When Heaven touches earth.
WBC 15.12.02pm Carols by Candlelight
I was reading the story of Jesus’ birth to my day-care children one
morning. As usual, I stopped to see if they understood.
"What do we call the three wise men?" I asked.
"The three maggots," replied a bright 5-year-old.
"What gift did the Magi bring baby Jesus?" I corrected.
"Gold, Frankensteins and smurfs!" the same 5-year-old replied.
A small boy was writing a letter to God about the Christmas presents he badly wanted. "I’ve been good for six months now," he wrote. But after a moment’s reflection he crossed out "six months" and wrote "three". After a pause that was crossed out and he put "two weeks". There was another pause and that was crossed out too. He got up from the table and went over to the little crib scene that had the figures of Mary and Joseph. He picked up the figure of Mary and went back to his writing and started again: "Dear God, if ever you want to see your mother again…!"
Heaven and Earth
To little children – the gap between heaven and earth is not a big one
- it’s close. All around them. God is.
- of course, they also see all kinds of things around them under the bed etc that we know are not there
But maybe… on some of this… they’re right, you know
- maybe when we grow up and chuck out the things that go bump in the night and under the bed
o we chuck out the ‘baby with the bathwater, too’
o (almost literally. Chick out Jesus with Santa?!)
The spiritual realm is NOT far away
= like a thin membrane between us and it.
- (but there is a divider/membrane, none the less)
o can be totally unaware of it (in West. ‘silent planet’)
Occasionally see a break-through
- here: the heavenly-hosts appear and scare the daylights out of the shepherds (breakthrough from the heavenly side)
- some Near Death Experiences? (glimpse through from here)
- cf parts of the world where they love with it as THE reality around them
o some= superstition
o some= eyes to see what we miss
o (because our vision is so dimmed with THINGS… ££
it thickens the membrane. Clutters the tunnel between us and it…. God)
But it’s very real
THIS… what was started ‘tonight’ is where the membrane is broken. Torn. Pierced
- when heaven touches earth. Invades earth. Heaven invades our space. God becomes a space-invader
o actually: the veil was torn at eater
The 4 questions:
Why?
because the veil is not of God’s making
- God has ALWAYS longed to walk with His beings. personally
o Adam. God walking in the garden
o Daniel- shadrach, meshach and abednigo… and a 4th person walking in the fire with them
o other occasions in OT, where God walks with someone – (and they don’t recognise it’s the real PERSONAL Him until later cf Emmaus)
- You see- He’s not a God far off. Immutable. Impassionate. Untouchable. Transcendent
Mankind has put up this veil/membrane
- “Genesis “Adam, where are you?”- “I hid from you….!”
- “you remind me of the things I don’t like… shouldn’t be doing.. my failings… my nakedness… things I WANT to do”
- > thickens the veil. Clutters the tunnel/channel, if you like
o then we blame God for the silence
We’re always running and hiding. Cluttering the tunnel with junk
But God has plans
- no father allows His child to not know - He’s there
- His love and care
…. no GOOD father, that is
- planned it at the start
o “before the foundation of the world”
He foreknew. Foreplanned
o before the spiritual realm had been riven/soiled….
o … and earth polluted with its venom/disobedience
o before Adam… you… I… had gone our own way
HE PLANNED
… for HEAVEN to come to EARTH.
To restore
- the paradise lost
- the relationship
To pierce the membrane…clear the tunnel… provide a way
You see these plans
- at the start of the Bible
o picture of God and man, together
- at the end of the Bible. Eden restored
Heaven touches earth
- to clear the way. Bridge the gap. Clear the tunnel. Rend the veil
o ie remove the problem (because there IS one)
- to show God’s love.
IllustrR: a mum goes to her son’s play
," I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment -- songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.
Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in
the front row-centre stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell
out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a
child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and
on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete
message, "Christmas Love."
The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a
small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down
totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of children snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W."
Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter
continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A
hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we
understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the
first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.
For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and
clear: "CHRISTWAS LOVE"
And, I believe, He still is.
- heaven touches earth
o for all the times people have cried out (into the tunnel) “God, where are you” Why is it like this? The pain? The scars?
o heaven touches earth- and there’s a scar there, too
=X all nice story (clean babies and non pooing donkeys)
o when a meteorite touches earth- leaves a mark
There’s a scar for: Zechariah (speechless). Mary (a sword will pierce). JTB (prison, dungeon)….
… Jesus: the crown of thorns. The rejection. The death. The “not so savoury bits”
- the carrying of all the junk from the tunnel
- a poem of love and the scar left and born:
Gravity (Mark Green, November 1994)
The apple, unlike Adam, had no choice but to fall
Speeding to fulfil its creator’s call.
But what force drew him down to us?
He, with a starlit infinity to explore,
He, who could peer into a neutron’s core,
He, who had spoken a thousand million times
And known the sulphuric spit of our self-vaunting crimes
He, whom we had called murderer, liar, thief
And left for dead with enlightened relief.
What force drew him down from above
To reap the grim harvest of rebel pride,
Hammered with nails of truth denied?
What force drew him down from above?
What force but this: the gravity of love.
Where?
Where does it happen?
Actually- a whole load of meteorites come down. Heaven touches earth in a number of places.
- places prophesied. The map of the impact points had long since been drawn up:
o a place in N Israel. Where they have ‘the accent’. Where the hoi-poloi live: - Galilee
To a little village called Nazareth. To a young girl called Mary. Straightforward, simple.
o to Jerusalem. To a priest called Zechariah… telling him his wife will have a son
o to a place in the South called Bethlehem
a place of prominence, actually. David’s old town. Near Jerusalem, the city of David
a place where they ahd special fields- that belonged to the temple
where the lambs/sheep for sacrifice were born
• watched over by their shepherds
the fields were called “shepherds fields”. It was the shepherds jobs to be there when the sheep for sacrifice were born
… another meteorite lands there
- heaven touches earth. the sky is rent in two… ANGELS sing about what has been hidden & planned for SO long
o to simple… shifty… shepherds
And then the biggest meteorite of all hits
- this is not just heaven TOUCHING earth.
- * time and eternity, God and man, love and justice are ripped apart, blended together
o as heaven COMES to earth
… and God’s longing to be with us… YOU… is fulfilled
- in the humblest way possible
- (that’s REAL power, humility, security)
- … in a baby boy born in a manger…
Who?
… by the name of Jesus
in fact- even His name shows ‘heaven touches earth’:
- Immanuel: God with us Is 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
o wanna know what God’s like? -> look at Jesus
not at: the tunnel, the veil, the world around you- the vague imprints in the membrane
o at the one who claimed: ‘I and the Father am one. he who has seen me has seen the Father. Before Abraham was, I AM. I am the way, the truth and the life.
- Jesus: God saves. “For He will save His people from their sins”
In other words, His names convey the two reasons “WHY” He came
- to be with us… to save us
The biggest problem today is not: Iraq’s weapons. American pride. Whether Cheri Blair did a shady deal
- it’s the PRIDE that
o keeps us from coming to God
o makes us think we can do without Him. Know better than Him
o the same pride that made Satan fall out of heaven… got Adam kicked out of God’s presence in Eden
So: God comes to us… YOU… tonight. rends the veil, heavens. Touches earth. Leaves a scar. Bears the scars. Carries the scars
- will you be proud and push Him away
- or humbly receive Him. Like Mary. Joseph. Shepherds
o “where meek souls will receive Hi, STILL, the dear Christ enters in”
- lives changed here this year
So what?
some say
Heaven is important, I say. God is important. God thought it all SO important He made the journey of a billion miles to us.
What happens -on the other side of that veil
- when I die. Here… NOW… really matters
heaven wants to touch your HEART, life. Leave it’s mark on you… and in you… forever.
So EVERYTHING
“where meek souls will receive Him, still…..”
