Heaven Matt.19:16-22

Some of the common images about heaven I would expect people to come up with if asked for are –
- the best golf course
- St Peter on the gate
- beautiful streets and sunsets
- no taxes and great beaches
- everyone in white robes getting along without conflict.
One minister commented to his congregation that heaven will be like nothing we can comprehend, with a church service that goes on all day. Maybe!
Associated with these images are some interesting questions that revolve around our ideas of heaven –
Who will get there and who will not?
Will there be family reunions or not?
Will we still get to watch the All Blacks play on celestial Sky?
Amongst all these images there are some interesting observations.
• Firstly, Heaven is usually located somewhere else and it’s primarily about something that we can look forward to after this life on earth.
• Secondly, entry is restricted – usually for people who are good enough. You are going to need an entry visa signed by Jesus to get in.
• Thirdly, it’s all about a life of bliss, where you get to play golf whenever, where everyone lives in harmony and peace.

Now I think there’s some truth in these observations, there is also some stuff that really doesn’t tie up well with our scriptures. Jesus clearly talks of heaven happening now in our midst here on earth. He clearly has a hope that everyone might find a place in heaven, and our individualized ideas of bliss are hardly the sort of picture Jesus paints about heaven.
In the Old Testament heaven would be most clearly be defined as God’s home. The Hebrews thought of heaven above the sky which was a pretty natural thought. They weren’t into space travel and had a very different spatial understanding of the earth and what was above the earth. For them God had a heavenly court above the clouds and could look down on all the earth which, of course, was perceived as a big flat plain. The Hebrews didn’t think they would end up in heaven when they died, but they did think that sometimes the life of heaven could come into their lives and into the life of the earth. As time progressed they began to believe in a general resurrection at the end of time when heaven and earth would come together, and God’s dwelling place would be fully integrated into the life of earth.
Jesus himself tells us over and over about the Kingdom of Heaven coming to earth. Mark tells us that at the beginning of his ministry Jesus announced to the people of Galilee that the time had come, and that the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven had come near. It was time to sit up and take notice and take this good news into our hearts. He’s talking about a new quality of life coming to birth on earth.
Jesus also uses other terms for heaven, sometimes talking of the present age, meaning our life now, and then the age to come, meaning the time when heaven has fully come on earth. Sometimes he talks of ‘eternal life’, and it seems this was a question on people’s minds. “What must I do to have eternal life?”, is asked of Jesus more than once. How we hear that question is interesting because I suspect most people will hear that as “how can I guarantee entry into heaven when I die?” I don’t think that is what the rich man was thinking as he asked the question. He thought of eternal life more as a new quality of life in our midst on earth. The answer we might expect if heaven is simply for when we die might be, “you need to confess, repent, and receive Jesus into your heart”. But Jesus doesn’t say that. He says, “if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments”. Note the interesting change of terms because the rich man asks about eternal life which is the life of the age to come, Jesus talks simply of life. It’s already happening. It’s already here in Jesus. Jesus isn’t interested in getting to heaven when we die, he’s interested in getting heaven on earth now. He’s interested in a new quality of life now! Jesus isn’t interested in leaving this earth to go somewhere else, but he’s interested in how heaven can shape our lives together now.
This of course is not something Jesus thought up, because the prophets of the Old Testament talk about it all the time. They believed that God was alive shaping a new world.
Isaiah said in the days to come people will beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks (Is. 2:4)
He also said in the days to come there will be a new harmony and peace in all of God’s creation. (Is 11)
Ezekiel said the time is coming when people will all have abundant harvests, and there will be no more famine and hunger. Even the graves of the dead will be opened and the life of God will bring dead bones back to life. (Chap. 36-37)
Amos said the time is coming when the mountains and hills will drip with sweet wine and people will all be valued and respected, and justice will reign. (Chap. 9).
They are remarkably inclusive images where every person would be celebrated, valued, and play their part. They are wonderfully earthy images with wine and abundant food, feasts, people owning their own homes and having decent lives to live. It’s not bliss and putting your feet up, but honest participation in life. Jesus and the prophets recognized that God has always been looking for partners to discover the seeds of heaven, to water them, and bring something new into being. God, who is the source of life, works from within to make something new. God invites us all to take part in this ‘let’s make heaven a reality in our midst’ mission.
Some things we know well will not survive in this world to come. Like war, like greed, injustice, violence. Like exploitation, put downs, jealousy. Some people say they can’t believe in a God of judgment but if heaven is to come we need a voice that says no! Every time a woman is assaulted, every time a ship spills oil out into the ocean, every time those at the bottom are exploited, or a life is treated as trash, someone needs to give voice to the judgment of God. Someone has to say, this is not how it is in heaven!
But it needs more than people saying ‘no’. It requires seeing the little seeds of heaven that God has planted everywhere, even within us, and watering those seeds, nurturing them, warming them to life, and encouraging them to grow.
The rich man’s question then was about how do we do this? How does heaven come on earth, and the answer was simply, “live the commandments.” Honour God and respect one another. Jesus quotes the ten commandments or actually just five of them. He omits the first 4 which are about our relationship with God. One can only assume they were not of concern for the man. I’m more interested in the tenth commandment which he misses out. And the tenth is about? Thou doest not covet thy neighbour’s ox, wife, TV, Audi, Ipod, etc. Jesus simply tells the man to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor. The man is wealthy and firmly attached to his wealth, and that greedy attachment has no place in the world to come. It’s time to nurture another seed – the seed of letting go, of putting what he has to use not for his own security and welfare, but for the sake of heaven. It’s time to use what he has to grow some Jesus seeds or some seeds of heaven. Jesus even promises that he’ll find a new treasure in his life when he does this, but the man doesn’t take him up. He’s holding on tightly onto what he has. He’s not into risking letting some of those seeds sprout.

Heaven for Jesus isn’t about deck chairs and golf courses when we die. It’s not essentially about who gets in and who gets left out, and its not about going somewhere else. It’s about this precious earth and it’s about how we live right now. It’s about uncovering the seeds of heaven and watering and warming them to life. It’s about continuing to pray and work with Jesus that the kingdom of heaven may come on earth.

Dugald Wilson 9 Oct 2011