seen the Lord command an even greater evil to bend to his will. I imagined battles where the rain would fall in our enemies eyes, the wind would be at our backs giving us strength, and the very earth would tremble beneath the feet of our enemy as we charged toward them with a yell of certain triumph on our lips. I envisioned an army with no need of a supply line, for the provisions we could carry would last for the duration of any war. I saw in our Lord the perfect Commander, the perfect General, the Jewish people's secret weapon, I saw before me the promised Warrior King.

Once I had decided on Jesus' destiny, is it any wonder I did not hear his foretelling of his death? My heart and mind had shaped him into what I wanted him to be and I refused to hear anything else, to see anything else. From then on I twisted Jesus' every word to my liking, chose to hear such sayings as, "I came to cast fire on the earth..." and nothing else, nothing about loving my enemy or how all who followed him would suffer, for he was the Warrior King. David risen again, but greater. I chose not to see when Jesus forgave another traitor, another tax collector, to listen to his talk of forgiveness, to further tellings of his eminent death, and I did not heed his tears when he wept for the city of Jerusalem because her walls would someday be tore down by the very enemy I thought we would crush.

Knowing all this, do you see why I ran? Why we all ran? First our Warrior King tells us merely two swords are enough and then when clumsy Peter swings his sword, the Lord tells us to put them away and he heals the enemy! Even though the mob who came to arrest him falls to the ground because of the power of his words, he surrenders to them willingly! Our Warrior King allows himself to be seized and begins to walk meekly out of the garden; so our dreams were crushed, our hopes and prayers were trampled on, our courage left us and we fled.

So after his death we gathered together, wondering what we would do now, regretting all we had given up, and feeling helpless, scared, and lost. Our leader had failed us, our King had given up his power, our Messiah had died. Some of the truest and strongest whispered about him saying he would rise, but what would that really accomplish? Jesus had made it clear by his death that he would not fight, would not be the King we wanted and the Savior we thought we needed.

Then some of the women came running to the room where we were gathered and told us angels had told of the Lord's rising, but we were hopeless and so did not believe them. The evening of that same day, two of our number came banging on the door to the room where we were gathered and also told of his rising, so we began to wonder. Then, as they were telling their story, Jesus himself appeared in our midst, and everything changed. He opened our eyes and our hearts to understand the prophecies concerning him, he removed my self-imposed blindness and deafness, he made us see a New Kingdom of which he was the foundation and that we would help to build. He gave us life and hope and joy.