Summer: A Foretaste Of Heaven Series

Spiritual Rhythm

Summer: A Foretaste of Heaven

Revelation 22:1-5

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

Summertime is a glorious time of “fruit, warmth, light, rest, play, wonder, festival, joy, reunion, and holidays” (113). It is a time to walk on the beach and let the hot sand run through your toes, a time to lie on a hammock and soak in the sun’s rays, a time to fish, hunt, and go on long walks enjoying nature in all its soothing sounds and beauty! While in winter it is easy to only see darkness as one’s closest friend, summer flips that, God and others draw intimately near, light and life around us, and night and mourning flee away” (113). In the beauty of summer, it is often easier to get close to God. King David said, “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands. Day after day they pour fourth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech; they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes into all the earth, their words to the end of the world” (Psalms 19:1-4). Not only is God’s glory easier to see from nature in summer but also fruits of drawing near to Him can be seen easier as well. “Most of the seasons of our hearts demand something from us, some sacrifice, some labor, some deep wrenching adjustment. But summer just wants to give and give. The only demand is that we surrender to it, bask in it” (113). And yet while summer is often marked by effortless fruit it also comes with the warnings to not lose our first love, to not be overcome by nostalgia or become so infatuated in summer’s beauty and ease that one becomes dehydrated, and the word of God becomes secondary to worldly pleasures.

Warnings of Summertime

In the heat of the summer with all its effortless and pleasurable sights, smells, tastes, and fruit it is easy to forget the hard work of pruning of winter and planting in the spring. It was the Good Shepherd who carried you over the thresholds of anguish, pain, and loneliness so intense that darkness became your closest friend. God did not pick you up and mend your brokenness in the bad times merely to have you ignore Him in the good times. James says we only become “mature and complete, not lacking in anything” when we “persevere in the faith” (James 1:2-4) which does not finish with the trial but extends into every part of our lives forever! With its hot summer days and abundance of fruit it is easy to stand upon the mountain tops of blessings and forget the lessons of our trials in the valleys. On the Island of Patmos Apostle John was instructed to write the following to the angel of the church of Ephesus: though they worked hard and persevered great hardships in Jesus’ name, “yet this I hold against you, you have forsaken the love you had at the first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and to the things you did at first” (Revelation 2:1-7)! Life in all seasons is meant to be lived with God at the center of all of one’s thoughts, words, and deeds! While it is easier to see our dependence on God in the winter’s fierce storms, this does not negate the truth that like the children of Israel in the book of judges we tend to fall the hardest when on the highest mountaintops of blessings! Having been freed from the crushing effects of winter, summer is the perfect time to reflect on His goodness and to surrender one’s goals and dreams to kingdom goals as one basks in the mercy of His bounty to one saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).

Summertime is also the time when Christians most battle the feelings of nostalgia. In all its beauty and effortless pleasure, summertime can become a burden. “If we don’t fathom that summer’s beauty is a rumor of heaven, we’ll make fetish of the rumor and miss what it’s pointing too” (119). The Bible is clear that this world is not our home (Hebrews 13:14-16) and as such the eternity God has placed in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) is to keep us looking forward to the place the Lord went to prepare for us as described in Revelation 22:1-5.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Imagine going to heaven not only being there with God but also having His name written on your forehead and the curse of the garden of Eden fully removed! It is in summer that we are most in danger of seeing the splendor and beauty of the world and foolishly try to imprint it into our memories as perfection. When nostalgia paints the past as golden then “the way it was done back then” becomes the model of superiority and standard of excellence to strive towards (117). Songs and church rituals written in the past become icons of holiness, stifling the Holy Spirit’s voice in the present and the church’s ability to become all things to all people to win some to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)! Holding the past as an icon of holiness often leads to sadness and dare, I say bitterness when one realizes that circumstances by which made it glorious are not going to ever return!