Valentine’s Day was last Sunday and
I included a bag of Dove chocolates in the presents I gave to my to my wife. I chose the Dove chocolates because there are
sweet little thoughts and sayings printed on the inside of the foil
wrappers. Nissa has one from a couple years
ago posted on the refrigerator that says, “Laugh until your heart
overflows.” But the new messages weren’t
the same. I was disappointed, most of
them were snarky and not sweet at all. Later
in the week as I was thinking about today’s sermon I realized I wanted to use
some of those sayings, but I couldn’t remember them for certain. It’s a small bag of candy and with four
people dipping into it, it didn’t last long.
So I did the only thing that would guarantee accuracy in a sermon – I
bought another bag. (But don’t get your hopes
up. That bag’s gone too!) Here are some of the sayings:
Make
all foods finger foods.
Teach
your grandma to take a selfie.
Ignore
Hashtags (preceded by #)
Keep
them guessing.
Stay
up past your bedtime.
Don’t
worry what the neighbors think.
Buy
both.
The only really sweet one was, “Learn something new with an old
friend.” And in the bottom right corner
of every wrapper were the words, “Choose less ordinary; Dove.”
Now I get that these edgy little comments are meant to be cute
and fun. And I’m probably being a
killjoy to criticize them, but they don’t capture a spirit that will really
warm our hearts.
Maybe I’m still being a killjoy to say that it feels like a lot
of what our culture celebrates these days has an arrogant edge to it. There’s a subtle – or not so subtle –
selfishness to it. There’s an indulgent
spirit. There’s a desire to one-up
another person. There’s a desire to
stand out; and who cares what the consequences are to others. The thing is, do we really like ourselves
when we act this way?
When I was a kid I remember a few other kids who, well without
going into details, most kids considered odd or weird or repulsive. They got picked on a lot. And I would join in too. At one level there was a delight in making
fun of someone and enjoying making them feel bad. But at a deeper level I didn’t like myself
when I was doing it. Often when I look
around at people in our communities I wonder, “Do they really like
themselves? Are they actually happy with
who they are? It doesn’t seem so.”
Our second Bible reading was from Paul’s letter to the
Philippians. Among the many exhortations
he gives them is the part we read today reminding them that their citizenship
is in heaven. Citizenship was very
important to the Philippians. Though
located in north eastern Greece, Philippi had been given the status of “Ius
Italicum” (Italian Law) which meant its citizens had all the same rights and
privileges of citizens of the city of Rome.
Among their perks were significantly reduced taxes, including no land
tax. Though not an exact equivalent,
imagine if your municipality were granted an exemption from all property taxes
in perpetuity, and other communities then had to foot your community’s
expenses.
Such was the case for Philippian citizens. Then when Paul says their citizenship is in
heaven we know he is drawing on a powerful concept for these people. The rule of heaven applies to them, and all
its benefits – including someone else footing the cost for their
salvation. They knew that someone was
Jesus.
We too are citizens of heaven.
Now don’t get carried away. You
can’t write on your 1040 and your IT-201 that you are a citizen of heaven and
therefore exempt from paying all state and national taxes. But I do think the citizenship idea is a
healthy way for us to understand how to structure our lives and be happy with
who we are.
I started off saying I don’t want to be a killjoy by nit-picking
the sayings in Dove candy wrappers. Indeed
Christian righteousness can often bring up an image like nuns in a convent all
walking around with their hands folded in prayer and no hint of a naughty
thought anywhere in their lives. Who
wants to live like that? Either you’ll
become a pious snob or you’ll come to hate God because God won’t let you have
any fun. And if that becomes your view
of God then why would you want to go to heaven?
But that is not what citizenship in heaven is all about.
To be a citizen is to belong.
It is to have a place to call home.
It is to have a group of people around you who respect you, accept you
and value you. It is to have a
meaningful role and purpose in your life.
Paul wrote to the Philippians, “For many live as enemies of the
cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with
tears. Their end is destruction; their
god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on
earthly things.” (3:19) As you read that
list of qualities don’t imagine some shadowy character that Charles Dickens
would create as a villain. Just imagine
an ordinary person struggling through life.
He or she wants friends, wants community, wants acceptance. Except instead of turning to Jesus, they turn
to themselves. Rather than building
others up they seek to build themselves up by tearing others down. On the surface they feel acceptable. Inside they hate themselves. In big ways and small life for them is
constant work for acceptance from others.
And it just doesn’t work.
Citizenship in heaven isn’t about being righteous. It is about knowing you have a place. When Jesus says, “Take up your cross,” and in
the many places in the Bible when we are called to live selflessly and
virtuously this is not about being goody-two-shoes. This is about doing things so that you are
happy within yourself. And when you are
happy within yourself you can be happy with others.
Indeed it isn’t always easy.
There are always temptations.
There are always failures. There
are times when we still want to tear someone else down to build ourselves
up. And there are times when we want to exploit
and indulge because that’s the easy way.
But we do well to remember our citizenship. It is a citizenship granted to us that we did
not earn.
Perhaps we should make Citizen of
Heaven chocolates. The wrappers would
say:
You
are beautiful.
Smile,
God loves you.
Rejoice
for you are God’s good creation.
You
are a citizen of heaven.
Help
someone in need today.
Though
it will never fit on a tiny foil wrapper, “Write someone you love a handwritten
note today and actually mail it – even if they live at the same address as you.”
Smile
at someone you don’t know.
Compliment
someone.
Give
someone some praise.
When
the day is done you will have lived as a citizen of heaven. You will have shared God’s love. And you will fall asleep with contentment and
satisfaction within yourself. Amen
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