All Saints and Being in Heaven
Welcome to the Sunday of All Saints! When we think of “saints” we usually think of people who lived such a good and holy life that they went to Heaven and like the song goes we want to “be in that number, when the saints go marching in.”
The main hope expressed by that popular song is to somehow “go to heaven” when we die. Most Christians have embraced this notion of going to heaven as the main goal of life and a special privilege of those baptized in Christ: become baptized, be a good person in the eyes of most, keep your nose clean, so to speak, and you will arrive! For everyone else who is not baptized, going to heaven, while perhaps possible, is not so sure.
How does this widespread belief about “going to heaven” jive with Jesus’ teaching? What about learning to live heaven while we are here on this earth?
Jesus spoke more about “down here” than “up there.” When he taught people to pray he asked them to petition that God’s “will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Everything Jesus taught seemed to be this world oriented. Of course Heaven exists, where God’s will is done perfectly in peace and joy, but the main action is here on earth, how we live in the here and now. Jesus taught that when we believe in him, eternal life begins. “Those who believe in in the one who sent me, have eternal life.” (John 5) For someone who puts his or her whole trust in God, Eternal Life is a reality that begins now, not when we die as many think.
Life is hard, there is so much suffering, so many trials, how can heaven exist here when, in the words of another popular song: “What a friend we have in Jesus.” What if we knew with certainty that Jesus identified with each person in all their trials, sadness, and even failures?
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
None of the above seems to fit our usual notion of “being” in heaven, but what Jesus seems to be saying is that to be “blessed” is to experience heaven even when you are going through hell. Why? Because Jesus himself, the one who will be/was victimized on the Cross, is by your side, holding your hand. Not a distant, out of touch, uncaring deity, but Someone with you through all the ups and downs of life. This knowledge, arrived at through faith, is in a very real sense to be in heaven in real time. The Saints had this knowledge and it gave them peace and joy in the most trying circumstances and sufferings of their human lives. This knowledge can do the same for us.
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this; when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
Saints, in doing God’s will, trying to bring heaven to earth, often suffer hardship and persecution. The saints don’t always appear to be happy and joyful to outsiders. So what do saints do in the midst of their very real struggles and doubts? They do liturgy and worship, gathering around the throne of the Lamb who suffered and died and rose from the dead. The Book of Revelation is centered around one glorious liturgy in heaven:
All tribes and peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God . . . and to the Lamb! And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
When we gather for the Holy Eucharist we are here on earth doing the liturgy of heaven that the vision relates. We bring ourselves just as we are, with all our weaknesses, struggles, and even doubts, and we gather to worship at the throne of the One who brings us Eternal Life right here and right now. This is “being in heaven” and a foretaste of what is to come.
Amen!
John+
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| St. Alban |
Saint Alban Episcopal Mission (English, Anglican Communion) meets for mass every Sunday at 10:00 A.M. (see welcome letter at sidebar) at Casa Convento Concepcion, 4a Calle Oriente No. 41, Antigua, Guatemala.
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| The Reverend John Smith, Vicar 5235-6674 cell telephone (502 country code) |
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