Community Church Sermons

March 30, 2008

Second Sunday of Easter

“Future Story”

Rev. Rhonda A. Blevins

1 Peter 1:3-9

 

Listen to this Sermon!

 

 

It was August in the Tennessee Valley. I was 13 going on 14.  I had convinced my mother to take me to where all the cool kids wanted to be on a hot summer night . . . an evangelistic crusade.

The brand new football stadium at Heritage High School was packed to hear a young, fiery preacher.  I don’t remember much about the sermon; I don't remember what scripture passage was used.  But I do remember the “invitation.” It was one of those invitations where the preacher says just about anything to get you to come down that aisle short of offering free beer. 

Now, I had already had a believer’s baptism when I was a little younger.  I was active in church.  But that fiery preacher convinced me and countless others that night that we were destined for hell.  He literally scared the hell out of me.  Emotion was high as people streamed down the stadium steps.  I remember the angst I felt, and how compelled I was to join the steaming masses and go get “born again” again.  So I did.  A few days later I was baptized.  Again.  You might say I’ve been “double dipped,” or as I like say, “the first time just didn’t take.”

That was a long time ago, and though I look back now and question the method, I thank God for that night. It was a significant event in my spiritual journey which fixed me ever more firmly in the way of Christ.  Now I have a pulpit of my very own, I choose not to use the coercive methods I experienced that night.  Some may say that scaring the hell out of people has its place, but the God I know is not a God of fear.  In fact, I have read that Jesus talks about heaven 10 times more than he talked about hell.[1]  I figure what’s good enough for Jesus is good enough for me! So let’s talk about heaven.

I’ve been taking an informal poll the past few days asking people, “What do you think heaven will be like?”  I wanted to know what people really think since most of us don’t really believe we’ll spend eternity floating on cloud or sitting through a worship service that never ends.  So here’s some of your fellow church members think about heaven:

·      Several folks think heaven will be a truly joyous reunion with loved ones who have gone on before and with Jesus himself!  Noah and Peter and others will be there, telling us amazing stories.  Our animal friends will be there to welcome us home along with glorious angels.

·      Some folks think that all of our questions will be answered, or as one person beautifully said, “All knowledge will be opened up to us.”

·      Others describe the ambiance of heaven: everyone will be smiling; the flowers will be brighter than ever; the sun will be warm and so enjoyable. Someone else imagines heaven as white, pure and clean with beautiful gardens and wonderful weather all the time. Another imagines ubiquitous tranquility and happiness, where people get along compassionately.

·      Some mentioned how they thought we would spend our time. One person said we will sing and worship the Lord; we will play and love and laugh.  Someone else said that everyone will have meaningful tasks to do.

·      Lots of people mentioned what will NOT be in heaven, like tears, fear, jealousy or sorrow. One person said there would be no bitterness, fighting, or corruptness. 

·      One person said he’d receive invitation to play in the Masters, and he’d get a hole-in-one at the 16th hole! Another said we could eat all the time and never gain a pound!

·      A 10-year-old philosopher thinks that the houses in heaven are made out of pretty wood with golden gates, but the gates have tiny thorns so the devil can’t get in.

Our scripture lesson today talks about heaven, saying that in heaven we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.” The scripture tells us that because Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, we have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven!  It’s a message of hope for our future.

A couple of years ago, I found myself on a team working to establish priorities and goals for the agency I was serving. We hired a consultant[2] who promised to help us create what he called our “future story.”  I have grown to love that turn of phrase, “future story.” We tend to think of our story as being in the past, but each of us has a future story, one waiting to be written. 

When we imagine how magnificent heaven will be, we are creating our future story.  As folks would tell me their ideas about what heaven will be like, I found myself saying, “Sign me up for that!”  Each vision told to me—each future story—was full of beauty and wonder and joy.  Seeing loved ones, nailing the 16th hole in Augusta, eating box after box of Girl Scout cookies . . . sign me up for all of it!

Mitch Albom, author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, once said in an interview, “if you believe that there’s a heaven, your life here on Earth is different. You may believe that you’re gonna see your loved ones again. So the grief that you had after they’re gone isn’t as strong. You may believe that you’ll have to answer for your actions. So the way you behave here on Earth is changed. So in a certain way, just believing in the idea of heaven is heavenly in and of itself.”[3]

I think Mr. Albom is on to something. The future story we create about heaven impacts the life we have now.  Namely, it gives us hope.

But that’s not all.  Our scripture tells us that the resurrection of Christ not only ensures for us an inheritance in heaven (hope for our future), but the resurrection offers us LIVING hope (hope for right now).  Hope for the very living of our lives. Our future story isn’t just in heaven.  The hope of the risen Christ isn’t just for the afterlife.  The hope of Jesus is for NOW. When we think of salvation as something that only happens after we die, we miss the point. The scripture says, “for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”  Not only do we receive salvation after death, but we receive salvation every single day and with every single breath.  Thanks be to God!

What does this mean, salvation in the now? It means two things for us.

First, it means that we are to claim ownership of our own future story.  We are co-authors with God!  We are to set our imaginations free to create the next chapter, and the next, and the next. 

Many of you know that my life has been fairly eventful the past few years.  The fact is that I found myself at a pretty low place a few years ago.  I was getting into my mid-thirties, I was unmarried, and I was quite lonely.  I was at odds with the denomination I was serving.  So for someone whose life was completely enmeshed with work, it was a very tumultuous time.  I saw my dream of having a family slipping away.  But I knew I had a choice to make.  I could give in to the apparent path my life was taking, or I could envision a better day and write a more joyful future story for myself.  By the grace of God, I chose the latter.  I made a break from my job and found freedom in a new one.  Then I joined E-harmony.com and met my soul mate.  Then the most amazing little boy entered our lives.  Today I feel so blessed to be living a beautiful story . . . a story that at one time was only my hopeful “future story.”

Reality is we’re all living out, to some extent, a future story we created for ourselves.  I know a lot of people in our church have worked really hard, saved money, raised families, and are now living out a future story in a wonderful place with amazing people and golf courses and a beautiful lake.  But there are still chapters to be written.  The LIVING hope of the resurrected Christ calls us to set our imaginations free to co-author with God the next chapter of our lives.

The second thing the living hope of Christ means for us is that not only are we to claim ownership of our own future story, but we are to claim ownership of humanity’s future story. Faith calls us into relationship with all of God’s children and all of God’s creation.  Each one of us writes a part of the great human story.  It is our responsibility as children of God to create a more hopeful story for the rest of God’s children, today and in the days to come.

I’ve had the opportunity to travel twice to North Africa to serve alongside dear friends of mine who minister in the midst of one of the great humanitarian crises of our day.  They live in a country where African migrants are arriving in droves; some estimates say that as many as 300,000 Sub-Saharan Africans are making their way any given day.  Along the way, these people (many professional and well-educated) are robbed, sometimes beaten to the point of death, and even killed.  The women suffer unimaginable violence.  Then once they arrive in the country where my friends serve, they receive a more of the same.  They have hope of making it into Europe, but tightened border security has made it nearly impossible, so they’re stuck in a country where they’re not wanted.

Every day my friends hear their tragic stories and respond. When asked why they would give their lives to work in the midst of such dire human experience, they say, “In a place where all they know is rejection, we see ourselves as the outstretched  arms of Christ to welcome them after their horrific journey, offering help and hope and love.  Our presence tells these children of God, these people who have been stripped of their very humanity, ‘God is here. God knows. God cares.’”

They have amazing stories of how some of these people triumph despite unbelievably difficult circumstances.  My friends in North Africa are helping to create a more hopeful future story for hundreds upon thousands of God’s children.

Truth is we don’t have to go to Africa to find people who need our help in creating a more hopeful future story.  All we have to do is open our eyes.  Each of us must contribute to a more hopeful future story for humanity. 

You may remember a movie came out a few years ago called Apollo 13.  It was about a mission in space that went terribly wrong and NASA feverishly working to get the astronauts home safely.  There’s a scene in the movie where the Houston scientists were gathered around a table, and someone came in and dumped a big box of objects onto the table, objects the astronauts in space could access. Their task was to use only the objects they had to create a square peg from a round hole.  Immediately their imaginations go to work; the lives of their fellow astronauts depending upon their successful completion of this task.

In our lives, each of us has a “box” if you will, and in those boxes are unique sets of circumstances from which we must create tomorrow.  We have different experiences, talents, abilities, resources, and limitations. But from that box, our future story awaits.  We must use what we have been given to create a more hopeful future story for humanity; we must be proactive in creating our own future stories.  Christ is risen!  Hope is alive! And so the story goes. Amen.