Heavenly Days! Sermon for May 14, 2017

By Pastor Donald Neidigk

John 14:1-14

Series A, Easter 5, May 14, 2017

See if you remember this song.  Here’s first verse and refrain:

Where, O where can my baby be?

The Lord took her away from me.

She’s gone to heaven so I got to be good,

So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

Wo-u-oo-u-oo, u-o-u-oo-u-o-u-o . . . etc.

Very touching refrain.  Does it ring a bell?  If you’re an old guy like me it probably does.  If you aren’t, you probably don’t have a clue.

Then there’s this song kids love to sing in vacation Bible school:

Somewhere in outer space
God has prepared a place
For those who trust Him and obey.
Jesus will come again,
And though we don’t know when,
The countdown’s getting lower every day.

10 and 9, 8 and 7, 6 and 5 and 4,
Call upon the Savior while you may,
3 and 2, coming through the clouds in bright array
The countdown’s getting lower every day.

Both of these songs are fun to sing.  But both of them teach some things that don’t sound much like what the Bible teaches.  “She’s gone to heaven so I got to be good, so I can see my baby when I leave this world.”  What’s this teach about the way to heaven?  It teaches that the way to heaven is good works.

“Somewhere in outer space God has prepared a place for those who trust Him and obey.”  What’s the message here?  Heaven is a place in outer space and the way you get there is a combination of trust and good works.

Do those messages square with the Bible?  Not really.  So what does the Bible say about heaven?  If we consider the words of Jesus, it’s quite different from what our culture teaches.

According to the Bible, heaven is a kingdom.  In Matthew’s Gospel it’s usually referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven.  In Luke’s it’s the Kingdom of God.  And it’s not so much a place as a realm; it’s wherever God reigns, not somewhere in outer space but over the entire universe, and in the Church through his word and sacraments, and within us Christians as we are joined to Christ by baptism through faith.

In John’s Gospel the word heaven is used much less.  Jesus says that’s where he came from.  Which must mean heaven is everywhere, since God is everywhere.  In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of “my Father’s house,” perhaps a synonym for heaven, where believers spend eternity with him.

Generally though, at least in John’s Gospel, Jesus zeroes in on “eternal life” as the goal of faith in Him, rather than going to a place somewhere in outer space.  “Whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life,” says Jesus in John 3:16.  And in today’s lesson Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)  So “eternal life” is perhaps a synonym for “heaven.”  What would Jesus have us know about this Kingdom of Heaven, this kingdom of life?

First, Jesus would have us believe it begins here in this world.  In this same Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus, and everyone, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) In other words, you and I are born from God and enter his kingdom as we trust his promises and are baptized with water.

From that moment, we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven and we possess eternal life.  In baptism we are joined to Jesus and all that he did for us.  We are crucified, buried and risen with Jesus that we might live a new life, one that never dies to God again. (Romans 6)

Yes, our bodies die, but beginning with baptism, we are inseparable from Jesus, the source of eternal life.  It can never be taken from us. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)  At this moment and forever, we are safe with our risen and living Lord Jesus who is at the right hand of God and who is coming again.

The point is that we don’t have to die and go to “somewhere in outer space” to possess eternal life and be with God and his Son Jesus Christ.  Life with God is our present and eternal reality as Christians, and it begins right here.  Or to put it more bluntly, we will never be nearer to God than we are at this very moment through baptism, by faith.

This past week I was thinking about Peter Pan whose character was played for many years by Mary Martin.  I’ve always wondered why they couldn’t have gotten a real boy to play the role, rather than have a woman do it.  I wonder if our current national confusion over gender identification began with the play.

Be that as it may, Peter Pan is from Never Land.  It’s a place in outer space where pirates and lost boys live.  Peter shows up one night at the home of the Darlings, where he meets siblings Wendy, John and Michael.  Wendy helps him sew his shadow on.  Then they all join hands and fly away to Never Land.   It’s “the second star to the right and on till morning.”  In Never Land, they never grow old.  They just play and have fun forever.

That’s how many people view heaven.  They leave earth and fly away, far, far away till they get there.  And once there, they forever live as disembodied spirits who have a great time playing in the clouds.  But according to the Bible, we enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of life, right here on good old Terra Firma where we do useful things.

And that brings us to our second point.  Jesus would have us believe that heaven continues in this world.  The world, and often Christians, think of the Church as a club they join.  It’s not much different than the Lion’s Club, or the Rotary, or the Girl Scouts.  You join the club and participate in the activities.  But if you get bored or have an argument with a member or a leader, or maybe you find another club that has better programs, you leave and join that one. Or maybe don’t join any club at all.

That’s not at all what the Church is.  The Church is the visible manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven.  One is either a member of the Kingdom of Heaven and thus a possessor of eternal life or one isn’t.  The Church is not about activities but about union with Christ.  The Church is his mystical body into which every Christian is baptized.  We become a part of it now, and remain part of it forever.

We speak of the Church as visible and invisible.  It is made visible through the exercise of the Keys that Jesus speaks of in his conversation with Peter.  To Peter who has just confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus says, “I give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)

Lutherans understand these keys to be the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments.  Wherever the keys are, there the Church is, forgiving or retaining sins.  Whether there is a building or not, whether there are any other activities or not, that’s where you find the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life.

It is through these Keys, these means of grace, that we become members of the Kingdom of Heaven and it is through them that we remain members of the Kingdom of Heaven.  In this visible manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven, daily we are “called, gathered, enlightened, sanctified, and kept with Jesus Christ in the one true faith,” as Luther puts it in the Small Catechism.

So the Kingdom of Heaven isn’t just future.  We’re part of it right now as members of the Church.  It is through this Church and its keys that Christ “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,  “(1 Peter 1:3-5) and which we enjoy right now.

And finally, Jesus would have us believe that heaven is fulfilled in this world. For some reason, many Christians have the idea that the fullness of redemption takes place somewhere else.  But it’s this world that is fallen.  And Jesus was sent to this world to redeem it.  So if on the last day he comes back and takes us somewhere else, does that mean he just leaves this place as a mess for somebody else to clean up?

No!  Jesus redeems this fallen world. When Jesus returns and all the dead in Christ are raised, we don’t go somewhere else, we stay right here, with Jesus, forever.  The return of Christ means Eden is restored.  Paradise Lost becomes Paradise Found.  Heaven in all its fullness happens here!

The Bible has some beautiful poetic pictures of what this restored world will be like. Isaiah says,

⁷ On this mountain [Mount Zion] the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
⁷ On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
⁸     he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6-9)

Death is swallowed up!  Tears are wiped away!  The banquet begins!   Every disgrace is removed.  And it all happens on this mountain, not on an ethereal cloud, but on this earth, old Terra Firma.

In Ezekiel’s vision, the dry bones of a great army come together, their flesh is restored, the Spirit of God breathes life into them, and they stand up!  What does this mean?  The Lord explains:

“My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:12-14)

This isn’t an army raised for duty in outer space.  Rather it’s the army of God’s scattered and dead people, raised to life and restored and settled in their land.  And since according to St. Paul, the true people of God is the Church, all the redeemed of Christ are raised to life to dwell in a renewed and perfect world. That’s what we look forward to, not floating in space, playing harps and singing hymns.

Sometimes at funerals family members tell sentimental stories about their loved ones in heaven.  I remember one person talking about her deceased father who was a carpenter.  She said, “I know he’s up there in that mansion finding things to fix and build.”

Part of that I agree with.  Her father is safe in God’s house of many rooms, that is, he’s safe with Christ.  But if there’s any fixing and building to do, that’s what happens at the resurrection when Jesus returns.  Because at the resurrection, her Dad will be raised to life, body and soul, and he’ll set about doing useful things that give him joy in the presence of Jesus, right here on this restored world that Jesus came to save.

We pray: Thank you, Jesus, that at the cross and the empty tomb you prepared an eternal home for us.  It’s ready for us now and indeed we even live in it as members of your Church.  Keep us safe, we pray, through your word and sacraments, that we would ever live with you, even though we die. And grant us an abiding hope in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, amen.

Sermon May 7th

It’s Never Too Late to Dance:

Ten Commandments for a Happy Life

Does God Dance?

By Pastor Donald Neidigk

May 7, 2017

“Oh, excuse me,” I said for the second time.  Twice I had almost bumped into a smallish lady with short dark hair and glasses.  She and I were both trying to navigate the breakfast buffet line at the hotel. She just gave me a friendly smile and said, “No problem,” as she moved deftly out of the way.

The dining room was full of police officers and their spouses.  They’d come to Ruidoso, New Mexico for their annual spring convention.  My wife Kathy and I were there recovering from the rigors of Lent, the loss of a pastor friend a week earlier, lingering grief over the loss of a daughter-in-law, and the fatigue of fulltime grand-parenting.

Then, moments later, I did it again.  I backed into this same lady, practically knocking her down and the breakfast plate out of her hand.

“You know, the dance was last night,” I joked as we bobbed and weaved out of each other’s way, one more time.

“It’s never too late to dance,” she quipped, still smiling.

And that was the end of the encounter.  But it made a lasting impression.  All that day, and frequently since, I’ve thought about her comment.  What an amazing approach to life!  It’s never too late to dance, even in the breakfast buffet line when you’re in danger of falling down and dumping your food everywhere.

That evening, I made my usual phone call to my elderly mother and told her about the incident.  She’s home bound and seldom gets out except for the occasional trip to the doctor, the pharmacy or the grocery store.

“Well, not everyone can dance,” my mother told me.  “How can you dance when you use a walker?”
“Mother,” I answered, “I’m speaking metaphorically.  When I say it’s never too late to dance I’m saying it’s an approach to life. No matter where you are in life’s journey, there’s always something you can find joy in. There’s always something to dance about.”

“Well, if you put it that way, I guess so,” she answered. “But I usually think of all the bad things.”

“Exactly!” I answered. “And when you approach things that way, you’re not dancing.  You can even dance when you have to use a walker if you intentionally change the way you approach life every day.” My mind began spinning with Bible stories and personal experiences that seemed to support my discovery.

I thought of Audrey, the 90-something-year-old woman whose circumstances were something like my mother’s, only worse.  Audrey wouldn’t miss out on a literal dance or any other social activity unless she was in the hospital, which she often was.  In fact, if there was a party or an exercise class at the senior center, or the installation service for a new pastor, or a Sunday school social, she’d be there, even with her walker, and lately in her wheelchair.  I’ve often joked with her about how she’s the oldest teenager I know.  In her 80’s she was playing softball with our church youth group on a mission trip to El Paso. She’s one lady knows how to dance with life!

Being Lutheran, I couldn’t help but remember the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther and his explanation of the Ten Commandments.   For each negative commandment, Luther first explains what it prohibits, and then he rephrases it in totally positive language.

So for example when the commandment says, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor,” Luther says it means, “We should explain everything in the kindest possible way.” Or, as older versions of the catechism say, “Put the best construction on everything.”

Our natural impulse when we hear some juicy gossip about someone’s apparently bad behavior is to jump to the worst possible explanation.  Especially if we don’t like the person. This might give us a moment of Schadenfreude, hurtful joy, as the Germans would say.  But it doesn’t really make our day any happier.  On the other hand when we deliberately choose to explain the words or actions of another person in positive way our day can be much brighter. We can hear bad news and still dance.

With Luther’s model in mind, I began compiling a list of what I call “The Ten Commandments for a Happy Life.”  My goal isn’t theological, although it grows out of my theology, my understanding of God.  Rather, my goal is intensely practical.  I’ve met some folks whose theology is impeccable but who are often unhappy and miserable in their daily life and work. I confess I’ve sometimes been one of them.  But I’ve concluded no one has to be a down in the mouth, negative person.  We can be joyful, we can be happy, we can dance anywhere at any time in any situation if we choose to.

Even if that hasn’t always been true of me, it can be.  It doesn’t matter how old I am or how far along I am in my career, I can still start dancing my way through life.  Anytime I want to, I can start thinking and behaving in ways that make my heart, and sometimes literally my body, dance. As that wonderful lady said, “It’s never too late to dance.”

You’re hearing this from an old died-in-the-wool Lutheran.  In seminary we used to joke about a mythical “St. Vinegar’s Lutheran Church.” I’ve visited a few St. Vinegar’s over the years. You may not realize it, but beginning in the 1600’s many Protestants, including Lutherans, thought having fun, enjoying life, playing sports, going to the theater and dancing were sinful temptations of the devil.  In the early 1900’s adults weren’t allowed to play cards and young people weren’t allowed to dance.

There was a rhyme kids used to say when I was little that reflected this outlook on the Christian life. “Quaker meeting has begun.  No more laughing, no more fun.  If you show your teeth or tongue, you shall pay a forfeit.”  Then we’d see how long we could keep from giggling.  The first person who giggled lost.

Some church music incorporates this dour outlook on the Christian life both in the tunes as well as the lyrics.  I love the good sturdy Law-Gospel content of our Lutheran chorales, but honestly, some of them sound like funeral dirges. Like, “In peace and joy I now depart, since God so wills it.” We sang that song once in church and my middle son began to cry.

Is that the approach God wants us to have toward a life of faith? I don’t think so, because it doesn’t reflect the nature of God.  The nature of God is love and forgiveness.  God rejoices in his creation.  God celebrates within himself and with all the angels and saints in heaven when a lost soul comes home.  So does that mean God dances?  I would say absolutely!  Maybe not literally.  But metaphorically?  Absolutely!  And I’m not so sure it’s not literally true as well. Here’s why I think that way.

Let’s go all the way back to creation. The Psalms are full of joyful hymns of creation praising God.  “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. . . . In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. (Ps 19:1,4b-5)  You can just see in your mind’s eye the heaven’s dancing and singing as they praise God. And the sun popping up in the morning like a bridegroom leaping for joy.

Another Psalm echoes this joy, “Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord.” (Ps 98:8-9b)  Dancing, clapping, singing – it’s God’s intent for his creation.  It’s uncontainable!  All of creation was designed to leap and dance and sing and praise God.

The creation does this metaphorically.  I never actually saw a river clap its hands, or a hill sing, or the sun leap like a happy bridegroom.  Human beings do it literally as an expression of joy.  Where’d that uncontainable desire to dance and sing and rejoice come from?

Again, we go back to creation. One of the reasons we value, respect and honor every human being is because we’re told in Genesis that we were made in the image of God.  Every person bears the likeness of the Creator.  Thus, when I honor and respect others, highborn or low, sick or well, strong or weak, old or young, whatever their race or culture, I honor and respect God.  Because of this divine image that every human being on the planet shares, all of us are worthy and sacred beings.

More than that, to be made in the likeness of God means that the attributes of our nature are like his.  Thus in seminary, we learned that our abilities to reason, to create, to communicate, to love, to act justly, to practice mercy all come from the One in whose image we are made.  All our highest aspirations come from the nature of God stamped on our being.

But there’s more to us that reflects God’s image that we don’t hear much about in seminary or anywhere else for that matter.  What about our universal feelings of sadness and joy?  What about weeping and laughter?  What about longing and jealousy? What about singing and dancing?  Where did all that come from?  I submit that these are all a reflection of the image of God in us as well.

That’s why we see creation singing and clapping in the Psalms.  That’s why we see Miriam, the sister of Moses dancing and playing her tambourine after Israel escapes slavery in Egypt. That’s why we see the prophets describing the restoration of the nation with rejoicing and dancing and feasting. It’s in our nature.  It’s from God’s nature.

And what portrays that nature of God better than the beloved story of the Prodigal Son?  In the story a young man asks his father for his inheritance early.  So the father divides up the property between his younger son and the older one.  The younger son goes away to a far country.  There he lives wildly, wastes his money on prostitutes, and ends up so hungry he’s forced to eat with the pigs.  What a humiliation for Jewish boy from a good family!

In despair, he decides to return home to his father.  He plans to ask that his father treat him not as a son but as a hired hand.  He has his speech memorized.  But barely does he set foot on the property than his father sees him, he runs to him, he throws his arms around him, and commands that the finest robe and ring and sandals be brought for him.  He orders the fattened calf to be slaughtered and a feast to be held, because “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:24)

The older son comes home. He hears the music and sees the dancing.  He’s not happy about it.  He complains to his father.  He says, I’ve served you faithfully.  I obeyed your every command.  And you never even barbecued a goat for me.  But you give a party for this son of yours who has wasted everything you gave him.

What does the father say to this highly offended older brother?  He says, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32)  Did you hear that?  “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad.”

Reflect for a moment on who each of the characters in the parable represents.  The younger son; who’s he?  He’s everyone who has ever wandered away from God but has returned home.  The older brother; what about him?  He’s all the self-righteous people in the world who refuse to forgive a repentant sinner.  With his attitude you’ll never get this older brother on the dance floor of life.  And who’s the Father?  He’s God whose image is perfectly reflected in Jesus Christ, who welcomes and forgives sinners and celebrates with dancing whenever one comes home of them comes home.

So does God dance? You bet he does!  He dances over his creation.  He dances over his people.  He dances over every wayward child who comes home. He dances over you and me.  And if God dances, so can we. Let the party begin!