We have all heard it said that Heaven will be a place full of extraordinary surprises because we will all see people there who we did not expect to see. And many who are there will be quite surprised to see us in Heaven, too!
So the story goes. To most of us, Heaven will be full of the unexpected because we do not really believe what Jesus says (Matthew 8:11). And for far too many of us, Heaven will be shockingly diverse (Revelation 7:9) because many of us still think we have private claims on God. We simply do not fully understand, not yet.
Nevertheless, when we all get there, everyone will get along famously, even joyously, and that will be a big surprise, too.
But it’s not like Free Will is going to be zapped from our brains or like we will have forgotten our former lives of strife with each other, with the individuals who angered us, with the groups we despised, or with the nations we fought. No.
Fact is, those of us who get there will have finally Freely Chosen to put on our big boy and big girl spiritual pants.
In The Message version of holy scripture (Galatians 3:27), spiritual maturity is described as looking as if we have dressed up in clothes we chose from our “adult faith wardrobe” rather than from among our old worn out childish attire.
Dressed in our grown-up outfits in Heaven, we will be finally full of peace within ourselves and finally full of understanding and compassion for everyone around us, people from every tribe and nation.
We will have a heavenly alliance with everyone— even those we would have felt uncomfortable or even indignant being around, even those with whom we would have never thought it appropriate to join together in worship.
We will be clothed in a level of spiritual maturity in Christ—exhibited by our love for all others—which we finally will have actually yearned for and which we finally will have obtained through the loving and patient guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yes, She will show us all how.
Dressed up magnificently in robes befitting Heaven. Yet, no one outshining another. All worshipping together. In the same place. In the vastness of God’s love. In every language. Hallelujah!
But why wait? On this eve of 2023, aren’t we yet capable of putting on our heavenly attire? Come on! Let’s worship together now! Why not? Why wait until the surprise of Heaven? If we truly pray for peace on earth, why not let our behavior reflect that prayer? Matthew. 6:9-10: “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
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Jesus was born to an unwed mother.
Though Mary’s commitment to Joseph–and his to her–was as binding as a legal marriage, he was not her baby’s father.
Like many of us, Jesus emerged from the womb into a tense situation of human uncertainty and hostility.
Despite Mary’s surprise at learning she would give birth to Jesus, God was not surprised. Despite Joseph’s initial disappointed shock, to say the least (He nearly dumped Mary!), God enthusiastically anticipated the birth of Jesus, who became our Messiah.
It was the result of God’s plan.
With that same enthusiastic certainty, God welcomes every one of us, God’s unique children, with plans for us. None of us, and none of our children or our children’s children, are born outside God’s planning.
New life, new purpose, new hope for the world comes with the birth of every one of us.
God’s great love for us is the reason for the season. It means hope for the world, according to plan.
Amen
For further information, see the following article, in which the photograph above can be found: https://readthespirit.com/religious-holidays-festivals/yale-historian-david-blight-helps-us-to-remember-african-americans-invented-memorial-day/
For further information, see the following article, in which the photograph above can be found: https://readthespirit.com/religious-holidays-festivals/yale-historian-david-blight-helps-us-to-remember-african-americans-invented-memorial-day/
My prayer is that the Body of Christ finds renewal in its ability to worship and work together, as in its earliest beginning: different voices, different perspectives, different gifts, but the same Jesus of Nazareth.
My prayer is for a miracle of unity in the God-made wonderfully diverse body of Christ, not sameness but diversity, not uniformity of ways to love and live and be in our families but the matchless power of love for neighbor (“other”) as self.
My prayer is that we do not give up on that, no matter what. We can do it, by God’s grace. Yes, we can. Let’s remember God’s original promise. That’s the promise to keep! No division! No confusion! What’s not to understand? No, it isn’t easy. It never was. It’s sacrificial.
“And so I am giving a new commandment to you now—love each other just as much as I love you. Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
I desire neither earthly kingdom, nor even freedom
from birth and death.
I desire only the deliverance from grief of all those
afflicted by misery.
Oh Lord, lead us from the unreal to the real; from
darkness to light; from death to immortality.
May there be peace in celestial regions.
May there be peace on earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome and may trees and plants
bring peace to all.
May all beneficent beings bring peace to us.
May your wisdom spread peace all through the world.
May all things be a source of peace to all and to me.
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (Peace, Peace, Peace).
–M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence
The Well of Dyersburg 