Knock, Knock. Sermon 4/24/16

Though written in an outline format, this sermon is mostly a complete text.  I just use the format to help me keep my place.

1. I’d like to talk about heaven today.
2. 1. First of all, I’d like to assure you that I have no insider information.
   2. I’ve had no special visions or revelations
   3. What I know about heaven is just what I know from what I have learned reading and studying the Bible
   4. This morning I’d like to ask you to take some time to think critically with me to see if we can piece together a picture of what heaven looks like.
3. First: Imagine you are in love and that your love is such that all your thoughts and all your energies are consumed with the needs and wants of your beloved; no thought of yourself.  Everything is directed towards your partner.  Now your partner’s love for you is such that they never think of themselves either, but they expend all of their thoughts and energies on seeking the fulfillment of your needs and your wants.
   1. Here is my question: Who in this relationship has their needs filled?
   2. Both of you, right?
   3. And in fact, is it possible that your needs and wants may be filled BETTER than they would be if each of you were seeking your own needs and wants?
   4. And is it possible that, in devoting your life to one who means so much to you that you might find a depth, and a joy in that totally giving relationship than you would ever hope to find in a give and take relationship?
4. I’d like to read a little passage from Acts 4. Actually, I’d really appreciate it if you would read it along with me.  It’s Acts 4:32-35.
   1. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them allthat there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the salesand put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
   2. In this picture of the first century church we see the early Christians living pretty selfless lives, wouldn’t you say?
   3. Now, I’d like for you to imagine a place where EVERYONE lives the same way. No one has any concern for themselves or their needs or wants, but everyone directs their energy entirely to the needs and wants of others, and in turn, untold millions of others are living exactly the same way; finding joy in serving others; including you.
   4. As we begin to piece this picture together I believe we can get a rather primitive vision of what living in heaven will be like.
5. Now I need to ask another question: Now that we have this rudimentary vision of heaven, let me ask you: what would ruin it?
   1. What would ruin heaven?
   2. In our Old Testament lesson today we read that he who was cast down from heaven (Any idea who that may be?) He who was cast down from heaven said “I will be like the Most High”
   3. You see, God has a plan, and there are a few very central parts to that plan. One of the essential components is free will.  God will not coerce anyone.  We choose to follow Him, or not, of our own free will.  Of course He calls us, He guides us, and He knows all who will eventually turn to Him and who won’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that the choice itself is still entirely ours.
   4. Another essential part of the plan is completely selfless love. Heaven won’t work without it.    Every person in heaven needs to follow God’s commands implicitly, completely, and without reservation.  In order to do this, we must TRUST God implicitly, completely, and without reservation.  If we have even the slightest doubt in our minds or in our hearts about whether or not God always has our best interests in His heart, it would be impossible for us to follow Him completely.
   5. Sin entered into the universe when Satan chose to live according to his own plan, and not according to God’s plan. Rather than focusing his attention on others, Satan chose to be selfish.  He chose to focus his attention on himself.  It is this selfishness that is at the very heart of all sin.
6. Now, let’s talk about sin for a minute.
   1. I’ve spoken multiple times about sin. If you’ve heard me preach before you’ve doubtless heard me talk about hamartia, which is a Greek word that we translate into the English word sin, and that we could appropriately translate imperfection, but I’d like to expand on the thought just a little bit more.
   2. Everyone who knows me knows I have a year and a half old granddaughter and a three, soon to be four year old grandson. Everyone who knows me also knows how much these little ones mean to me.  I’m sure every grandparent here understands that, and probably most parents also.  My grandson is a wonderful, sweet, loving, intelligent, inquisitive boy.  He’s the kind of kid that will walk up to me and, for no reason at all, give me a giant hug and say “Pop Pop, I love you to the moon and back”.  He really is one of the greatest joys of my life, and I absolutely adore him, but I have to admit that I have seen this wonderful sweet boy fly into a complete tantrum because someone gave him the green cup instead of the blue one.
   3. My grandson is a picky eater and his parents have taken to trying to give him some control over things by offering him a choice of what he wants to eat. So, say tonight he is offered either macaroni and cheese or peanut butter and jelly (Two of his staples).  He chooses the peanut butter and jelly, but by the time you make the sandwich, cut it into quarters… triangular, never square, trim the crust from the bread, and give it to him, he has decided he wants the macaroni and cheese; and heaven help us if we try to make him eat the peanut butter and jelly.
   4. Now, thinking about this for a minute… none of this is done maliciously. My grandson doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body.  This is just my grandson being a three year old.
   5. Selfishness is something that is with us from birth. Along the way we may learn to think of others, we may find the joy of giving, we may discover the joy of being in love and turning our attention outward, but the selfishness never completely goes away, at least not in this lifetime.
   6. Usually when we think of sin we define it as someone making a choice do something that’s evil or hurtful, but sin isn’t always something that is done maliciously. Sometimes sin is just about not trusting God.  It’s about us looking out for our own needs because we don’t think anyone else will do it for us.
   7. God created paradise to be perfect, then He put Adam and Eve in paradise knowing that it would be ruined, but choice to retain it or ruin it was entirely our own.
   8. God will create heaven to be perfect too, but heaven will not be made to be ruined. Only those may enter who have learned to trust God implicitly, to place their faith in Him entirely, and to follow Him unquestioningly; which brings us to the question about who may and who may NOT enter.
7. One of the questions most commonly asked by seekers, agnostics, and atheists is “If God is a loving God, how can He condemn people to hell?”
   1. The answer to this question can be found and understood through our discussion today.
   2. Some people never lose their selfishness. Some people never find the joy in loving, or giving.  They find joy only in taking and consuming.
   3. For the person who finds no joy in giving or loving, heaven would be torture; torture. They wouldn’t enjoy living there; they wouldn’t understand why they would be expected to give anything too anyone.  “This is MINE, I worked for it and I earned it”. The entire makeup of heaven would make absolutely no sense to them, and ultimately, their selfishness would ruin heaven, just like selfishness ruined paradise.
   4. My friends, God doesn’t send ANYONE to hell; it is a choice that is made by the individual. My friend, Rev. David Cotton once very wisely said “Ultimately, God gives each of us exactly what we want.”
8. Understanding all of this helps us to understand what Jesus meant when He said “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”
   1. Our opening praise song this morning really does a great job of explaining Jesus mission:
      1. He came from heaven to earth to show the way. To teach us by example exactly who God is in order that we may learn to trust Him implicitly.
      2. From the Earth to the cross, our debt to pay. God understands completely the nature and the pervasiveness of our sin.  He doesn’t expect from us what He knows we are unable to give, so He paid the debt for our sin in order to give us an opportunity to enter His presence.

• From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord I lift Your Name on high. In discovering the fact that God is indeed worthy of our trust, we can give ourselves completely to Him in order that we may become citizens of heaven.

8. I’d like to close by talking about one more passage from the Bible, probably one of the three most well known passages, 1 Corinthians 13.
   1. Now I think that most people who read this passage interpret it as a description of the love with which we are called to love others, and while there is some truth to that, I honestly don’t think it’s possible for anyone on this earth to love anyone in this way, not as long as selfishness is an integral part of who we are.
   2. Rather I believe that, in an effort to teach us that God is worthy to be trusted implicitly, this is a description of the love that GOD has for us.
      1. Love is patient, love is kind
      2. Love is never jealous, or boastful.

• Love is never proud or rude

1. Love is never selfish, and not easily angered
2. Love keeps no record of wrongs
3. Love cries over evil, but always takes delight in what is true

• Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
• Love never ends.

1. Only by understanding the completely selfless nature of God’s love can we come to the point where we are able to trust God.
2. Only by understanding the fact that nothing is more important to God than our happiness are we able to put our lives in His hands and choose to live exactly as He calls us to live.

9. This past week I was in a bakery with my grandson and granddaughter. There was a package of small, flower shaped sugar cookies, covered with sugar of all different colors and they just looked just wonderful and inviting and delicious, and of course, my grandson made a beeline to them.  Then he picked up the package, but instead of asking me if I would buy them for him (Because he knows I would!), he said to me “My sister would really like these, may I have them to give to her?”
   1. God is in the process of teaching us to discover the joy of giving, because He knows that learning to find joy in giving is an essential part of our future.
   2. God is in the process of teaching us to discover the joy of loving others selflessly because He know that learning to love selflessly is an essential part of our future.
   3. And as we are learning these things, we all need to make sure that we allow some of God’s love to shine through our lives, so that God’s love becomes apparent to others, in order that THEY may learn to trust in God too.