Revelation 21:1-7
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
Sermon Text
When we all get to Heaven… That’s what we’re gonna sing here in a few minutes, but what do we actually think those words mean? Last week we talked a lot about our mortal remains and the way that we care for them after life has left them. We tackled preplanning, we tackled the mode of burial, we even talked about what to do with our anxiety around death. The good news, of course, is that death is not final for us. So, we have a few things to address about Heaven today.
Firstly! What is it like to be in Heaven? Similarly, how aware are the saints in Heaven of our lives on earth? Next, we will talk a little bit about what we can expect Heaven to look like, and finally we’ll address what how the resurrection ties it all together.
So that starting thing. What is it like in Heaven, in terms of the life that we live there. Do we just sing in a chorus forever? Is Heaven just the best parts of Earth on repeat? What does scripture actually tell us about our life after death? You’ll be, perhaps, shocked to know that we do not get a lot of details.
Heaven is defined primarily by proximity to God. When the thief beside Jesus confessed that Jesus was innocent, Jesus promised him that he would be by his side, “that day.”[1] When Lazarus dies in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus, Abraham’s place in eternity is described as a place of comfort where the dead are ministered to by angels.[2] So, Heaven is a place where our needs are met and we are close to God. That’s a good start. Heaven is also a place where we do worship God, not just in terms of our praise and prayers, but through everything we do. To eat rightly, to live rightly, to pray, to speak, to be right – all this is worship.
The saints in Heaven, engaged in worship as they are, are not limited to the expressions of worship as we understand them on earth. When I was growing up in a more contemporary church, we were often sold that Heaven was one big concert around the throne of God for eternity. I do not believe that’s correct. If for nothing else than the fact that everyone in Heaven having their own soundtrack would detract from the unity of it all, I think that being in communion with God is more than just praise music and spectacle. In Heaven we live, we do not just sit and sing and sway.
The dead, therefore, who are in Heaven, are not rendered unaware of the lives of their loved ones on earth. They still have their mind, they still have their memories, and their connections. I do not know if they are fully aware of what is happening on Earth, scripture does not tell us. The closest we get is that, in Revelation, we see that Heaven has a direct view of the earth, and therefore the dead may be able to see some things going on here on earth.[3] I am unsure, however, if I am willing to commit to the semi-omniscience that others have granted the dead through their concepts of the “beatific vision,” or any other formula.[4]
I do, however, think that even if the dead are not able to see us, that they are still working for our good. They are praying to God for you in the same way they prayed for you before they died. They are still praying for you to thrive and flourish and grow in love with God. They still love you, they still know you, and though they are apart from you now, they do not cease to think of you now that they are perfected. The dead, whether they can see everything we get up to or not, are in constant prayer for us even as they walk the streets of Heaven and do whatever it is our divine life puts us to in death.
Besides the details of our life in Heaven being sparsely described, the actual layout of the Heavens is likewise left vague. If you look to the scriptures, it becomes clear that Heaven is not just whatever happens to be above us. Heaven has strange beasts and thrones and seas of glass and fire and all manner of incredible things. It is a purely spiritual realm, and therefore beyond the comprehension of our mortal eyes. What is in Heaven, at present, can only be described in metaphor and with bits of the full truth revealed at a time.
However, this is not the case eternally. One of the things that I am confident about is that, while the people who sit currently in God’s presence are fully cared for, fully joyful, fully at rest… They are also waiting for the next big thing to happen. Christ, someday, shall return to the earth one last time. The physical body which rose on the day of the ascension will descend once again. The wicked will be thrown into judgment and the righteous will be welcomed into God’s perfect kingdom. There will be a time when all is accomplished, and when that happens, something incredible will be done.
The realm that is purely Spiritual – that is Heaven – will be snapped into perfect alignment with that which is physical – that is the Universe. Our souls, sitting in Heaven until that moment, will be placed back into our bodies and both will be made perfect. We will live eternally, physically and spiritually all at once. The earth that has always been our home, will be our home once again. The New Heaven and the New Earth, reborn of the old, will be a place where a perfect unity of soul and body is allotted for all. There will be, therefore, hill and forest, ocean and river, all the beauty of the present world, in the next – albeit perfected.
Our future is built off our present. The Spiritual Realm is truly beyond our vision, except to know that someday, beyond death, our faith promises us a place of rest, and joy, and worship. There, we will commune with God and one another, praying for the ones we leave behind. We will wait, in blessed anticipation, for Christ to set the world back to right. Only then, at the end of all these things, will Heaven and Earth join, and the true shape of both be revealed. – Amen
[1] Luke 23:43
[2] Luke 16:19-31
[3] Revelation 7-8; various others.
[4] Oddly, despite popular belief that those in Heaven can see earth, I have found few canonical sources in any denomination or tradition that will explain this. It may be that, rather than a doctrinal idea, it is an extension of the truth that those in Heaven pray on our behalf.Revelation 21:1-7
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
Sermon Text
When we all get to Heaven… That’s what we’re gonna sing here in a few minutes, but what do we actually think those words mean? Last week we talked a lot about our mortal remains and the way that we care for them after life has left them. We tackled preplanning, we tackled the mode of burial, we even talked about what to do with our anxiety around death. The good news, of course, is that death is not final for us. So, we have a few things to address about Heaven today.
Firstly! What is it like to be in Heaven? Similarly, how aware are the saints in Heaven of our lives on earth? Next, we will talk a little bit about what we can expect Heaven to look like, and finally we’ll address what how the resurrection ties it all together.
So that starting thing. What is it like in Heaven, in terms of the life that we live there. Do we just sing in a chorus forever? Is Heaven just the best parts of Earth on repeat? What does scripture actually tell us about our life after death? You’ll be, perhaps, shocked to know that we do not get a lot of details.
Heaven is defined primarily by proximity to God. When the thief beside Jesus confessed that Jesus was innocent, Jesus promised him that he would be by his side, “that day.”[1] When Lazarus dies in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus, Abraham’s place in eternity is described as a place of comfort where the dead are ministered to by angels.[2] So, Heaven is a place where our needs are met and we are close to God. That’s a good start. Heaven is also a place where we do worship God, not just in terms of our praise and prayers, but through everything we do. To eat rightly, to live rightly, to pray, to speak, to be right – all this is worship.
The saints in Heaven, engaged in worship as they are, are not limited to the expressions of worship as we understand them on earth. When I was growing up in a more contemporary church, we were often sold that Heaven was one big concert around the throne of God for eternity. I do not believe that’s correct. If for nothing else than the fact that everyone in Heaven having their own soundtrack would detract from the unity of it all, I think that being in communion with God is more than just praise music and spectacle. In Heaven we live, we do not just sit and sing and sway.
The dead, therefore, who are in Heaven, are not rendered unaware of the lives of their loved ones on earth. They still have their mind, they still have their memories, and their connections. I do not know if they are fully aware of what is happening on Earth, scripture does not tell us. The closest we get is that, in Revelation, we see that Heaven has a direct view of the earth, and therefore the dead may be able to see some things going on here on earth.[3] I am unsure, however, if I am willing to commit to the semi-omniscience that others have granted the dead through their concepts of the “beatific vision,” or any other formula.[4]
I do, however, think that even if the dead are not able to see us, that they are still working for our good. They are praying to God for you in the same way they prayed for you before they died. They are still praying for you to thrive and flourish and grow in love with God. They still love you, they still know you, and though they are apart from you now, they do not cease to think of you now that they are perfected. The dead, whether they can see everything we get up to or not, are in constant prayer for us even as they walk the streets of Heaven and do whatever it is our divine life puts us to in death.
Besides the details of our life in Heaven being sparsely described, the actual layout of the Heavens is likewise left vague. If you look to the scriptures, it becomes clear that Heaven is not just whatever happens to be above us. Heaven has strange beasts and thrones and seas of glass and fire and all manner of incredible things. It is a purely spiritual realm, and therefore beyond the comprehension of our mortal eyes. What is in Heaven, at present, can only be described in metaphor and with bits of the full truth revealed at a time.
However, this is not the case eternally. One of the things that I am confident about is that, while the people who sit currently in God’s presence are fully cared for, fully joyful, fully at rest… They are also waiting for the next big thing to happen. Christ, someday, shall return to the earth one last time. The physical body which rose on the day of the ascension will descend once again. The wicked will be thrown into judgment and the righteous will be welcomed into God’s perfect kingdom. There will be a time when all is accomplished, and when that happens, something incredible will be done.
The realm that is purely Spiritual – that is Heaven – will be snapped into perfect alignment with that which is physical – that is the Universe. Our souls, sitting in Heaven until that moment, will be placed back into our bodies and both will be made perfect. We will live eternally, physically and spiritually all at once. The earth that has always been our home, will be our home once again. The New Heaven and the New Earth, reborn of the old, will be a place where a perfect unity of soul and body is allotted for all. There will be, therefore, hill and forest, ocean and river, all the beauty of the present world, in the next – albeit perfected.
Our future is built off our present. The Spiritual Realm is truly beyond our vision, except to know that someday, beyond death, our faith promises us a place of rest, and joy, and worship. There, we will commune with God and one another, praying for the ones we leave behind. We will wait, in blessed anticipation, for Christ to set the world back to right. Only then, at the end of all these things, will Heaven and Earth join, and the true shape of both be revealed. – Amen
[1] Luke 23:43
[2] Luke 16:19-31
[3] Revelation 7-8; various others.
[4] Oddly, despite popular belief that those in Heaven can see earth, I have found few canonical sources in any denomination or tradition that will explain this. It may be that, rather than a doctrinal idea, it is an extension of the truth that those in Heaven pray on our behalf.
Teach us to Number our Days 