Heaven: Is it just therapy?

After a lively discussion this morning's Bible study focusing around the first 4 chapters of Romans, I realized how much of the conversation had centered around who and who doesn't get to heaven. This stemmed from Paul writing about God's wrath, judgment and righteousness in the first 3 chapters of Romans (yes, an uplifting start that gets better).

Interestingly enough, we got on the topic of heaven when someone asked "do we get judged now or later?"

We then sprung into talks about Haiti, 9/11 and other events that people have blamed on God, but the overwhelming consensus was that we are judged later, when we die and have the opportunity to experience heaven.

One person spoke of how comforting this feeling was, that they were going to heaven, that it was a weight off of their shoulders that they did not have to fear death.

Believe it or not, a lay person at Stonebridge UMC was right in line with statements made by Martin Luther, Paul, John Wesley and many of the great theologians from the past. They too were afraid of death and not being in the presence of God, and God's grace allowed them to be relieved and be at peace.

But is the promise of heaven just a therapeutic tool for us? Is it something to give us comfort when things are bad...that things will eventually get better? What is heaven?

Christianity is not the only faith that holds an idea of a "heaven", as Muslims for sure hold the idea of a paradise, and even Buddhists and Hindus have an idea of Nirvana or a spiritual essence that takes you out of materialism. Christians, however, have not always been consistent with their ideas of heaven...causing me to wonder if it is just therapy now or if it is true deliverance.

According to the Gospels, Jesus talks about preparing a place for us with The Father in heaven. Jesus, however, does not talk about streets paved with gold, sitting on clouds playing harps, or even a bodiless existence.

Paul, I do not believe, talks about heaven specifically, but does offer salvation through Christ. So saved from what and to what?

It is possible that heaven can be an extra-bodily existence after we die, in which we are in perfect union with God and at peace...and after that, no one can tell you what heaven is like. We can't even say that's for sure.

But the earliest Christians saw salvation as occuring within this world that they knew. Even Revelation, by many scholars, is about freedom in this world and making this world new. When resurrection of the body is talked about, Paul adamantly argues that our physical bodies and not just our souls are resurrected from the dead, and that we will walk with Christ on this earth.

Is it possible that heaven really is on Earth?

Maybe Belinda Carlisle was right...Let's make heaven a place on Earth.

I believe this takes heaven out of the realm of therapy, although I do enjoy the comfort of knowing my friends and family are in heaven when they die. However, reading scriptures, salvation and heaven are so much more than a retirement community. Heaven seems to be that state on Earth where we are in perfect union with Christ and His mission, and that can only happen when Christ returns and the faithful are resurrected (mentioned in Paul's letters).

But I don't think heaven is the end of the story. It's not the final comfort, but the beginning of an exciting journey where we experience what life with Christ is truly like. When we are so in tune with the will of God that there is no war, hate, violence, suffering, poverty. Where we are shaped perfectly by God.

Donald Miller writes, "The point of a story is never about the ending, remember. It's about your character getting molded in the hard work of the middle."

Maybe heaven is here and now, and in the beyond. Maybe it's both at the same time. The point is, that we'll never know what heaven is like, except that we'll be with God. But heaven is so much more than being reassured that we are special and that we are safe. Heaven is a call to transformation and a call to a life lived with God. Heaven is supposed to mold us here and later, so that in Christ's final victory we might be made perfect, not for a outer-wordly realm, but for Christ's reign on Earth.

Feel free to disagree. I don't know what heaven is, but I know I'm excited about it. But I tend to think that God likes this place, why else would he have created it? I tend to think Paul is right that our bodies are not just jailhouses for our souls. So if we're rethinking bodies, souls and the earth, perhaps heaven ought to be at the front of our minds as we transform these other things.