One night a man has a very powerful dream.

In his dream he goes to heaven.

There in heaven he meets Jesus.

Jesus welcomes him at the Pearly Gates.

But before the man can through the gates and receive eternal rest, he must first visit the other place.

So, the man then descends with Jesus into hell.

There the man sees millions of unhappy, hungry people seated at a very large table.

The table is filled with very fine food.

But no one is eating.

The man wonders why these people are hungry.

He asks Jesus, “Why are these people not eating?”

Jesus replies, “To eat here you must use 11-foot-long spoons.”

“That’s terribly harsh,” the man says back to Jesus, “There is no way you can eat with a spoon like that.

Jesus looks at him with love and says back to him, “You are correct.”

Then in an instant the man is taken right back to heaven.

This time the man is allowed to enter into the gates of heaven.

Upon entering heaven, the man again sees millions of people seated at a very large table.

The same food is set on the table – an identical scene.

People are laughing, full with good food, and they are very happy.

The man asks Jesus, “Do these people have different spoons to eat with?”

“No, the same 11-foot spoons.”

The man is very confused at this point.

“I don’t understand.  How is this possible.”

Jesus again looks lovingly at the man, “My child, in heaven people have learned how to feed each other.”

“You cannot eat from an 11-foot spoon but you could feed someone else with one.”

“Heaven is where we have learned to give and to receive.”

“Welcome into this place.”

On this Father’s Day I remember how my father would tell me this story when I was a child.

He would tell me this story to teach me a great truth about how we should live life in the here and now.

Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

When we care for one another and when we serve one another then no one goes hungry and we share the love of Jesus with others.

Today this story still impacts me and reminds me how we are to live on this side of heaven.

In the Galatians reading for today we hear that in Christ Jesus we are all children of God, that we belong to Christ, and that through faith we are heirs of the promise.

The promise is the gift of God’s grace for you and for me.

We are saved both in this life and in the life to come through God’s grace.

When it comes to faith in Jesus – faith in Jesus is grace responding to grace – gracefully.

In order to end with God’s grace in heaven and be heirs of the promise we must first start with God’s grace right now in this moment.

Our lives are to be about the activity of sharing God’s grace.

How we serve one another, how we care for one another, how we treat one another – these are the things we ought to be thinking about.

When we respond to God’s grace we live in grace-filled ways.

As imperfect as we are, at times, God’s grace is bigger.

God’s love invites us into living more deeply in Christ.

We are invited as heirs of the promise to the table of the Lord.

But in order for us to fully enjoy God’s bountiful provisions and blessings we must first learn how to share, to serve, and to give.

We cannot hoard and keep God’s blessings to ourselves – they must be shared.

The Holy Spirit will empower us and guide us always.

The Church of Christ is called to show a glimpse of God’s welcoming table right now.

In Christ the Spirit transforms us into a people that live by the ways of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – the very fruits of the Spirit.

God compels us to love and to serve one another with humility and grace.

This coming week look for ways to serve and to proclaim the good news of God in Christ Jesus through word and deed.

This means that you might teach a child the song, “Jesus Loves Me,” you might extend a welcoming hand to a new neighbor, you might call someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one, you might seek reconciliation with a co-worker or speak words of grace and forgiveness, you might even serve a meal to someone in need.

By serving others we move our hope in God’s future kingdom into action in this life for the sake of God’s world and for the sake of God’s people.

At the end of our lives, we may have some regrets.

But we will not regret the ways that we have served others, the ways that we have given grace to others, and the ways that we have shared Christ’s peace.

Thanks be to God for God’s gift of life and grace in Christ!