TOUCHING HEAVEN

 

Life on earth is the most blessed gift the Almighty could have gifted us. The very fact we wake up every single day is a miracle on its own. The one day our God has set apart for Himself is our day of REST-which many of us literally take it instead of coming to His HOME and giving praise to Him along with our fellow beings. One day in a week-it's so difficult to spare in this busy, nerve-wrecking world, right? And you really expect the God who has to take care of millions, to come to your aid when you call all of a sudden, after a few months or maybe even years? Even when we have come back to the physical mode, after months of those online services, some are still hiding as if behind their Zoom screens, not ready to come back to the fellowship of togetherness. 

Worshipping God is a duty given to us Humans, the one and only species on earth given the intellect to think and words to speak. But 21st century humans are quite far away from the sanctuary, and even find no time in their own homes to call upon Him. Time-consuming it is, right? Or are we influenced by the athiests and less involved Christians? Well, the world has so much more to offer than to simply waste 2 hours in a building, ain't it? We could keep our social media accounts that much more active if we have more time- or watch a movie or two-or bicker about our miserable life on our own without even thinking to turn to the One who gave you that life in the first place! 

Church-going is essentially a good habit. A habit passed down to us by our ancestors- but broken by our generation- Oh yes, you can blame the Corona Virus and the Lockdown for that! It has come to a dangerous peak that going to church every week is not a common thing anymore- that one free day can be used for an outing somewhere, a long drive or just a lazy pyjamas day at home. Worse even, is when those who come to church just rush out without talking to a single soul, let alone the vicar who just mediated for their sins! 

When we hardly miss a day at work or school, then why is it so difficult to keep attendance in Church? Who's marking my presence, you ask? There is One for sure who does notice, even if your pastor or elders in the church don't care...Someone keeps count on how many weeks you missed and how aloof you maintain from all the activities...if your kid has come to Sunday School or not...if you are able to do justice to that fine position you hold in the committee...or if you attend choir practice on time every week...or if you have unnecessarily created issues in an otherwise peaceful fellowship....

Many of us have yet to understand the true meaning of worship- the selfless, genuine submission to the One and only God Almighty through the scapegoat Christ the Son asking for the all-knowing presence of the Holy Spirit. Through the continuous echoes of praise we invoke His presence right there inside those four walls and into our hearts; through the endless thanksgiving prayers we remember what He has done for us all our lives; through the pleas and petitions we ask Him to continue to be with us always. 

Whether you worship Him in freestyle or with a book of liturgy, the point is the same for all believers. My belief is not greater than yours, if you also adore Him with a pure and contrite heart. My church is not inferior to yours, if it has less members in it. My place of worship is not more acceptable than yours if it has more stained glasses, and a pipe organ in it, or when millions are spent on its beautfication. My prayers may not be heard as fast as yours, just because its just not my turn yet. 

God looks into our hearts, our souls and our minds. Is mine clean enough for Him to visit? Is my church perfect enough for Him to be pleased? How much of a scrubbing is needed all over for Him to come down during this 21st century and even step into our homes, minds and parishes? Some of us think we are the guardians of moral policies in the church and simply exaggerate issues...some find great pleasure in exposing the 'wrongdoings' and directly publish it somewhere not knowing what defame has happened to others. Even Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) But no, we just have to take things in our hand and crucify that wrongdoer in public. 

How will our worships be of any good if we have such issues in our church? Family feuds, committee disputes, jealousy, rivalry, priest's side versus the other side, or worse, whose side is the pastor on-issue, the big-donator ticket, the influencer types, the gossippers, the money mongers...kind of sounds like a picture of the Jerusalem Temple 2000 years ago, right? Remember, how Jesus outraged at those merchants who were tricking and cheating the people - an incident mentioned in all four Gospels- for turning the House of God into 'a den of thieves'. If Jesus were to visit his beloved earth today- how many of our Christian churches and Institutitions would get a Gold Medal or the Crown of Glory for being genuine and faithful in its mission and vision? Shame on us, really, shame on us all. 

All people want is that real and true experience of Touching Heaven- that breath of life only selfless devotion can bring. If our Churches are able to give that, we are on the right track. If you, as a believer, blame the church for not getting it, then maybe you have to change the way you comprehend things happening there. Instead of searching for God somewhere else, know that He is right there where you are, ready to give you the blessings of the Son and the presence of the Holy Spirit with you always.  

Touching Heaven is purely a divine experience -which happens only if you OPEN your HEART and OPEN your EYES to Him. If you try to live in the safe zone saying, 'God, I'm okay where I am now...just don't expect me to do more...', He will surely catch you one day and say, 'My dear, I missed you lately. Where have you been?' You might get that heaven-feeling when you sing, when you pray, when you chant or simply when you close your eyes and listen to the worship around you. If you are not able to get it, then that may been an indication for you to open up more and keep praying. God is never too far away. Do I have to get baptised over and over again to get that feeling? I don't think so. One baptism was enough for Him- and believe me, your first one was counted. So why keep doing it by water, when you can do it by 'fire'? I'm no one to judge that, but still if you take that as a re-submission then it is a different case. You can surely have that divine feeling while on earth itself because He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit that day on the Pentecost. This quote given below surely tells us that we can also experience that if we just let go of our hard-core ego. 

How far have we come in just 2000 years- so far ahead in advancements, but so far behind in having that simple innocent faith- For Jesus said  in Matthew 17:20, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Our faith is nowhere to be found now- because we are losing our young generations to somewhat a neutral existence- with all these inter-religious marriages and queer living- with all the politics found in organised churches and managements- many have lost interest in knowing God through the Church and may find 'greener pastures' which they would realise quite late that they are not so green after all. Why are our people turning to atheism, agnosticism, omnism or even alternative spirituality? Don't we express faith even as small as a mustard seed for so many to flee away from the saving presence of Jesus? Why are we failing to testify and attract the multitudes unlike our Saviour Jesus who had thousands around Him for each sermon? 

These divisions we find in the Christian Church do not exist in heaven- it is just a result of human diversity and in some cases, greed for power. There is not a Church denomination in this world that has zero issues in it. Why? There is nowhere that you can find 100% loyal and unblemished workers for the Lord. Leaders of churches have ego problems with each other; so many pastors and priests have less moral fibre to be a model in front of the people; our believers are drifting away and being less committed in the eyes of the Lord. Even huge global Churches like Hillsong or famous Christian Ministers like Ravi Zacharias have fallen into the abyss of immorality and have lost its image in front of the whole world. For centuries, the Catholic Church has been dealing with cases of priests abusing even little kids. Every other month, new cases sprout up from somewhere about some financial fraud or sexual misconduct.  Churches are fighting in courts for some land or property or selfish issues. Where is our testimony? Why can't our Churches be white as snow? Where are we headed to? What answer do we have to give when we face the Judgment Day up above? How can we touch heaven in such circumstances? Or is this just a problem of our times? Showing below a graph of the decreasing population of Christian in the USA, but can really be paralleled to any place in the world. 

Those who are looking upon us can easily point fingers and say 'Those Christians are upto no good'. There was a time when an ordained priest or nun got acceptance and respect wherever they went. But now people just stare and maybe won't even get up from their seats, let alone give a nod of recognition. Our own people do the same, then how can others show courtesy?  We talk about our Church leaders with such contempt and disregard, that same feeling is penetrating into our children, our neighbours, our workmates and ultimately into our whole world. Even Gandhiji once said to the missionary E. Stanley Jones when was asked why he does not want to become a Christian as he quoted Christ so much:  "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It is just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ". Who should be blamed in this case? If we call ourselves Christians, then the finger points back to you and me.  The thoughts that come to us can be: Why should I go to that place which does not even notice me? Or how can I receive the Holy Communion from that sinner? Well, if you think you are sinless, then who are we to judge someone else for their wrongs? Let God do the deciding of that soul, instead of crucifying one another. Our Saviour already did it once for us worthless beings, right? 

Let us join together and cleanse our hearts and our sanctuaries- let us get ready for His Second Coming- for we are one day closer to it today. Our Lord would have never dreamt that those who took up His name and call themselves His followers would bring so much of division and enemity within itself- centuries of War, oppression, abuse, theft, adultery, lust, corruption, murder- all of the Commandments long forgotten among our community- our daily newspaper is just a proof of that, making us Christians cringe at the news of a crime by another Christian-then how can others look upon us and say, 'He/She truly was a follower of Christ'? How can someone be inspired by our selfish and extravagant lives and even want to follow us for the right reasons? How can our children look upto our 'model' lives and say 'I too, want to follow the Jesus my mother and father believe in'? Will we be saved by just wearing white clothes to church every Sunday? What's the whole point if we are not righteous at all, inside out? 

Remember, our life on earth is a mere practice before the one in heaven. If we feel the worship here as boring, we would certainly miss the ticket to UP above, because there is nothing else than worship that happens up there. Whether you like a 'rocking' Church or a serene one, God is present even if two or three gather in His name. God would certainly find out about our listlessness and inattentiveness during the service- our indifference to what the Church has to say or do- our passiveness when the duty call comes; and even our fraudulity . So, while we are here, wish for a revival- in our hearts and in our churches; wish for that experience of Touching Heaven- each and every day, while asking for forgiveness, when you pray, when you are depressed, when your are happy, when you ask for His help in your life; each and every Sunday, when we gather in his Holy Temple, with His people, while interceding for others, while partaking in his banquet, unbiased and selfless- and then Heaven will come down and touch your heart- and make you NEW all over again- till the end of times. 

With prayers,

Remya Rachel Thomas