HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT
ABOUT HEAVEN? OF COURSE YOU HAVE; AND NEARLY EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES
IN GOD AND AN AFTERLIFE HAS. WE CHRISTIANS HAVE COME UP WITH SOME
INTERESTING IDEAS. ONE OF COURSE IS WE GET A WHITE ROBE AND A PAIR
OF WINGS AND STAND AROUND ON A CLOUD PLAYING A HARP. THAT IMAGE
WHICH APPEARS IN A CARTOON NEARLY EVERY WEEK OR SO, IS DEEPLY
ENGRAINED IN THE AMERICAN PSYCHE. ANOTHER IS THAT HEAVEN IS A
SITUATION WHERE WE WILL CONTEMPLATE THE BEATIFIC VISION FOREVER.
THAT DOESN'T GIVE US MUCH OF AN IMAGE, OBVIOUSLY, BUT I DON'T THINK
MY YOUNGER GRANDCHILDREN COULD SIT STILL THAT LONG. SOMETIMES WE
IMAGINE HEAVEN AS A PLACE WHERE WE WILL HAVE A PERPETUAL PARTY WITH
OUR LOVED ONES – THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US, AS WELL AS THOSE WE
LEFT BEHIND. BUT ANYONE WHO HAS HAD LOVED ONES FOR HOUSE GUESTS
KNOWS THAT THERE'S ONLY SO LONG YOU CAN TAKE THEM.
WHEN YOU GO TO THE BIBLE
FOR IMAGES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THE WORLD TO COME, YOU FIND
TOTALLY DIFFERENT IDEAS. EZECHIEL IMAGINES A CITY WHERE THE TREES
THAT GROW BY THE RIVER OF LIVING WATER PROVIDE FOR ALL MAN'S NEEDS.
ISAIAH TALKS ABOUT SWORDS BEING BEATEN INTO PRUNING HOOKS – WHY
PRUNING HOOKS? – BECAUSE IN THE WORLD TO COME WE WILL BE PRUNING
AND TILLING THE GROUND AND CRUSHING GRAPES FOR WINE. HE TALKS ABOUT
A RICH FOOD FOR ALL PEOPLE … BECAUSE GOD WILL SWALLOW UP DEATH
FOREVER.” AND JESUS HIMSELF PRAYS THAT GOD'S WILL BE DONE ON
EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. ALL OF US HAVE HAD MOMENTS HERE ON EARTH
WHICH WE WOULD LOVE TO LIVE OVER AGAIN; MOMENTS WHEN WE WERE DOING
WHAT WE LOVED TO DO. HEAVEN, PERHAPS, IS NOT A PLACE WE ARE GOING
TO, BUT INSTEAD, IT BEGINS RIGHT HERE; IT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE
WORLD TO COME.
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATES
INCARNATION – THAT THIS WORLD MATTERS; THAT THOSE THINGS THAT GIVE
US JOY IN THIS WORLD ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO GOD – BECAUSE GOD BECAME
HUMAN. THAT'S WHY JESUS WENT ABOUT USING HIS POWER TO HEAL, TO RAISE
THE DEAD, TO DRIVE OUT DEMONS; THAT'S WHY HE FED THE CROWD, THAT'S
WHY HE SHOWED HIS DISCIPLES THAT HE COULD EVEN CALM A STORM. AND
WHEN JESUS WASN'T DOING THESE THINGS, HE WAS TELLING OTHER PEOPLE HOW
TO BE HAPPY; HE TOLD THE CROWD THAT BEING PEACEMAKERS, BEING POOR IN
SPIRIT, BEING MERCIFUL – ALL THESE WERE WAYS TO BE BLESSED, TO BE
HAPPY. IN OTHER WORDS, IN HIS WORDS AND ACTIONS, GOD WHO BECAME MAN
WAS GOING ABOUT CREATING THE KINGDOM; JESUS WAS STARTING THE PROCESS
OF BRINGING HEAVEN TO EARTH.
GOD THE FATHER GIVES THE
WORLD JESUS, TO SHOW US THAT HE CARES ABOUT THE WORLD, AND ABOUT WHAT
WE HUMANS CARE ABOUT. AND JESUS, THE PERFECT MAN, SHOWS US WHAT MAN
IS EXPECTED TO DO – TO BRING ABOUT HEAVEN ON EARTH.
IT MAKES SENSE. GOD HAS
FILLED HUMAN BEINGS WITH INSTINCTS WHICH WE CAN USE TO DESTRUCTION AS
WELL AS TO GOOD. SOME PEOPLE FIND THEIR GREATEST JOY IN UNCOVERING
THE SECRETS OF THE WORLD; GREAT SCIENTISTS ARE NOT HAPPY UNLESS THEY
ARE LEARNING. SOME FIND JOY IN MAKING MUSIC; THE COMPOSER BRAHMS
WEPT WHEN HE WAS TOLD HE WAS DYING, NOT BECAUSE HE FEARED DEATH BUT
BECAUSE HE WANTED TO GO ON MAKING MUSIC. AND SOME PEOPLE TAKE
DELIGHT IN EDUCATING – A DEDICATED TEACHER LOVES WHAT SHE IS DOING,
SO MUCH SO THAT SHE SPENDS HER OWN MONEY ON THINGS TO HELP HER
CHARGES LEARN MORE. BUT OF COURSE THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT
AREN'T HAPPY DOING WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO TO SURVIVE. PEOPLE STUCK IN
DEADENING JOBS, PEOPLE WHO CAN'T FIND WORK AND WOULD GIVE ANYTHING
FOR A JOB; PEOPLE WHO ARE PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY CRIPPLED AND AS A
RESULT HAVE TO LIVE ON THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY. BRINGING ABOUT HEAVEN
ON EARTH IS WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO; SOME OF US ARE ALMOST THERE,
AND OTHERS NEED SO MUCH.
INCARNATION MEANS THAT
GOD IS WITH US, GOD GUARANTEES THAT FOR THOSE WHO USE THEIR GIFTS TO
BRING ABOUT HEAVEN ON EARTH, THEIR WORK WILL NOT BE FRUITLESS, EVEN
WHEN IT SEEMS THAT WAY. INCARNATION GUARANTEES THAT GOD'S HEAVEN
WILL BE REALIZED ON EARTH, HIS WILL WILL BE DONE, SOMEDAY, BUT
CERTAINLY. INCARNATION MEANS THAT GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE
A WORLD OF JOY, OF PEACE, OF MERCY, A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE HAS ENOUGH
TO EAT, WHERE EVERYONE CAN DO WHAT MAKES HIM OR HER MOST HUMAN, WHERE
WE CAN RESTORE THE GARDEN OF EDEN, WHERE MAN DID NOT JUST LIE AROUND
DRINKING BEER AND WATCHING FOOTBALL, BUT WAS GIVEN THE GARDEN TO TAKE
CARE OF AND THE ANIMALS TO NAME.
NOTICE THAT WHEN JESUS
BECAME ONE OF US, HE DID NOT WAIT AROUND FOR THE RIGHT CONDITIONS, HE
DID NOT COME UP WITH A FIVE POINT PLAN THAT HAD BEEN DEVELOPED BY A
COMMITTEE. HE WENT ABOUT USING HIS GIFTS TO CREATE HEAVEN ON EARTH,
TO REBUILD THE WORLD ACCORDING TO THE FATHER'S PLAN. AND THE BIGGEST
BARRIER TO HEAVEN ON EARTH IS DEATH, BUT HE CONQUERED DEATH SO IT IS
NO LONGER A THREAT TO THE FATHER'S PLAN.
THOSE OF US WITH SMALL
CHILDREN IN OUR LIVES – MAYBE OUR OWN, MAYBE GRANDCHILDREN –
MAYBE JUST MEMORIES OF CHILDREN, KNOW THAT IT'S EASY TO GIVE HEAVEN
TO A LITTLE CHILD. THE CHRISTMAS TREE, THE GIFT THAT THE CHILD HAS
LONGED FOR, THE COOKIES AND ICE CREAM AND ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS TO
EAT; YOU CAN GIVE A CHILD HEAVEN, IF ONLY FOR A VERY SHORT TIME. AND
IT'S POSSIBLE FOR US TO GIVE HEAVEN TO OTHERS AS WELL IF WE CHOOSE
TO. WE KNOW HOW THINGS SHOULD BE – THERE SHOULD BE NO POVERTY, NO
DISEASE, NO ADDICTION, NO HUNGER – AND WE COULD MAKE A LONG LIST.
THERE SHOULD BE LOVE NOT JUST BETWEEN CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS, BUT
BETWEEN ALL PEOPLE, ALL NATIONS. WE KNOW HOW THINGS SHOULD BE. AND
WE KNOW HOW THINGS ARE, ESPECIALLY IN OUR HOMES, IN OUR WORK PLACES,
IN THE CITY WE LIVE IN. AND THERE ARE A FEW PLACES WHERE WE HAVE IT
IN OUR POWER TO TAKE SOMETHING THAT IS AND MAKE IT WHAT IT SHOULD BE.
AND THEN HEAVEN HAS GOTTEN A LITTLE CLOSER TO EARTH.
CHRISTMAS IS A SEASON OF
GIVING. THE FATHER GAVE US HIS SON TO NOT ONLY SHOW US THE WAY, BUT
TO BE THE WAY, TO BE THE LIFE THAT ENLIVENS HIS PEOPLE, TO OVERCOME
DEATH SO THAT NOTHING WOULD STAND IN THE WAY; AND THEN THE SON
PROMISES THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AMONG US, IT IS WITHIN OUR
GRASP, IT IS THERE FOR THE TAKING AND FOR THE GIVING. YOU ARE GOD'S
GIFT TO THE WORLD; YOU ARE THE ONE WHO OPENS HEAVEN'S GATES.
