Stop drawing lines, start living now!

My sermon from lasy night can be summed up in a single sentence:

Stop drawing lines and start living now because your life has real significance!

1. Stop drawing lines.
We just love to draw lines and seperate things into neat "black-and-white" categories that simplify complex reality into boxes that make us think we understand. E.g. We try and draw a line between physical and spiritual - even though we would struggle to explain where to draw that line with regard to our own body. Where does physical stop and spiritual (the not touchable) start? We draw firm distinctions between black and white (rather than talking about what makes us all human) and work and play (even though we know that if we're not healthy at home, that affects our working life) and professional and private (and fail to wrestle with the more important question of integrity). Finally, when it comes to faith, we try to draw a nice neat line between Heaven and Earth rather than asking the profoundly challenging question: what is real?

Paul tells us that we are Citizen's of Heaven - and yet we clearly live on earth. How shall we make sense of this?

Some people make sense of the Heaven/Earth divide by arguing that "This world is all there is!" - a materialistic view that disregards anything that cannot be measured as not real. Then, on the other extreme, there are those who regard this life as insignificant in the face of the next life with God in Heaven: "This life is just a waiting room."

Those of us who belive in God (and therefore deny the first position) may be tempted to think that we therefore have to subscribe to the second view. But what does the Bible say?

Genesis 3:8 God comes walking in the garden. Why? presumably to spend time with his people...
Exodus - Moses builds a Tent of the Presence (Tabernacle) so that God's presence will be with his people.
Psalm 84:1-2 - The House of God is understood as the place where God's people worship.
Ezekiel 37:26-28 - "My dwelling place will be with them"

What about Jesus?

Colossians 1:19 - The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus
Matthew 4:17 - Jesus announces that the "Kingdom of Heaven is near"...
Matthew 10:7 - and instructs his disicples to announce the same news
Matthew 6 - In the prayer that Jesus teaches his disciples, they are to pray that the Kingdom "come on earth as it is in Heaven"
Revelation 21:1-4 - John's vision of God's intention is a "new heaven and a new earth" and of the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven and a voice says: "the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them."

So much for the line-drawing mentality that we have become so accustomed to. The story of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, is of Heaven coming to earth, God coming to the people - a huge affirmation of the value and significance of this life that we have been given to live!

So, Start living Now!

The argument that goes: "I still have time to make right with God and secure my place in heaven" misses the point totally. Jesus says (John 10:10) that "the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life, and life in all it's fullness" The message of Jesus is not to get us into Heaven, but to get Heaven into us! Life is available to us, and yet we settle for so little. The fullness of life that God intends for us is not only when we die, but now - we are spiritual beings, created to live in meaningful and good relationship with God and others right now.

Eternal Life begins the moment you begin to live, not when you die. If you have not learned how to live in this life, how will eternal life be of any good to you?

Your life (here and now) has real significance

If you are simply waiting out your time in this life, for the greater reward that awaits in the next life, you are missing the real significance that your life holds. When we reach our to another human being in compassion, or when we love our spouse or have a meaningful conversation with our child... is that real? Of course, we believe it is. That means that real significant life, can be lived right now. When we stop drawing lines between physical and spiritual, heaven and earth, fiath and life, then we will begin to see the eternal and lasting significance of our life today. Not just a spiritaul exam to be passed to get us into heaven, but a real and significant opportunity to enjoy and "take hold of the LIFE that really is life" (1 Tim 6:19)

I look forward to your comments on these ideas. I have been deeply challenged by them and enjoyed sharing them with you! My sense is that we are jsut scraping the surface of the significance of this biblical message for how we live our lives, and the choices that we make!