Destination Heaven or Present Reality
Destination Heaven or Present Reality
What will heaven be like on the day that we die? Will they stand up and cheer or will they sit down and cry? Will the angels sing? Will there be celebrating? What will heaven be like on the day that we die? Heaven; where is heaven, what will it be like, how do we get there, who will we see there, what will we do? On and on the questions go.
The teacher asked her preschool class, “Now how many of you would like to go to heaven?” All of the kids but Tommy raised their hands. The teacher asked, “Why don’t you want to go to heaven Tommy?” He answered, “I’m sorry, but I can’t. My mother told me to come right home after Sunday School.”
Bishop Fulton Sheen in his autobiography, Treasure in Clay wrote about an experience he had when he was traveling around preaching, “I stopped to ask a few boys for directions to the Town Hall where I was giving a lecture. They told me where the Town Hall was and then asked, “What are you going to do there?” “I’m giving a lecture on heaven and how to get there. Would you like to come and find out?” “You’re kidding,” one boy said. “You don’t even know the way to the Town Hall.”
From a young age I remember having questions about heaven. As believers in Jesus Christ we at one time or another think about what we have been told is going to be our eternal home. We have these ideas from what we have read or seen in movies and even have heard from people who have supposedly experienced the here after and then came back to life.
To be honest it is a whole lot more comforting sometimes to imagine than to be told what heaven will be like. So when we listen to today’s reading from Revelation, we are immediately drawn to imagining a new heaven and a new earth. So how do we imagine such things? To imagine something new we must think in a different way, something changed from what we think heaven will be like and what we know of our present earth.
The book of Revelation found as the book end in the New Testament, is known as the Apocalypse and presents itself as a work of prophesy. John of Patmos is the presumed author of Revelation and it is while he endured exile on the island of Patmos that he supposedly had these visions of what was to come. These very visions have an effect on our visions and I believe can not only make us more desirous of knowing more about our possible future home, but bring us to a place of considering that future to be now.
In trying to decide on the scripture passage for this week I really believe God was having fun watching me struggle and toil over where to concentrate my efforts. I have always struggled with an understanding of the book of Revelation, so have shied away from even trying to figure it out. Sometimes in imagining such things as heaven, I limit my imagination to just the things that I am comfortable with. Yet in looking at this passage and discussing this passage I have a renewed sense of hope as I continue on with my personal faith journey now, today.
It is not by coincidence either that the lectionary scripture choices for today on this All Saints Day deal with heaven and death as well as with hope and resurrection. While we only read from Revelation during this service, I ask you to go back and read John 11:32-44. This gospel lesson focused on Jesus coming to his dear friends in their time of grief over their brother Lazarus death. This is a scripture that bares the humanness of Jesus, as he is personally disturbed by the grief his friends are feeling and his own care for them. As much as Mary and Martha focused on the death of their brother, Jesus was now focused on bringing glory to God through raising Lazarus from the dead.
What a testimony to those who watched this miracle unfold before their very eyes. I mean, Lazarus had already been dead four days, but Jesus had other plans. Those plans included the raising of Lazarus as another example of God’s glory and life giving power. A. K. Adam summarized this scripture this way; “Death still affects those who turn to Jesus in faith, as it affected Lazarus and Jesus himself; but John deploys this story to show that even though disciples may still die, death does not end, but interrupts their life.”
Have we ever considered death as an interruption between the present life and eternal life? Unexpected death especially interrupts more than just one life but that of those who must now seek to go on without their loved one. We also seek to rely on our faith to carry us, as we trust that life does not end in death, but in eternal life for those who believe.
Today as we remember the Saints who we now entrust to God, we are reminded that the influence and witness of love by those who we consider to be saints will always remain woven into our very being. These saints are the people who impressed upon our hearts an imprint that had an effect on us.
I have some personal names that come to mind when I think of saints that have had an effect on my life. My Grandma K who was widowed for many years, instilled in her children and grandchildren a reverence for God. Or Leora Mickelson who even though her children were all grown and gone, faithfully shared the jewels of Christ centered living with a group of unruly teenagers, that she corralled each week for Sunday School at the Selby United Methodist Church. Or my Uncle George and Aunt Doris who lived so simply, yet always insisted on sending home part of the abundance from their garden or kitchen to share with others. And of course my own mother, that doesn’t need an explanation.
The list goes on and on. We gather here today because of the faithful Methodist saints who had a vision over 128 years ago for ministry right here in downtown Rapid City. The Saints are definitely not limited to our past but are all around us presently. We know of people who care for those with special needs, volunteers who deliver meals to shut-ins, those who teach and give freely ….the saints sit among us. Look around, look back, past, present and future saints surround us.
In the gospel of Luke chapter 17 verses 20-21 it says; “Once Jesus* was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among* you.’
As people of faith, as saints and sinners, as humans, we at times doubt Gods presence in the midst of our sorrow or pain. Yet, heaven as a destination or being in God’s presence aren’t things we have to wait to realize but we can know personally as a reality now on our present journey. Resurrection and new life are not experiences to only be had someday in the future but can be part of the transformation in our lives now.
As hard as this past year may have been for some of us, in losing family or friends, the passage in Revelation I believe gives us a fresh reminder that our future hope includes God dwelling among us, that his care for us will continue as there will be no more sorrow, or pain. No more death…… and in verse 5 it says, “And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See I am making all things new.” And while those may be promises for our future, these can also be possibilities for present day reality as well.
There is no better place than at the table set before us to remember the ultimate saint that we know in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. While we juggle the concepts of heaven, death, resurrection, and new life, we must remember what had to happen for us to personally know of God’s personal love and grace. In remembering the sacrifice God made of his own Son, as God’s children we then can go from this table with the assurance of God’s never ending presence and life giving hope.
What will heaven be like on the day that we die? Will they stand up and cheer or will they sit down and cry? Will the angels sing? Will there be celebrating? What will heaven be like on the day that we die? As many questions as we have, for us present sinners and saints, ……I believe God is desirous that we have a faith and trust in Him for our future and that we are committed to the continued call for caring for those who may not yet have that assurance. AMEN.