The gathering got together on Sunday and we considered Heaven. 

We started by looking at our images of heaven, and what we thought heaven was like and what heaven was all about. Nick led us into thinking about if we could describe heaven as a colour, what colour would we choose and why. This was an interesting time as we could see a cross section of colours and reasons … it’s seems we all think very differently about heaven. 

Following this we looked at the video of Brian McLaren and his interpretation of the Lords Prayer and heaven. This is a challenging video … not so much for it’s content, but more for its consequences of taken it seriously. 

Certainly the concept of heaven coming to earth, and our role being involved in that, certainly sits a lot better with us that thoughts of being whisked off to another place. In the gospels we noticed that John the Baptist spoke of the kingdom of God coming; whereas Jesus says the Kingdom of God is here. That’s a pretty distinct difference. Right at the beginning of Mark’s gospel (v15) Jesus asks his listeners to believe the good news. I have always blindly read the ‘good news’ to mean the resurrection story … but we are 15 chapters away from that still in Mark.

I think the good news that Jesus talks of is that the Kingdom of Heaven is here, that we don’t have to wait to be whisked off into another place, and (this is I think really exciting) that we have a role to get involved with God in bringing the KIngdom of God (aka heaven) as a reality in the lives of those we meet. If you watch the video clip that is essentially what a part of the Lords Prayer is saying.

AS the gathering we struggled with what we do in light of this. There is mystery here, the Kingdom of God is here and we can see evidence but it is clearly not ere fully – there is more to come. The kingdom of God is here but there is more to come … and we have a role in working alongside God in bringing in more of the Kingdom.

Clearly we cannot get involved in every single issue or area of need that we see. But … we could get involved in those that we feel God prompt us to. I think how this outplays in our lives as individuals and as the gathering will be a reoccurring question. Yesterday we left with two statements which give us a challenge:

to be involved in the kingdom of God would mean that we will be a blessing to those we meet (Luke 4)

and

if we bring in the kingdom with God it would be like leaving a sweet taste in the mouths of those we meet (Psalm 34)

In our daily lives, how can we be such a blessing to others so that it is like leaving them with a sweet taste in their mouth – that’s not a bad aim for life!