Heaven: Person, Place or Thing?
Easter 5AMay 10, 2020
Grace, Waseca, MN
John 14.1-14
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself so that where I am you may be also.”
When I was a young boy, I often wondered what heaven was like. Maybe you’ve wondered, too.
One day, it occurred to me that if I killed myself, I could find out. However, what didn’t occur to me is that I might not go to heaven. Even so, it did occur to me—thankfully—that I’d be dead, albeit in heaven, and wouldn’t be alive anymore. So, I decided to wait to see what heaven was like, thinking that there was no big rush and I’d find out someday, but hopefully not too soon.
Certainly, the prospect of heaven is on the minds of those people who choose this text for the funerals of their loved ones. In fact, it is so meaningful that I’ve preached on this passage at over 100 funerals in my 24 years of ordained ministry. Yet, it seems like an odd choice for the Easter season as we consider the context in which Jesus speaks these words: The Last Supper. It’s the last meal with his followers before his arrest and execution. In what is called the Farewell Discourse (or the longest after-dinner speech in the Bible), Jesus knows that he’ll be tried and crucified and so he prepares his followers and friends for life without him.
During this speech he reminds them of their mission to spread the good news of God’s love for everyone. Later on, he tells them that they won’t be alone in this work, that the Holy Spirit will guide them. But Jesus also knows that they will feel lost and alone without him and so he speaks comforting words to them. He says that he has to go away to prepare a place for them but that he’ll come back for them.
I asked a few people what they thought heaven was like and all of them immediately described a place, in varying fashion. But almost immediately they shifted to talking about persons: loved ones who they missed and hope to be reunited with some day. In other words, what we really envision about the afterlife is being with the people who mean the most to us. The interesting thing is Jesus does the same thing in this passage: he shifts from talking about the place to talking about gathering his followers to himself. In fact, you can’t see it in English, but the Greek word for dwelling places is the noun form of an important word in John: meno. The word means to rest, abide, or remain. Hence, the dwelling places Jesus talks about are really “abiding places.” Heaven is relational more than situational.
As I have been working on this text, I’ve been thinking a lot about my mom, who died in June 37 years ago at age 57. Like all of us, she was a “mixed bag,” both saint and sinner in theological language. These remembrances evoke mixed feelings in me. On the one hand, I’m sad and angry that even with end stage emphysema she couldn’t quit smoking and, among other things, never knew her two, beautiful granddaughters. On the other hand, I’m grateful for the sacrifices she and Dad made for us and providing a place where all of our friends felt welcome and loved. She was a “second mom” to them all.
When she died, she was cremated and the ashes scattered somewhere. It wasn’t until my dad died six years later (also too young) and was interred at Ft. Snelling that there was a place to remember my mother, to visit her. Although I don’t visit often, I know the place is there, even if her ashes aren’t, and I can remember.
Furthermore, I know that she abides with Jesus, that Jesus abides with her, that she abides in my heart and in some mysterious way I abide in her. I know this to be true because of Jesus’ promises to provide that place as the way, truth and life. I also know that when we utter this great “I am” saying, to prevent people from God’s loving presence, we are doing so contrary to God’s purpose in Jesus Christ. Jesus did not intend to exclude people; otherwise it’s not good news.
There is much to trouble our hearts about these days, and with good reason; I don’t need to list them. It grieves me that people aren’t able to say goodbye to their loved ones properly. However, the assurance that we are loved and that God is saving a place for each of us brings great comfort. It also frees us up to admit our vulnerability to those fears while being able to respond whole-heartedly with love. As one of my colleagues said recently, we might be scattered but we’re not shattered. We may not know the what or the where of heaven, but we know the Who, the one who abides in us as we abide in his love. Thanks be to God. Peace and Amen.
For the video version of this service, please click here.
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