Sacred Cynicism

There were a lot of things that used to scare me when I was a kid. Bullies used to scare me. They seemed so tough, and I was certain that I could not stand up to them. Monsters used to scare me as well. Not real monsters, but the monsters that lived in my closet. Each night before going to sleep, I would close my closet door, and check under my bed to be sure none had left the closet to hide. There was one other thing that scared me during my growing up years – Heaven. Yes, Heaven. I just could not fathom what heaven must be like. Streets of gold just did not interest me, and neither did harps, wings, or any stupid crown. And don’t get me started on eternity. The idea of having no end was foreign enough to scare me.

Looking back, I think most of the fear came from heaven being an unknown. I did not know what heaven was like, and so the thought of it scared me a little. Since I have never been ‘there,’ I found it all a little disconcerting. I think we are like that with most places, we are a little nervous about going someplace new, or different.

2,000 years ago, some shepherds were simply watching sheep in a field, when they found themselves in the middle of heaven. Suddenly heaven was all around them, and it made such an impression, they went to find the child the heavenly group told them about. Years later Saul the Pharisee would be on his way to Damascus when he found himself in the middle of heaven – at least that is what he claims in 2 Corinthians 12. I do not know what happened, but Paul simply called it wonderful. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, and the writer of Revelation all found themselves immersed in Heaven, while still here on Earth, and whatever happened to them, it changed their lives.

Most of us are probably still stuck with the idea that heaven is a place, like Bettendorf, IA. Since we have never been there, the idea of this new place makes us a little uncomfortable. Yet in the Bible heaven is simply the place where God is, and the marvelous thing is that Heaven and Earth do not seem to be completely separated, but intertwined in ways we cannot imagine. So intertwined that people keep bumping into heaven at times they do not expect, and it changes their outlook. Then in Revelation 21 the great picture comes into focus. Heaven(where God is) is finally completely joined with where God’s people are. As a result, there is no sorrow, pain or death, for the old order is passing away. Behold, God is making everything new.

I think we run into heaven from time to time as well. We run into heaven during times of incredible closeness to God, or sometimes in times of intense closeness with each other, when no agendas, selfishness or pride enter the relationships. We see things of tremendous beauty, feel times of incredible love, and feel incredible safety and peace. Then the reality of life intrudes and our almost perfect picture clouds again with the pain and reality of life. My problem is not that heaven is nowhere to be found, but that this world keeps obscuring the view. Christmas marks the day when this world failed to obscure the view any longer, and the shepherds were the first witnesses to where God is.

Here is why this is so important. We all have times of hurt, loss, pain and doubt, and people tell us not to worry because heaven is our final destination. But I have never been there, and I don’t really want a harp so I do not find this at all comforting. And in the midst of our guilt for not really wanting to go to heaven just yet, we find ourselves yearning for those times of joy, closeness, fellowship and love. Times when the concerns of life did not weigh us down. What if all of these times were little glimpses of Heaven all along? Does that change anything? It just might. I am not unfamiliar with these times, and I have been there before. I have experienced times of closeness with God, great fellowship with friends unmarked by strife, jealousy and agendas. Perhaps these are a hint of things to come, a down payment on what will be as Paul so likes to say in the New Testament.

So in this Christmas week, let us celebrate that day when Heaven and Earth joined together, never to be completely separated again.

“Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace to those on whom His favor rests.”