Several people told me after worship that they enjoyed the service and my sermon. I'll be honest -- this worries me a little bit. Certainly I'm happy when people are happy with a worship service -- enjoying worship usually means that people have found it important, relevant to their lives, and meaningful. However, I was "leaning in" a bit with the sermon, challenging one of our most cherished notions of heaven as fantasy. Usually when I step on toes -- which pastors sometimes need to do -- I try to do it delicately and lovingly; but I never imagine anyone will "enjoy" it.
Then again, there's certainly something uplifting about telling the truth (or at least something closer to the truth) in our culture that celebrates so many false things in our lives. What was the sermon about? Using Jesus' promise from the cross to a thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise," I explored what paradise Jesus is promising. In general, I think that the paradise Jesus means is different from the one that we usually imagine. And it is a paradise that will require us to behave differently, if it is to actually be paradise when we're there.
If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with others, you can find an audio recording here.
You can also listen to the related communion meditation and the concluding benediction.
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