April: Today, on this third Sunday in Lent, we are focusing on this line in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If you’ve been following along with this sermon series from the beginning, you probably anticipated this was what we would be talking about today. What you may not have been anticipating is a discussion of punctuation. You see, where we place the comma, or where we put a pause in this sentence makes a tremendous difference in the way we understand what we’re praying for. During our worship services, the rhythm of this line usually goes like this: “Thy will be done…on earth as it is in heaven.” We do this mostly because the rhythm makes it easier for us to all pray together. But I wonder if this rhythm makes it harder for us to understand what we are saying.

Instead, the comma should be after the word “earth.” “Thy will be done on earth…as it is in heaven.” Every time we pray this prayer, we are saying, “Lord, we know that your will is being done perfectly in heaven. Help us to imitate the beauty of heaven here on earth.” Let your will be done here, just like it is done in heaven. To help us think more deeply about this this morning, Jeff and I are going to work together. Jeff will share with us what God’s reign looks like in heaven, and I will explore what it might mean for us to imitate God’s reign here on earth.

Jeff: Jesus talks about heaven quite a bit, as do the writers of the new testament, and there are many characteristics of heaven that Jesus and those writers have expressed. This morning we will be talking about three (though there are certainly more). In Revelation 21, the author is talking about the new Jerusalem, the city of God which has come down from heaven. And he says that the city will have no need for the sun or the moon to provide light because the glory of God will illuminate it. The writer of 1 John tells us that “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” This light penetrates into every crack and crevice of our lives. Nothing can be hidden from it. All our secrets and lies are exposed for all to see. God’s light opens our hearts fully to the truth and the will of God so that we may find the abundant life that Christ came to give us.  Jeff draws symbol for “Light of God”

April: In Philippians 3, Paul writes this to the believers in the church at Philippi: “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us…our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” In other words, live like the light of Christ–live like you are part of the kingdom of heaven, rather than the kingdom of this world. In the kingdom of heaven, there is no need for a lamp or a light because God is the light. God is the focus, the One who illuminates everything. We can’t always see that light clearly in this world. We don’t always know immediately what the right thing to do might be, and we make mistakes as we try to live like Jesus.

Paul told the Christians in the new church he was writing to to look to his example, and to look to the example of others who live as citizens of the kingdom. Who are those people for you? Who shows you, by their example, what it looks like to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven? Identify these folks, and watch their example. Of course, they won’t do things perfectly. None of us will. But, the people who are living as examples of heavenly citizenship will remind us to “seek first the kingdom of God” as it says in Matthew 6. Or, as it says in our scripture for today from Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” We take a step towards doing God’s will here on earth by pausing to consider what God’s kingdom in heaven looks like. What is important to God? Are those same things important to us? April imitates Jeff’s first drawing

Jeff: A second characteristic of heaven is the presence of peace and unity among all the people. Revelation talks about a crowd of people from every tribe and nation and people and language, and they all cry out in one voice. In heaven, all divisions will cease and people will live together in peace. If heaven includes people from every place, every culture, every family, speaking every tongue, and if all of us are to speak with one voice, saying the same things, worshiping the same God together, then peace and unity will have to reign in our hearts. I read a children’s book at the library this week called Treehouse Town, and it is about the treehouse town of every kid’s imagination. It reminded me a bit of heaven and I want to read just a few selected lines from the book. “If you go into the woods, as every growing child should, among the wonder all around, you’ll find a trail if you look down. Follow the footprints on the floor of those who came here long before. Leaving all you know behind, there’s a secret place you’ll find…Every creature’s equal here, free from worry, free from fear. You are always welcome here – this place of peace and dreams and cheer.” Jeff draws second image 

April: We live in a world that pushes the opposite of peace. Just yesterday, I opened my computer, and the first image that greeted me on social media was of two actresses wearing similar dresses. The caption read: “Who wore it better?” I was encouraged to read the many comments saying things like, “Stop pitting people against each other,” but I know media corporations share images like this because it encourages us to get angry with each other. If you turn on the news, you’ll hear about conflict after conflict. Even just driving down the road, you see drivers cutting each other off, people yelling at each other out the window, kids pushing each other as they walk home from school.

We were created in God’s image, and as such, we were created with a desperate need for the kind of peace that can only be found in God. Part of praying “thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” is asking God to help us be people who work for peace in our communities and in our relationships. This is so tough to do. How can we work for peace when everyone is so angry? How can we work for peace when we are angry? How can we truly work for peace when others may want nothing to do with peace? I love the way Paul writes about this in Romans 12. He writes, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” As far as it depends on you. Thy will be done on earth… God, help us be bringers of your peace, as far as it is possible for us. April imitates Jeff’s second drawing

Jeff: The final characteristic of heaven that we want to talk about comes from Revelation 21. “See the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” Death and mourning and crying and pain will be no more. That’s just amazing! Can you imagine a life without death? A life without pain? It’s hard for us to imagine. We all experience pain. Sickness causes pain. Injury causes pain. Surgeries and other medical treatments cause pain. And as we get older, we may just wake up with pain in unexpected places. But in God’s home there will be no pain. There will be no crying. And not like in A League of Their Own when Tom Hanks character tells a crying player, “There’s no crying in baseball.” God is not going to toughen us up. God will remove the things that cause us to cry, namely pain and death. Heaven is a place of life. Jeff draws final image on newsprint

April: Heaven is a place where pain and death are no more. It is a place of life–and not just life, abundant life. When we pray “thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” we are asking God to help us embody this abundant life here on earth. At the end of our passage from Philippians 3, Paul writes this: “He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.” I love the New Revised Standard Version because it is a pretty technically accurate translation, but it can also be so academic that we can’t always understand what it means. The phrase that is translated “the body of our humiliation” could also be translated “our humble bodies.” I like the way The Message paraphrase renders this verse: “We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.” April imitates Jeff’s last drawing

While we await that day, we are called to be relievers of pain and suffering, bringers of peace, and people who seek first God’s kingdom, God’s direction in all we do. Today, as we pray the Lord’s Prayer together, ask God to show you one place where you can relieve pain and suffering for someone else (or maybe even yourself). Invite God to help you be a bringer of peace in your relationships. And ask God to guide your steps. May God’s kingdom come, and God’s will be done right here on earth, just as it is in heaven.