Heavenly hope
Series: CREATIO | Bible text: John 14:2; Philippians 3:20
Man carries in his heart the longing for love and justice. Jesus calls the place where this longing is satisfied heaven. Moreover, He challenges us to shape our lives on earth starting from heaven. With a heavenly hope, we can make courageous decisions and live radically new values. We gain access to heaven by sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In most cases I like to arrange funeral services. This has nothing to do with cynicism, but with the impression that in such moments the time has come to the finish and the sky is wide open. On our deathbed we like to say: «One day we will meet again.«Will we really see each other again or is it just a pipe dream? And – where will we see each other again? What will it be like?
Heaven in the heart
There are many objects in the Creatio. The only thing I have an inside perspective of is myself. I have a story that no one else knows. Only I know how it feels for me to walk barefoot through a puddle, to be in pain or to have wishes not come true. This internal perspective is also called I or Soul.
Where is the story in a book like «Lion»? Is it in the printer’s ink, in the letters on the pages? What happens to the story if we burn all the books? Someone comes with a DVD and the story – as a film – is also on it. What happens to our history, our ego, when our body dies?
Like a common thread running through all religions and cultures is the great hope that there is life after death. Among other things, the Egyptians built pyramids and designed the burial chambers inside them with overwhelming beauty. They placed objects with the buried pharaoh that could have been useful for the afterlife.
Solomon wrote about 1000 years before Christ: «God has already determined the time of everything in this world in advance, he has even placed eternity in the hearts of people»(Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLB). Man carries within himself the hope that his I does not fall into nothingness. We have hope for the eternal life that comes after the book of the film. Besides eating, sleeping and dying, man is characterised by the following longing: that love remains, that justice is done.
Jesus speaks about heaven
What is the Christian idea of heaven? The Old Testament vision is of a land where God and people come together. Abraham is to move from his homeland to the promised land that is to become the home of the people of Israel. God does not want to bring his people to a heaven, but to an earthy land where milk and honey flow as well as God wants to live together with the people.
Due to the unfaithfulness of people towards God, this project does not quite reach its goal. That is why Jesus appears in this world and speaks a lot about heaven and hell. He shapes a radically new way of thinking, expressed in the Prayer of Our Father: «Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» Jesus thinks from heaven. In heaven, everything happens according to God’s intentions. We are to pray and live that something of this may become visible on this earth. The «heaven» model of thought has extremely strong consequences for life in this world..
In the context of heaven, Jesus often speaks of reward: Things we do on earth have eternal effects – positive and negative. What we do in our lives really counts. Nothing is overlooked: «If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to Christ, he will be rewarded»(Mark 9:41 NLB). Our decisions have concrete consequences. In view of this wage, He also pleads for a completely different lifestyle than is commonly practised in society. Jesus did not teach a feel-good gospel: «Go to church regularly and pray. There you will find your partner for life and with God’s help you can relax a little in the evening.» Similarly, life with God is not about a nebulous spirituality, but about completely new standards of values in central issues:
Jesus challenges us to use our money for the good of others. «[…] In this way you accumulate reward in heaven with your generosity»(Luke 16:9 NLB). Concrete heavenly hope makes us more generous with money. Our handling of money has repercussions in heaven.
Even our approach to sexuality is supposed to have a heavenly perspective. Jesus says: «[…] and yet others have chosen not to marry for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can understand this, let him act accordingly»(Matthew 19:12 NLB). Why so radical? Because we believe in an unattractive heaven at best, sexuality has become our heaven. Jesus dares to shake our pseudo-heaven. Live with your body in a way worthy of heaven! With a heavenly perspective of hope, it is even possible to live with unfulfilled wishes.
And now it gets really challenging: «Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness» sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.»(Matthew 5:10 LUT). The listeners knew what persecution meant; and it was not someone posting something nasty on Facebook. The first disciples were killed because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus» comment on this was: Be happy! He bases these radical statements on heaven. «Rejoice! Rejoice! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, even the prophets were once persecuted» (V.12 NLB). The first disciples could no longer take death as a concept so seriously. They went to their deaths for Jesus because they saw the Risen Lord. They knew: It takes a second and then I am in eternal glory. What should I be afraid of? Paul finds the following words for this perspective of heaven: «But I am convinced that our present sufferings are insignificant compared to the glory he will give us later on»(Romans 8:18 NLB).
What kind of heaven must it be to rejoice even in persecution? The more Greek idea of heaven as a realm of souls and spirits is not sufficient for such a lifestyle. The heaven Jesus speaks of is as concrete and earthy as the land of Canaan.
Our longing for love and justice does not fall into nothingness. This is what the first followers believed because Jesus Christ died and rose again. Jesus did not appear as a spirit after his death, he rose as a unity of body, spirit and soul. The resurrected Jesus had one body, but a different one. He could walk through walls, suddenly appear and disappear, some disciples do not recognise him immediately, but then they do, and – he no longer dies. Figuratively speaking, Jesus mutated from a two-dimensional circle to a sphere. A sphere has an additional dimension and therefore has completely new possibilities. After his resurrection, he now rolls over the irritated «flatlanders».
Paul knows that all followers of Jesus also become bullets: «We, on the other hand, are citizens of heaven, and from heaven we also expect our Saviour – Jesus Christ the Lord. He will transform our imperfect body and will make it like his own bodyreflecting God’s glory»(Philippians 3:20 NGÜ). You are a sphere. Your present circle is part of it. But it is only a small part of much more. Your story becomes a living film! The message of the Bible is that this happens with the whole Creatio: «Everything on earth was subjected to transience. This happened against their will by the one who subjected them. But all creation hopes for the day when it will be freed from death and corruption to the glorious freedom of God’s children.» (Romans 8:20f NLB; cf. Colossians 1:20). The new creation encompasses the whole cosmos. On the one hand, history continues (continuity) and on the other hand, it is recreated in a new dimension (discontinuity). In heaven, circles become spheres, a book becomes a film.
The new world is not an impersonal, astral world. Jesus also calls heaven My father’s house: «There are many dwellings in my Father’s house, and I go ahead to prepare a place for you» (John 14:2 NLB). Later, Jesus says that his Father is also our Father (John 20:17). Heaven is not just an external home, but a home of the heart. It is the place where you realise, this is what I was made for. Your longing for love and justice reaches its goal. The sky is such that you intuitively feel completely at home.. Meanwhile, Jesus has been building this house for 2000 years. How ingenious it must be, considering that the Creator needed only 7 days for the whole world.
Access to heaven
The cross and the resurrection of Jesus are the access to this new world. Jesus had to die and rise again for the new life. None of us is simply waved through. We too are faced with a decision on the cross. Am I willing to trust this God, to die and rise with him? To die with Jesus means to surrender and to come to the realisation that I, as I am, do not fit into the new world. Therefore, I cling to Jesus and give Him my life. In the course of resurrection with Him, He gives me a new existence with the facility of 3D. The Bible also calls this process rebirth. In baptism we express that we have died and risen with Jesus.
God respects your decision and also accepts a no. The consequence of this, and Jesus speaks very openly about this, is eternal separation from God. He gives us freedom. You can decide today to become part of the new creation by consciously turning to Jesus..
Christian hope is much more than a consolation of the hereafter. It is a hope with which one can live and die. The priest Maximilian Kolbe is in a concentration camp in 1941. A prisoner has escaped. And now ten innocent people are to die of starvation for it. A father of a family is also chosen. He cries out loudly. Then priest Maximilian steps forward to die for him. He says in answer to the question «Why are you doing this?»: «I am an old, single man. This man is young and has a family.«For the eyewitnesses, it is still a mystery today that the commandant accepted the priest’s offer. Kolbe goes with the others to the death bunker on 3 August 1941. Twelve days later, the camp doctor kills the four prisoners who are still alive at the time – among them Maximilian Kolbe – with a phenol syringe. As long as he could still speak, he gave strength to his fellow sufferers and told them about God.
Heaven is not a consolation of the hereafter. The belief that this life is not everything is what gives life incredible value, depth and beauty. It is precious when the weight of our life is in eternity. This anchor holds, whether your boat is rocked back and forth by waves of suffering or waves of happiness. When you live with Jesus, you actually start living in heaven. And then when you die, you will say: «Actually, I have been living in Father’s house all along. I just haven’t seen everything yet because I was a small circle.»
Possible questions for the small groups
Read the Bible text: Romans 8:1–22
- Read the text given. Although not easy to understand, it expresses the content of the sermon very well.
- How do you imagine heaven? What has changed with this sermon?
- Is your hope worth living a radically different lifestyle à la Jesus?
- What does it mean to organise everyday life thinking from heaven?
- What does it mean to die and rise with Jesus Christ? Have you already experienced this?
