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There was a Vicar who was talking to a group of young children about being good and going to heaven. At the end of the talk she asked them, "Where do you want to go?" "Heaven!" they all piped up. "And what do you have to be to get there?" In unison they all replied, "Dead!"
During this season of Advent, we are reflecting on the Four Last Things - Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell - in the light of Jesus Christ, and the hope that we are given in Him. This evening, we consider heaven, and are reminded in the Nicene Creed that Jesus Himself "ascended into heaven."
People often talk about going to heaven when they die. Jesus "ascended into heaven" after His death and resurrection. But what does that mean, and what do we imagine that heaven itself will be like? As Rowan Williams points out in his book Tokens of Trust : "The Gospel .. promises a new world and it directs us to the central story of a bodily Saviour whose material flesh and bones are not left around in the world but raised and transfigured into something recognizably continuous with earthly life, yet dramatically different." Through Jesus, we are assured that "God does not redeem us by making us stop being what we are - beings who live in community and context."
When Christians speak about going to heaven, there has been a tendency to do so in ways which may suggest that heaven has little or no connection with this world and its present history. Going to heaven, then, is seen as an escape from this world, a world that we are passing through, but one which has no future in God's plans. If heaven is regarded as distant and completely separate from present reality, then it is no wonder that this produced the farcical situation where Kruschev could claim that the early Russian astronauts had gone to look for God in space, and had not found Him, thus disproving His existence. As CS Lewis said at the time, some of us would have been worried if they had found God, or paradise, in outer space.
However, when we look at the Bible - and in particular the New Testament - a very different understanding of heaven emerges. One where the Christian hope of heaven holds together both heaven and earth, both this present age and the age to come, both our present reality and God's dimension. Heaven, then, is not just about the future, but also about the here and now. Heaven is - as Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, has put it - "God's dimension of present reality."
If we are to take the biblical witness seriously, then you and I need to see heaven as an already present - albeit veiled - reality. Heaven is God's dimension of present reality. In Jesus Christ, you and I are assured of all that God opens to us, all that is freely and graciously given to us, through the One who - as we shall shortly say in the Nicene Creed - "ascended into heaven." And it is Jesus Himself who - as the Gospel reading reminded us - teaches us to pray for the coming of God's Kingdom come, "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6 : 9).
In Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of heaven - in other words, God's reign - has begun to be experienced here on earth. The day of the promised Age to Come has dawned, and this reality can be experienced, here and now. For those with eyes open to see, and ears to hear, heaven is not some far distant land. Rather, it is God's dimension of present reality, separated from our sight by a veil as thin as gossamer, a dimension which has yet to be fully and finally revealed at the end of time.
But what, then, do we imagine heaven unveiled will finally be like? We find that hard to do, for heaven is not easy to imagine. In fact, it's often easier to imagine hell. Heaven is usually pictured with a kind of yellowy white haze with clouds everywhere; nothing much going on. A few angels twanging harps maybe, St Peter having a nap at the pearly gates, a crowd of saints enjoying the never-ending bliss of eternity.
Is that the kind of heaven you and I are waiting for? Is that really the glorious hope of heaven we are given in Jesus Christ? One of the most vivid visions of heaven in the Bible is to be found in the Book of Revelation. That fantastic vision of John in chapter 21 - our first reading this evening - which begins with these words: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21 : 1). In John's vision of heaven we see four things. First of all, we see a vision of God. "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people … God himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21 : 3 TNIV). In heaven, above all, we meet with God. We come face to face with God in all His glory. We can hardly begin to imagine what that is going to be like. But what matters is the truth that, in heaven, we meet with God. God Himself will be with us.
Now some might think that this is a bit of a let down. Wouldn't it be nicer to think of heaven as a sort of eternal Disneyland with endless free rides? Isn't the idea of living with God for ever and ever a little dull? I wonder whether there's anyone here this evening who has experienced what it is to be apart from a loved one for long periods of time? Mary and I were engaged for nearly two years, and during that time I was in Reading and Mary was in Cambridge. Well I remember the weeks of mounting 'phone bills, the 98 miles of road between us, the months of anticipation and longing for that day when all the waiting would be over, and we'd be together, at last. Suppose you'd asked me during our engagement: 'Are you bored at the prospect of getting married and being together?'
Are we bored at the prospect of being with God for ever? The God who came to meet us in Jesus Christ, when we were still far away from His love? The God who gives us hope, when all else seems hopeless? The God who loves us, even though we're often unlovable? Don't you and I long to be closer to that God? How could heaven be dull with God at the centre? God Himself will be with us. That is the greatest thing about heaven.
But there's more than that. St John's vision of heaven is, secondly, a vision of God's people. "They will be his people." In heaven we won't be alone with God. John's vision of heaven is a vision of God's people. In heaven, we won't find a bunch of isolated human beings, each enjoying God on their own. We'll be part of a family, God's family. Now you may say that this sounds more like hell than heaven. Let's be honest, the thought of spending eternity with some Christians we know doesn't exactly thrill us - it's hard enough seeing them once a week!
When you and I feel like that, then let us also remember this: the reason that we don't always get on well with one another is that sin distorts and spoils our relationships. But in heaven there is no sin. No bitterness, no backbiting, no rivalry, no hate, no jealousy, no greed, no gossip; nothing divides the citizens of heaven. One fellowship, one community, standing together at the throne of God. One family, and what a family that's going to be. Think of the variety of God's people. Take ourselves here at the Priory, and in all the churches in the Malvern area. We come from so many different walks of life, we have so many different gifts and experiences and outlooks. Yet here we are, drawn together as a community of people to worship God, welcome others, and witness to the Kingdom. In other words, we ourselves are called to be a foretaste of heaven. Wow!
John offers us a vision of heaven which is first a vision of God, and second a vision of God's people. Third, it is a vision of God's final defeat of evil: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21 : 4). In heaven every evil is banished. There will be no more death. That end which stands in front of all of us, the last enemy; that robber which snatches away those closest to us. Death will have no hold in heaven. In Jesus Christ there is only life, life in all its fullness. There will be no more mourning and crying - none of that terrible grief which suffocates; that longing for the return of a loved one; that aching regret about the things left unsaid or undone. In heaven we will be released from all that. The only tears shed will be tears of joy. There will also be an end to pain. Pain which destroys and disfigures, pain which cripples so many lives, emotionally and physically. All these things will be no more. Death, mourning, crying and pain have no place in heaven. They will be gone forever.
A vision of God's final defeat of evil. As if that wasn't enough, John's vision of heaven points us to a fourth truth: a vision of God's new creation. "He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new" (Revelation 21 : 5). And - right at the beginning of the chapter - "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21 : 1). A new earth. God isn't simply going to give up on His world. Whatever is worthy of God will be transformed into a new creation. As Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 8, our hope is that "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Romans 8 : 21).
As yet, you and I cannot fully envisage heaven. What we do have is a series of pictures or images in the Bible which help us to glimpse what heaven will be like. For example, heaven is pictured as being like an unimaginably beautiful city, inhabited in joy and harmony by a community united in the love of their Lord. Or, again, heaven is pictured as being like a wonderful wedding feast, where the groom is Jesus Christ, and we are to be united with Him, at last fully sharing His life.
In the light of the promised glorious new creation in Jesus Christ, you and I are granted glimpses of heaven that one day will be finally and fully unveiled. Then, in the majesty and wonder of Christ's return, and the marvels that follow, we shall find ourselves experiencing something of that which CS Lewis once described at the end of his children's Narnian book The Last Battle:
"The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. .. it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world .. had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which .. goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."
John Barr
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