29th September 2024
Reflection with readings following on below
The Lord’s Prayer proposes that God’s will, God’s rule, should prevail on earth as in heaven. In other words the authority, the pattern of behaviour, that relates to heaven, should also relate to earth in the same way.
Today’s extract from the Book of Revelation tells a story – maybe a parable – of Satan and his angelic ilk who having gone against God’s will, are thrown out of heaven. Is the implication that likewise any spirit on earth that opposes God’s should be thrown out? Certainly we have many healing stories where Jesus does just that: unclean spirits that go against God’s will are thrown or drawn out of those possessed by them. Just as in heaven there is no space for evil spirits or dispositions that oppose God’s will; so there will be no space for them on earth. Where such opposition to God exists, there is both a need for, and the option for, healing.
Heaven and earth are not separated. They are not dis or un-connected realms. Both the passage from Genesis and from John’s Gospel, tell of the interconnectedness of heaven and earth. Both use the image of a ladder with angelic messengers to describe the flow of communication between heaven and earth. It is a flow of communication that is now ongoing through Jesus Christ.
If heaven and earth are not separate but interconnected, and if God intends that the divine rule and way of being should prevail in both domains, and if God has established a means of communication between the two – and with Jesus we have the most perfect means of communication – then we should be able to live and work as if God’s rule did apply on earth just as in heaven. But clearly it is something we do have to struggle for, whether we see ourselves following the example of St Michael who stands up for what is right, or the example of Jacob (who is constantly struggling with himself to do the right thing), or if we follow the way of Jesus and share the load of his cross.
So may God bless us with the knowledge that Heaven and earth are not separate but interconnect realms where God’s love and mercy abound.
Genesis 28:10-17
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Psalm 103:19-22
19 The Lord has set his throne in heaven, *
and his kingship has dominion over all.
20 Bless the Lord, you angels of his,
you mighty ones who do his bidding, *
and hearken to the voice of his word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, *
you ministers of his who do his will.
22 Bless the Lord, all you works of his,
in all places of his dominion; *
bless the Lord, O my soul.
Revelation 12:7-12
War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
John 1:47-51
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
The Green Tau 