Citizens of Heaven

This past Sunday I preached on a passage from Philippians where Paul encourages the people of the Roman colony of Philippi to shift their focus from being earthly citizens to heavenly citizens.

It's often difficult to do this, isn't it? 

It can be easy to compartmentalize our faith lives, limiting our "heavenly" activity to Sunday mornings (and perhaps Wednesday evenings).  The rest of the week?  That's usually when we find ourselves cutting off people in traffic ("listen pal, I ain't got all day!"), maximizing our personal interests at the expense of the common good ("I'm too busy too recycle"), or just living in our own self-involved bubbles ("Darfur sounds awful, but what does that have to do with me?")

OK, these are exaggerations (I hope) but the point I'm trying to make is the same- we should always live our earthly lives guided by our heavenly principles.  "On earth as it is in heaven" we recite in the Lord's Prayer. 

There are often things which are acceptable as United States citizens but fall far short of acceptability as heavenly citizens.  It's "legal" to do many things in our country, but that doesn't make them right.
We might pledge allegiance to the flag, but may it never supersede our allegiance to Christ and his teachings.

So what does this look like in practice?  Well, I suppose it looks different for everyone.  The principles are the same, however.  There are, of course, the Ten Commandments.  That's a good start. 

But there are also the broader principles from the Bible:
"love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:38)
"whoever has two coats should share with anyone who has none" (Luke 3:11)
"do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8)

And those are just a few!

Especially as Christians, our lives should be ordered around our call to live as disciples of Christ.  This orientation should influence how we treat one another, how we behave (even when no one is looking!), and how we make our decisions.

We might be citizens of the United States, but it's our citizenship in heaven which is our ultimate identity. 
Martin Luther wrote, "... we are no longer citizens of earth.  The baptized Christian is born a citizen of heaven through baptism.  We should be mindful of this fact and walk here as if native there."

So this week try to remind yourself to live your life in light of your heavenly citizenship rather than just your earthly citizenship.   Because our heavenly citizenship that offers far more than just "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  It offers us lasting joy, true contentment, and eternal salvation.

See you in church,

Pastor Brook