In the Name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
People say that
there’s no such thing as heaven on earth.
They’re partially right. We live
in a fallen world, with all its pains and heartaches, troubles and trials and
so it will be until Christ returns.
There’s no such thing as a utopia here on earth, there will never be
lasting peace; and no matter how many vintage Coke commercials you see, the
world will never sing in harmony.
We’re
idealists; we would like to think that for one moment in time the world would
stop its fighting, stop the warring, stop the madness and live in peace and
harmony; live like it was heaven on earth.
But there’s one problem with that idealistic thought: we’re sinners and
sinners don’t get along all the time.
Not even in our homes amongst our loved ones, our family, and friends is
there peace all the time. Even our own
dining room tables often resemble the opposite of our idealistic nothing of
heaven on earth. So if there can’t even
be lasting peace within our homes, how can we expect there to be peace and
unity throughout the world? And even if
we could subdue our sinful natures for a time, there’s the devil stirring up
disharmony. We’re sinners, on our own
there’s nothing but discord.
But even though
there will never be an earthly utopia until the New Heaven and New Earth, there
is such a thing as heaven on earth, but it has nothing to do with sinful people
ceasing to be sinful people. It has
nothing to do with us and everything to do with God.
In our text for
this evening, Moses took half of the blood of the sacrifice and splashed it on
the altar of God and then threw the other half on the people. “Behold
the blood of the covenant that the Lord ahs made with you in accordance with
all these words.” A covenant God
made with the people. Not a two-way
street where the people keep their end and God will keep his end. A covenant that God made with His people
where He takes the burden and fulfills both ends of the deal. There was no participation of the people, God
simply makes them His people and He their God.
And as the people
were standing there covered in the blood of the sacrifice, Moses, Aaron, Nadab,
Abihu, and 70 of the elders went up the mountain and saw the radiance of
God. Though their feet remain firmly on
terra firma – solid ground – “they saw
the God of Israel. There was under His
feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And He did not lay His hand on the chief men
of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.”
There you have
it. Heaven on earth, but it didn’t come
about by Moses, Aaron, or any other person, by because God was there. These men don’t just see God from a distance,
like a fly on the wall or peeking out from under a bed, but the Lord of Heaven
and earth, in this heavenly scene, eats with them. An act of intimacy. An act of love.
Heaven is wherever
Jesus is for His people. At the advent
of Christ, He proclaims, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” It’s at hand because Jesus brings with Him
heaven. When Moses, Aaron, and the other
men of Israel see this heavenly scene it’s not the sapphire pavement, or the
majesty of it all that makes it heaven.
It’s heaven because Jesus is there, even eating with them.
We’re sinners who,
of our own, can’t even begin to create a heavenly utopia on earth. But we don’t have to. Like the people of Israel, we’re covered in
the blood of the sacrificed Lamb of God, which has made our robes soiled with
sin white as snow. We have heaven on
earth as Jesus Himself comes to us, here on the altar, under bread and wine and
shares a supper with us where He is both host and meal. At the altar we kneel as Moses, Nadab, and
Abihu stood as God came into their presence.
Heaven is wherever
Jesus is for you and, though we may not see pavement of sapphire, or glory and
majesty like Moses beheld, the Lord’s Supper is heaven on earth for Jesus is
there forgiving your sins. The blood
that was shed on the cross He gives you to drink. The body that was crucified and raised from
the dead, He gives you to eat.
The spotless Lamb
of God has been sacrificed on the altar of the cross for you once for all. And His body and His blood, He gives to you
in a meal in which He is both host and entrée.
The benefits of forgiveness and eternal life which He won for you on the
cross, are brought to you here and now and placed on your tongue. For in the Supper, your hand and your mouth
are the sapphire pavement which He desires to walks.
People say that
there’s no such thing as heaven on earth.
In a sense, they’re right; sinful man will never be able to create
it. But tonight heaven dips down to you
and for you. The crucified and risen
Jesus comes to you this night for you.
The blood of Jesus that He sheds on the cross and places into our mouths
is your salvation. The Lamb goes to the
altar of the cross for you. Your sins
are covered and paid for in His blood in which He has bathed you in and gives
and sheds for you.
Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life
everlasting. Amen.
