Living in the (real) Big Picture

spoons were handed out to everyone. Charlie told us it was OK to fidget with them and play with them while he talked, but he told us to hang onto them...if you have a chance, go grab a spoon right now to have in your hands as you read this...

As we've been studying Paul's letter to the Colossians together, we've faced the question: "What is spiritual maturity about?"

It is all too easy to allow the mindset of our surrounding culture to influence our perspective as we journey in our faith. The Bay Area is driven and performance oriented: set the goal, develop the action plan, work the plan, go for martinis when the project is closed. Spiritual maturity doesn't work that way. We need to step back and look beyond the day-to-day; we need to look at the bigger picture.

“If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” ~ Colossians 3:1-4, NASB.

Spiritual maturity is about our union with Jesus: we've died with Him and been raised with Him -- now that’s a big picture worth wrapping our hearts and minds around!

It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.
~ CS Lewis

Paul says we should set our hearts on things above: want, desire, seek out the things above. Set our minds on things above: think about them. Keep wanting. Keep thinking.

But what sort of “things above” is Paul talking about? What is that? Our clue is:

“...where Christ is seated at the right hand of God”

That is the location Paul wants is to think about: in a word, that place is heaven.

Rather than spend time looking at the Greek derivation of the words Paul used, we spent time trying to do this -- we looked at heaven (an admittedly edited version).

1. Heaven is a real place
It is not just a state of mind. There are real dynamics. Jesus looked “up” when He prayed.

But what does “real” even mean? CS Lewis said heaven is so real that if we were to go there right now in our present state, even the blades of grass on the outskirts of heaven would pass through our feet because our feet are less real than Heaven’s grass.

The book of Revelation tells us there will be music in heaven. Music has tempo and beats and rests, which implies there will be time. Rev 8 tells us Heaven was quiet for a half an hour.

We’ll have real bodies (new and better! yea!). There will be no hunger, yet we will feast, and enjoy it! in John 14 Jesus told His disciples "I go to prepare a place for you"

2. God lives in Heaven
Heaven is where the Kingdom of God exists in its purest form, yet heaven cannot contain His glory. It is where Jesus came from, where He went to, and from where He will return. When Jesus comes into our lives, heaven comes with Him. Divine moments in worship are just a foretaste -- like a kid tasting the icing on a birthday cake!

3. We will see God face to face
Revelation 22 says His servants will see His face. In Jewish culture this was huge. This was probably the biggest thing for John as He wrote the book! In Exodus 33 God told Moses “No one may see Me and live”. We can’t handle it...on this side of eternity. But in the new body, in the new place, we’ll be able to see Him. This was David’s desire as expressed in a Psalm: to behold the beauty of the Lord. John’s gospel says God lives in unapproachable light. His later letter (1 John) says we’ll be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is!

4. Heaven is our real home.
The old adage “You can’t go home again” is true, meaning when you grow up and go back, things have changed. In the Bay Area it is hard to buy a home, so we have a semi-nomadic culture with apartment rentals and job changes, etc. That’s hard, but here’s the thing we grapple with on an even deeper level: we have no real home here on this planet.

And while in heaven, we will begin to have memories of earlier "times" in heaven. It will become more and more "homey" to us. It will feel more like home after 10,000 years than it did after 1,000. Hurricanes and earthquakes and tsunamis won’t be able to damage it. Robbers and banks and layoffs/strikes won’t be able to take it away.

5. We will know each other
1 Corinthians says we will get smarter in heaven, not dumber. Our ability to remember will be better then than it is now!

6. There is continual interaction between heaven and earth
In Luke 15, Jesus said heaven rejoices when a lost person is found. In the book of Revelation, John describes servants in heaven crying out to God for judgement on earth (so while there is no biblical evidence for us talking to them and asking for things, there is evidence for "the saints" praying on our behalf!)

God answers our prayers and things change. His Son came to us. There is an interplay, and therefore, what I do matters! It matters on earth and it matters in heaven. What I do changes things. Heaven breaks in to our reality. The bible says we are "...seated with Him in the heavenly places...". That is past tense. As He is seated at the right hand of the Father, somehow so are we.

7. Heaven is not stagnant
Isaiah says at some point Lucifer rebelled. That suggests a before/after time-space event. Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us -- so it has been changing for 2,000 years. It is not as good now and it wil be later -- and it will continue to get better and better!

8. We will experience Heaven in process
In 1 Peter we read that angels grow in their understanding. This suggests we will too.

Sin empties us, which leads to boredom. In Heaven we will have stuff to do: rest, rule, work, gaze and adore Him in His beauty. We will be fulfilled! A psalmist wrote about being in God's presence: "...at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Our righteousness will grow and that will be a true source for continuing increase of our pleasure and fulfillment.

We will have emotions. Tears of Joy probably will be there! Emotions are good and were created by God. Jesus, in the parables, referred to the Master saying “...well done...come and share in your master’s joy”

Still got your spoon?

Charlie told a story about a little old lady holding a spoon in her hands in her casket. It was her dying wish to be buried in this way. The preacher explained:

As a little girl her mom always told her, while clearing the dinner dishes from the table in preparation for dessert, "Hold on to your spoon -- something better is coming!"

We get a foretaste now. When we feel His presence, when we feed the poor, when we take care of the environment -- we are bringing heaven to earth.

Think about these things. Set your heart on and desire these things.

And let that change your life.

Warriors Come Home

God has placed something unique in each of us that is rich and beautiful. It has strengths and weaknesses, but it is there. It is designed to both shine forth and share. It is the same in every person in every culture.

It is the desire of the Father that every culture be cherished, as He cherishes them. And there is something in every culture from which we can learn.

There is something we can learn from a culture we don’t often hear about: The Island Culture.

Some of the characteristics of island culture include:

• Generosity: They sometimes have so little, but they give so much.
• Hospitality: They welcome you into their home and do anything for you.
• Joy: Laughter is everywhere (food is everywhere too!)
• Flexible & Easy-Going: They're often not so much interested in ‘doing’ as much as ‘being’.

One more characteristic that seems to go deeper than any of these: Island people are Warriors:Both men and women. You see it in their dances, songs, and tattoos.

They’re a people of the heart; they live from a deep place. They have something to offer to us. What can we learn from them?

They’re very polite & kind, but there is a deeper part that is not civilized. Not "tame". That is a deeply good thing and reflects the character of God. That can attract and touch us and awaken something in us.

It is a part of how God made all of us.

We don’t possess what the Islanders have, because it is for them. We don’t have to be like them. We get to be us -- but we can learn from them.

God has so placed His life in them that when it comes out there is a flame there that awakens something in us.

We do have a war dance, a war cry -- but it looks different, because we are different. There is a warrior in all of us. In a deep deep place, He has created us to be not quite civilized, not quite tame -- and that is good. Sometimes we can be so civilized and so tame we are unable to hear or respond to God’s voice when He says “let’s run over there”

God wants us (not to be weird) but to tap into that place, deep inside us coming alive, so that we are willing to go wherever He says -- to be so completely immersed in His intimacy and presence (wherever we are) that we listen to Him and respond.

Not “out of control”...but “alive like never before”

In Tahiti the word “hope” is tied to the word “victory” -- they are inseparable.

What hope/victory can we take from the Island culture?

We are not sure what strength and battle look like. David & Goliath? Elijah calling down fire on unbelievers? James & John wanted to do that and Jesus rebuked them.

Paul talks about it in Eph 6. But what we do is:

1) go about life
2) when evil comes
3) stand against it
4) evil goes away
5) we go back to just going about life

But God is calling us to more than that.

There’s all sorts of things we can fight for, but Dudley talked about just one:

Unity

If we can fight for that, we’ll see God’s kingdom come like never before.

Unity touches our understanding of God and relationship with others, and the world around us.

Relationship with God
Relationship with others
My impact on the world around me

We often see these as separate things, but they are all inter-related. Rather than polarize in one area, and neglect/pull-away from the others, there is a better way.

For Dudley, he realized he has to talk -- that God told him “it doesn’t do anyone any good if you don’t talk”

Unity isn’t clean and easy and pretty, it takes work.

Unity is not a state of being. Unity is much more -- it is a process of living out loud with one another in honesty and authenticity and transparency and courage and reality.

And the goal is not so we will be "good Christians" -- it is so God’s kingdom will come down in our midst! It is so His kingdom comes and His will is done on earth, just like in Heaven.

That is worth fighting for.

One of Jesus' final prayers was for us -- those who would come to believe and follow and give our lives to Him. What did He ask the Father for on our behalf? Listen to this:

“...that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;” John 17:21, 22, NASB.

It isn't easy. It isn't nice and neat. But working through those details and working out relationships, the kingdom of God comes and changes us, at various levels. Personal. Family. Community. Nation. World.

We are warriors -- and we can fight -- not just when it bad stuff happens, but proactively; we can fight for unity.

It won’t be easy or pretty, but the Kingdom will come and it will be worth it.

And here's the kicker: we’re not fighting to get it, we already have it -- we are fighting to NOT lose who we are!

What are you willing to do to maintain unity? Are you willing to fight to maintain unity?

It is time for the warriors to come home.

Why Be a Part of a Small Group?

To combat the epidemic of loneliness, and avoid the lie/trap of self-sufficiency, you need to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Are you feeling lonely?

Spiritual growth is not about whether we hear God's Word, it is whether we do God's Word. You're more accountable in a small group.

Do you really want to grow?

In isolation, we tend to overinflate our abilities. In a small group our spiritual gifts can grow in a lovingly honest atmosphere.

Wouldn't you like it if people really knew you, and told you the truth in a loving manner?

The #1 reason people stay in church is relationships. That's why small groups are the absolute core of what we do here.

We're kingdom people, wanting to follow Jesus' model and bring a bit of heaven to earth. Heaven will be a diverse place. So go hang out with someone different than yourself!

What are your thoughts?

Great Big God

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We had a great time at the Great Big God event!

See the whole album here

2006 Baptism Photos

Click here to view the whole album

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