Matthew 5:1-12
Someone sent me something on Facebook. The title was “What heaven really is, and why many people would not like it”. We imagine heaven to be a state of being in which all our desires are satisfied, and we live in complete happiness for all eternity. That’s probably true, but there are conditions, and some of us may not like them. That’s ok, because you don’t have to go to heaven. There are alternatives.
The author makes the following points:
First of all, heaven is not just about beauty, joy, peace, and so forth. At the core is union with God himself -- the awesome holy presence of God in myself. Second, heaven is the palace where God’s will is everything - nothing exists outside of His will. No pride, no stubbornness, no sin, no complaining; heaven is total surrender. Third heaven is pure holiness; holiness is not just avoiding sin, but it is becoming like God. Fourth, heaven is where nothing, but love remains -- not comfort, not gossip, grudges, revenge, selfishness. Fifth, heaven is eternal worship. Some of us start looking at our watches during the sermon. Heaven is unending praise, thanksgiving, adoration. If your prayer feels empty now, think of what it will feel like in heaven.
Many people like the idea of heaven, but few want to be transformed into someone suitable for heaven. Maybe hell is not fire and demons, but full of people who reject what heaven is -- people who want freedom without obedience, pleasure without holiness, God’s gifts without God Himself. Becoming holy on hearth is heaven’s training ground.
And that brings us to the beatitudes, the eight statements we’ve just heard in the gospel, and the ninth which warns us of the consequences of living that way.
Did Jesus just think of several random things and preach them? He starts with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. That’s the introduction. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people who have emptied themselves out, who live to do the will of God, who turn their lives over to God.
When you read the next seven statements, they describe what it means to be pure of heart. It’s being someone who mourns. I never quite understood that, but I think it means someone who is sensitive to what is wrong with the world, and is moved to do something about it. It’s being meek. Not being walked on, but recognizing that other people have as much claim on the necessities of life, physical and spiritual, as you do.. IT’s desiring with all your energy, that true justice will prevail. Justice and righteousness are very similar; justice is about reward and punishment; righteousness is justice that seeks to transform through reward and punishment. It’s God’s justice; it’s why bad things happen to good people. It’s being merciful; it’s avoiding things which lead to sin or cause others to sin. That’s “clean of heart”. it's being a peacemaker. Many people like to stir up conflict; they go around saying, in effect, “let’s you and him fight!” They take pleasure in getting people riled up. Just check the internet. Many people live to make other people angry, to sew division. That will never get you into heaven. Jesus refers to righteousness again, when he tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are doing something about righteousness -- remember, justice which transforms - even to the point of being persecuted.
And then Jesus looks at you directly, and promises that if you have decided to take him at his word and seriously try to live these beatitudes, you will probably meet a lot of resistance. You might even get your head chopped off, or burned at stake. It wouldn’t be the first or last time something like that happened to someone who tried with all their heart to follow the beatitude, to do what Jesus proposes. And if you are being persecuted and libeled for living this way, you know you are on the right track, you can look forward to heaven.
Heaven is there for the taking. God wants everyone to get to heaven. Jesus tells us that it takes more than just following the ten commandments; it requires allowing yourself to be transformed into someone who belongs in heaven, who is comfortable there.
That of course is the greatest argument for the existence of purgatory -- it’s the completion of God’s work to make us citizens of heaven. For some of us it won’t be long at all, or be very difficult. For others it might take a long time and a lot of work on God’s part to finish what was begun on earth. For some, they will take one look and say, “I don’t really want heaven, thanks anyway, God.” So use the time you have left in life to be the kind of person who will enjoy heaven.
