Jump Start # 4144

John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.

We are looking at the final 10 sermons I preached at Charlestown Road

# 2 The Tapestry of Heaven

One of the joys of moving, whether to a college dorm room, an apartment or a house, is decorating it to your tastes. You put you into the place. Maybe different paint on the walls. Your favorite pictures are hung. Your collectables on the shelves. The place becomes “you.”

God has a house. It’s Heaven. Now, like God, Heaven is spiritual. There is not a paint color you can put on your walls that is just like what you’d find in Heaven. One can’t buy a replica chair like the ones in Heaven. Heaven is spiritual. But, wouldn’t it be nice to have a piece of Heaven here? For some, Heaven seems too good to be true. Some wonder if there really is a Heaven. If we could have something tangible, something we could see with our eyes to assure us, wouldn’t that be amazing. Part of this is understanding faith. Faith believes when our eyes cannot see. But, there is a piece of Heaven that the Lord has given to us. I call it the “Tapestry of Heaven.”

In the letter to the Colossians, Paul shows that you and I, God’s people, different strands of thread,  are all woven together beautifully by the Lord, to make Heaven’s tapestry. This is what people see.

First, we are woven together in love (Col 2:2). Together we are stronger than we are by ourselves. It’s not an organization that we are a part of, but instead, the body of Christ. We all belong. You cannot pull out one thread without messing up the tapestry. What draws us together is not the church building or the programs, but the Lord. We have different roles, different functions, different responsibilities, but together we blend together to honor the Lord.

Love doesn’t throw away…love restores. Love doesn’t remember…love forgives. Love doesn’t keep score…love lets go. Love unites. Love accepts. Love helps. One of the greatest pieces of Heaven is that each of us are accepted, wanted, needed, included and loved by Heaven and each other.

Second, Every strand is wrapped around Christ. Focused upon the Lord, we are not confused, deluded or deceived. In Christ we have been made complete, removed from the world, baptized, raised and made alive.

Third, together we show the world Heaven. What a beautiful picture we make. Thankful. Kind. Gentle. Godly. Righteous. Helpful. No room for selfishness. No place for the rude and offensive. No space for misery, complaining or unrighteousness.

We become the only Heaven that some will ever see. Close to us is as close as some will ever get to Heaven. Through us they will make conclusions and judgments about Jesus, the church, and our faith. Their conclusions may not be accurate, but the picture we present to them is what they will see.

If we could only pull something from God’s house and have it here, what a difference that would make. We have something. It’s God’s people.

The tapestry of Heaven.

Roger