On earth as it is in heaven…

Of all the things that sound too good to be true, surely this ranks among the top. It seems so far fetched that most Christians have all but given up on the idea. In practice we have traded in this line of the prayer Jesus taught us for another prayer, a simple and almost magical formula for Jesus to forgive our sins so that after we die we might get into some distant heavenly city somewhere over the rainbow or beyond the Crystal Sea.

Such thinking might seem innocent enough, but historically the influence of such teaching has led to an utter disregard for the physical realities of an earth and of bodies which we assume are passing away. Violence and destruction against creation and humanity is much easier when we assume that one day we will “fly away” into glory and nothing on earth will matter anyway.

The theme of God’s Kingdom coming on earth is not only central to the prayer Jesus taught us, but also to the whole of Jesus’ teachings and the New Testament. One could argue that Jesus must have missed something, as we continue to wait over 2,000 years later for a Kingdom that feels more distant now than ever. We are not alone in our impatience and anxiety. The apostles certainly believed Christ would return to earth in their lifetimes, as have countless faithful Saints in every generation since, and still it seems that God waits. As Peter reminds us, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, but remains patient toward us, giving everyone time to change their hearts and lives (2 Peter 3:9).

So what do we as anxious and impatient people do in the waiting?…

…Jesus invites us to pray not to some distant God, but to God, Our Father. Sometimes though, God Our Father feels a lot more like the father in Erma’s story. We know God loves us, but when it comes to our everyday lives, we’re not always sure what Our Father actually does.

To make matters worse, not everyone’s experience with their earthly fathers are positive. Some are outright painful or even abusive. For better or worse, our image of father will always fall short of who God is. Nevertheless, Jesus invites us into a shared relationship with “Our Father.” Instead of creating God in the image of earthly fathers, he essentially says, “My father is your father too. My father in heaven, who loves me, sent me to tell you that he loves you too. You are my brothers and sisters and my beloved father is Our Father.”

Perhaps Pope Francis puts it best when he says, “When we address God as ‘Our Father’, we are invited to remember that, regardless of whether our human fathers loved us deeply or abandoned us entirely, or whether our fathers died or were simply absentee, we are not orphans.” Jesus’ Father is your father... my father… OUR FATHER…

… some of the Jews in Galatia and elsewhere, called Judaizers, believed that in order for Gentiles to become “Christ followers”, they must first be circumcised and become Jews. Paul does not share their view. Following Christ is clearly not about some kind of religious conversion.

Despite our long and violent history of separation from our Jewish brothers and sisters, as Pope Francis says, “Inside every Christian is a Jew.” …

… By understanding Jesus’ Jewish roots and teachings, especially around the themes of neighbor love and the Kingdom of Heaven as we have done these past several weeks, we are actually seeking a better understanding of our own faith.

In the end, many of the distinctions between Christians, Jews and Muslims (the three Abrahamic monotheistic religions), may not even be as extreme or antagonistic as some of the battles within each religion themselves. We all have a lot more in common than we care to admit.

So why does it matter?…

Have you ever noticed that whenever Jesus starts talking about money, we are very good and spiritualizing the conversation? Today’s parable is a perfect example.

There was a land owner who paid the same wage to those who came to work late in the day as he did to those who came first. Those who came early feel that they were cheated or paid unfairly, despite the fact that they received the fair daily wage they agreed to when they came to work. Their problem, of course, is not that they were cheated, but that those who came later were given the same amount.

Like the laborers who worked all day, we too often feel such a payment arrangement is unfair because the workers who came later earned less. That’s the nature of capitalism. The more you work, the more you get paid… that is, of course, until you work yourself to the point where most of your income comes from investments and other passive sources which require less work. Then we simply say, “you’ve made it.” And the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

But we don’t want to talk about that. So instead we make this a story about heaven. God’s grace, we say, is the same for the person who prays for forgiveness on their death bed as it is for the one who has served God faithfully all their lives. It’s never too late to make a choice to “accept Jesus as your savior” and “get into heaven.” While this may be a true description of God’s grace, we do Jesus’ teachings a great injustice when we strip them of all practical worldly application…

Last weekend my daughter and I watched the animated movies “Sing” and “Sing 2.” It’s a story of big dreams and going after them with everything you’ve got…

…One key scene included in the trailer shows a theater full of fans singing Bono’s famous track, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” In the movie, the writer of that song is stunned that people even remember it, let alone still sing it after so many years. The scene reminds us not only of the power of music, but of the longing for something more that resonates with almost every human heart. Like the characters in the movie, we are all still looking for something that we haven’t quite found yet.

… The characters of “Sing” remind me of the merchant in Jesus’ parable, forever in search of the great pearl… of that one undefinable thing that always seems just out of reach. Perhaps Bono’s hit song could be that merchant’s anthem for life, always searching but never quite finding…

… until he / she does.

And that’s when everything changes. The Kingdom of Heaven is not the pearl itself as if it could be bought or sold. Rather, it is the whole of the search for that which always seems just beyond reach… until it isn’t…

We often understand the Father of the “prodigal son” as an image for the God who stands ready to welcome us home with loving arms of grace and forgiveness. While this is certainly true, we must remember that parables are intended to carry multiple meanings and it may well be that this direct connection to God was not part of what Jesus’ original audience may have heard. Many textual scholars note that the verses connecting Jesus’ three parables to “one who repents,” are likely later insertions by Luke to make just such a point about God’s mercy.

In truth, neither the sheep nor the coin are “repentant,” nor could they be. They did nothing wrong. In fact, it was the owner who lost them. If we’re honest, the “prodigal” doesn’t exactly “repent” either. He comes home primarily out of desperation for a hot meal.

How might these observations expand our thinking on these three parables?…

…We want to see ourselves as the humble tax collector crying out to God for mercy instead of what appears to be a self-righteous Pharisee. Only this time the parable traps us. The moment we say to ourselves, “Thank God I’m not like that Pharisee,” we have become the very person we didn’t want to be, comparing our own righteousness to someone else who makes us feel better about ourselves.

Perhaps instead of jumping to a conclusion about who we want to be like, and thereby getting caught in the humility trap by becoming proud of our humility, we might take some time to look in a mirror and honestly reflect on where we stand with God…

In our increasingly divided and polarized world, it seems that those fighting to gain or remain in power have found endless ways to turn neighbors into enemies. Our political and religious alliances have turned not only neighbors, but co-workers, fellow church members, friends, and even family members against one another.

Yet in all of our effort to keep in step with what we think is right and hold at arms length those who we think are wrong, I wonder if we have forgotten a core truth of Jesus’ teaching: our enemy is our neighbor but our neighbor but our neighbor is not our enemy…

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Such a simple question and yet the answer very much seems to depend on who you ask. For some, all that matters is that you believe in Jesus and pray the “sinners prayer” to confess your sins. For others, it’s about how you work toward justice and mercy in the world. Still for others it appears to require agreement with a particular set partisan political positions. If you don’t vote X, for example, you must not be a Christian.

We are very quick as Christians to determine who is “in” and who is “out.” We are quick to say we love God and just as quick to assume the person who disagrees with us must not love God.

There’s only one problem. Jesus doesn’t allow us to simply “say” we love God. By connecting Leviticus 19:18 to the greatest commandment of loving God, he has declared that the only way we can actually love God is by also loving our neighbor… even the neighbors we most despise…