“JOURNEY TO
HEAVEN”
|
A sermon preached at the Readings: Luke
20:27-38, Revelation 7:9-17 |
Rev 7:9 “After this I looked and there before
me was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb….”
Picture
a quiet dead end street, a row of terraced houses down each side.
All the local children are playing football,
turning the street into an impromptu soccer pitch.
Then as the day wears on and the sun gets lower,
gradually the doors in the street open
first one then another mum leans out and shouts
"Come on home - tea's ready"
And some who are tired and
hungry rush off gratefully
Others who are engrossed in
the game pretend not to hear,
or say "Oh just another 5 minutes".
But in the end, the match is
over,
and all the players have entered their other world -
with mum or dad, tea by the fire, bath and bed.
And today, the Sunday after All Saints’ Day,
we think about the Saints, those who have been called home before us.
We give thanks for those who have gone to
glory.
And at the same time we remember that you and
I -
we too are but passing players on the stage of this life -
and we too are destined to be called home,
to follow the path of the saints from this world to the next.
We are not Sadduccees
–
who believed that there was nothing beyond this life –
we are the followers of Jesus,
who not only proclaimed but lived resurrection.
And as we remember the Saints gathered around
the throne of the Lamb,
we recall that there is more to their life - and more to our lives -
than a brief sojourn in this world.
In Spain there is a monument to Christopher Columbus
in the town where he died.
At the foot of the monument is the old Spanish national motto
"Ne plus ultra" - no more
beyond.
But next to the motto the sculptor has placed a lion
who has taken a bite out of the motto, removing the Ne
or no.
So now the message reads - there is more beyond.
And
of course when Columbus set sail for the new world,
he transformed the world view of mediaeval Europe,
which thought it knew the bounds of the world.
And
in the same way as we read again
John the Divine's great vision of the saints in glory,
we find our view of the world changed and expanded -
No
- the shores of death are not the end - there is more beyond.
We need to see life here from the perspective of our heavenly journey.
At
funerals we sometimes read a famous passage
by Bishop Brent called "What is dying?"
It goes like this:
"I am standing on the sea shore.
A ship sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and I stand watching her
till at last she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says -
She is gone.
Gone where?
Gone from my sight, that is all.
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her…..
The
diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says "She is gone",
there are others who are watching her coming
and other voices take up the glad shout "There
she comes"
- and that is dying."
And
we need to learn to see not only the point of dying
but the whole of our life from the perspective of heaven.
You know that wonderful sensation when exhausted but
triumphant
you reach the summit of a fell walk?
It can be a moment of exhilaration and even of awe
as suddenly the world opens up around you at your feet.
Then you set off down the hill again –
and as you go, you perhaps meet others still toiling upwards.
Some are exhilarated -
"Wonderful day, wonderful views" they say.
And you reply -
“you haven't seen the half of it yet - wait till you get to the top”
A few may be struggling, holding their sides and
gasping for breath
“Don’t worry, you say, - when you get to the top it
will all be worth it!”
And
so we all climb the path of life
¨ Some young and some old
¨ Some fit and some struggling
¨ Some already joyfully
anticipating the end,
others with no thoughts beyond the present.
But
all of us en route
¨ from this world to the world
to come,
¨ from the Church Militant on
earth to the Church triumphant in heaven
¨ from the saints below to the
Saints in glory.
Today
is also Methodist Homes Sunday when we raise money for MHA,
and also pray for its work.
We
thank God for all those in this Church and beyond,
who guide and support those towards the latter part of the earthly section of
our journey –
particularly those who are increasingly frail and liable to stumble on the
pathway.
And
in a few minutes we will be calling our pastoral visitors to rededicate themselves.
Pastor
is the Latin word for Shepherd
And
today we rededicate shepherds who care for God's flock on their journey –
[And
I might add, not only does this apply to those formally recognized as Pastoral
Visitors -
every one of us has a pastoral office to care for each other on heavenward
journey]
In
Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, as Christian is heading towards the City of God,
he and his companion encounter three shepherds
They help the pilgrims by pointing out the dangers on the way -
the false summits of caution and error, the alluring trails to Doubting castle.
Then the shepherds take a viewing glass
and give it to Christian and Hopeful and say -
use this to see the gate of the celestial city.
And this is our pastoral task -
to care for the pilgrims of this world, as you too are cared for -
and guard them from error, and help them see the way to the City of God before
them.
Of
course there comes a point when,
like loving friends at the frontier crossing or the ferry terminal,
we must stop and entrust our charges to others -
and leave them to go on to see what as yet we can but glimpse in a mirror
dimly.
In
the year 1820 the Methodist Conference was held in Liverpool.
It was the year that Asiatic cholera swept through the country,
and it ravaged the Conference. Many
died.
One of the preachers went off to the Dales to preach,
but fell from his horse in a little village, stricken.
When the inhabitants heard that he had cholera,
they would not take him in.
So his friends came and placed him in a broken down barn open to the sky,
and laid him on the ground in the pouring rain
whilst one rode off to tell his wife and children.
In his extremity, someone offered him a drink, which he refused.
“Don't worry about me,” he said.
“I shall soon drink from the streams that make glad the City of God."
Oh
what a journey. What a destination.
And those of you who know your Pilgrim's Progress
will recall how Bunyan follows and records the travels of his pilgrims,
until finally he describes their approach to the heavenly city itself,
to which the shepherds have pointed from afar.
And he watches as they reach the gates of the city,
and he hears the saints sing
the song of Revelation,
“Blessing and honour and
glory and power be unto him that
sitteth
upon the throne and unto the lamb for ever and ever."
And Bunyan sees the gates open and the pilgrims go
in,
and the city shining like the sun.
And then Bunyan bids farewell to the pilgrims of his
dream,
and sitting there in Bedford gaol, writes wistfully,
“After that they shut up the
gates,
and I wished I was among
them"
Well,
it is not for us to determine that day,
Only
to know that with the grace of God it will come
and the city's gates will open for us.
In
the meantime, like John Bunyan and all the Saints before us,
¨ Let us keep our sights on
heaven
¨ Let us take bread and wine,
spiritual food for the journey
¨ Let us hear the songs of the
saints beckoning us forward.
Then in God's power
may we so journey through this life,
that we may begin here
to reflect the glory that is to be.
Then may others look on us
and say:
"There are those
who journey to a better place,
and in so journeying
they show us here on earth
a glimpse of heaven."