echoes of redemption

by Brian Dormaier from TheyCallMePastorBryan

It is said, that once Jesus visited a town in Texas during the late 1980’s.  He didn’t visit the churches, but he was there, in the town’s slums, caring for the poor and healing the sick.  There was a very rich and very successful televangelist in the town and he was excited when he had heard Jesus was visiting.

This televangelist was so excited that even though he would usually avoid the slums at all costs, he decided he must go.  He knew Jesus would be there, bestowing great wealth on the faithful who had given to his ministry.  When the televangelist arrived, he saw the appreciative looks on the faces of the crowd who had gathered around Jesus.  He knew his hunch was correct.  Jesus was bestowing great wealth.

The televangelist wrestled his way through the crowd to get to the front.  He fell, getting his designer suit dirty, but at last he had made his way to Jesus!

“Jesus,” he said, “what must I do to receive my reward for my faithfulness?”

Jesus responded “Have you sought to love God and to love your neighbors?”

Excitedly the televangelist responded “Lord you know I have proclaimed how you desire to bless us if we will just have faith in you, and I have done my best to do so.”

“Well then,” Jesus responded, “there is only one thing left. Sell everything you have, your mansions, your plane, your cars, your designer clothes, and use that money to care for the poor. Then come and follow me and you will receive your reward.”

The televangelist was dejected.  He turned, fighting his way through the crowd, trying to get back to his BMW. “This man is not Jesus, but an impostor.” he thought, “Jesus would realize all these things I own are His reward to me for having faith.”

You wont find a lot written about heaven in Scripture.

We essentially have a handful of descriptions and a couple dozen metaphors to decipher how heaven might look or feel. And most of us, if we’re honest, are a little nervous about it.

Eternity is a lot of time in one (vaguely described) place… major potential to be boring.

The reality is most of what is written about heaven has little to do with what it might look or feel like and much to do with God’s character. In Scripture, heaven is about living in radically close proximity to God – moving through life with him, like it was in the garden.

Of course, this risks not sounding much more exciting than the vague descriptions we had before.

But that says more about how we view God than it does about what we think of heaven.

So maybe our time is best spent exploring the indescribably deep beauty of God’s character while we’re here on this earth.

Maybe our lives should be dedicated to living as his image on the earth – so we can show each other what he looks like.

Maybe once we start to understand a fraction of how amazing he really is, living with God for eternity will become a joy we look forward to as we struggle to know and represent him now.

Many times people are intimidated when it comes to talking with others about their faith. It seems too easy to get something wrong. Mess up. Or lead them away.

In mathematics there is right and wrong. Correct and incorrect. In relationships there is perspective. Interpretation. Growing understanding.

A good spiritual conversation is the beginning of something – not the end.

It opens up opportunities.

Options.

Places to grow.

Like a good sermon, it is the first word, not the last.

Missions is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there… You see God where others don’t. And then you point Him out.

- Rob Bell

It is asking questions that lead people to learn more about themselves and their beliefs through the answers.

It is direction that leads to more possibility than they knew about.

It is pointing out the unlimited potential people have through what God is already doing in this world and in their lives.