Have you ever wished that we could have a little bit more of heaven on earth? I know I have. It’s hard to look at the brokenness of our world and wonder why Jesus doesn’t just hurry up and come back already. I mean how bad do things have to get before God intervenes?
You can hear echoes of this plea each Sunday as we ask in the Lord’s Prayer for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
It’s a beautiful sentiment that most of us utter without actually thinking about the consequences. But what would it look like if God’s will were to be done on earth as it is in heaven?
Heaven and hell
Well, I suppose that depends on how we define heaven. A few years ago we did a sermon series at the congregation I was serving on the topic of heaven and hell.
I must admit that prior to the series I hadn’t thought that much about what heaven and hell look like. The Bible isn’t terribly clear on the matter, and I guess I just never speculated that much about it.
I soon discovered that our members had thought a great deal more about these matters than I had.
They had very definite opinions about what heaven and hell are like, and many didn’t appreciate when we deconstructed many of the popular images about heaven and hell that they held dear.
I got into some real trouble when I suggested in my sermon that maybe heaven isn’t a place far off in the clouds as portrayed in the movies but rather another dimension of reality.
I even went so far as to question whether the traditional notion that God will one day destroy the earth and we will live forever in this place called heaven is truly accurate.
I didn’t come up with these ideas on my own. My sermon was based on the work of a biblical scholar named N.T. Wright who has written a fantastic book about the subject called “Surprised by Hope.”
In the book, Wright argues that heaven is a present reality through which God is even now transforming the world.
This understanding of heaven is much more radical than the notion that heaven is somewhere out there because we can’t get off the hook when it comes to how we live within our present reality.
If the kingdom of heaven is even now breaking into and transforming our world, then we can’t ignore our responsibility to care for the earth or work for peace and justice.
These are not mere glimpses of what heaven will look like but rather the beginning of a revolution in which God will make all things new.
I was excited about this message. It changed the way I thought about my life and its purpose. The congregation was less than enthused about these strange new ideas though.
What is so threatening?
So I began to think, what is so threatening about this alternative way of looking at heaven?
Is it simply the fact that it challenges deep-seated ideas?
I decided that that was part of it, but it didn’t completely explain people’s discomfort. And then I remembered something that one of my seminary professors had once said about the Lord’s Prayer.
He said that that if we had any idea what we were really asking when we pray for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we would never actually utter these words.
It’s a radical thing that we are asking God to do, because if the kingdom of heaven were to truly come in all its fullness, it would turn our world upside down.
We would be confronted with the inconsistencies between our lives and God’s reign. We would have to give up power, control and even freedom if we were to truly live in the heavenly kingdom.
We sometimes lament the fact that we live in a world that seems so different than the heaven we long for.
We wonder, “How long, oh Lord, until you come again to set things right?”
But maybe the reality is that we’re not truly ready for the kingdom of heaven to invade earth, just as my congregation wasn’t ready for those radical ideas about heaven.
But despite the turmoil it would cause if heaven came to earth in all its fullness, I think all of us have had glimpses of heaven that are reassuring.
Those rare moments when everything in our lives seem to be just as they should be.
I don’t know about you but in those moments I think it would be awfully easy to give up control and embrace the reality of God’s kingdom.
So I will continue to pray that dangerous prayer, “your kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” and trust in God’s grace all the more.
Have you read the book "Love wins" by Rob Bell. Deconstructs popular, unbiblical mythology around heaven and hell. He took a lot of flack from the fundamentalist-evangelical camp from which he comes theologically. Definitely worth reading. I will say that I suspect he read NT Wright's treatment of the topic in "Surprised By Hope" before he wrote his little book.
Sometimes we are called to deconstruct these popular myths in order to open the imagination to what God might really be doing eschatologically.
I think 'heaven is here on earth' is far less radical eschatology than one might think. If heaven is a present reality, then it's not much of a heaven. It's not Good News at all, especially as it leaves Death as King over us all. The Gospel is that Jesus overcame Death and has given us that power as well. Not metaphorical, 'we don't have to be scared to die even though we all still will' hope, but 'we will be raised from the dead' hope. Heaven here on earth seems like it leaves out that hope. Consider especially 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. Or Mark 13:31. Or the fact that if the end hasn't come by then, in 2-3 billion years, the sun will be hot enough to boil our oceans.
I also think you don't quite go far enough in talking about how dangerous God's Kingdom coming to us sinners is. I fully agree with your line: "We would be confronted with the inconsistencies between our lives and God’s reign. We would have to give up power, control and even freedom if we were to truly live in the heavenly kingdom.", but I think there's two more steps to go. One is that we know what happened when we encountered God in this world. We crucified Him specifically so that we didn't have to give up power, control and our freedom. What gets dodged is the question of if we tried to kill God, how is God going to deal with our rebellion? That turmoil you speak of fearing probably doesn't even begin to cut it. The arriving Kingdom of Heaven is Bad News for us sinners.
The Good News is that God rose from the dead and forgave us our sins. That is the Kingdom of Heaven and can only be fully realized when we, too, partake in God's victory over the grave... which by definition is post-mortem. Until then, we have the power of the Keys: forgiveness of sins. Wielding this power certainly helps Heaven break-in on earth, but it's still not-yet fully realized. Nor is it our responsibility to wield the power of the Keys, but our gift and joy to do so.
I don't think of heaven as a place where I will go when I die, nor do I think that those who have passed before are "looking down on me from above...". I think they are "asleep", and will rise again when we are all called to judgement. I don't think they are in "Sheol" or the great waiting room, I think they are completely unaware of anything, they are in the deepest of sleeps, not dreaming, not thinking. Solomon said "The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing.
Dead people have no more reward, and people forget them. After people are dead, they can no longer love or hate or envy. They will never again share in what happens here on earth.
Whatever work you do, do your best, because you are going to the grave, where there is no working, no planning, no knowledge, and no wisdom. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10 NCV)
When the Lord comes again, the dead will awaken. Heaven is where God's Kingdom will be,, but Earth is where the we will be, living in the perfect Garden as it was in the beginning. This in no way excuses me from acting righteously, from doing what I can to bring a little bit of Heaven, if a sinner can do that...from acting on the blood of Grace. Through Faith. There are biblical passages that are very clear about Heaven. And about Earth. Right now, Earth is under the dominion of Satan. Therefore it is under the dominion of Death. But Death has lost its sting, it is sleep, it is a waiting for the resurrection. And we will be resurrected. ALL of us. And the kingdom of Heaven will rule over earth - "Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying:
“The power to rule the world now belongs to our Lord and his Christ, and he will rule forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15 NCV)
Heaven may be a different plane of existence, but ere is what the bible says:
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying:
“The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come.
The accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accused them day and night before our God, has been thrown down.
And our brothers and sisters defeated him by the blood of the Lamb’s death and by the message they preached.
They did not love their lives so much that they were afraid of death.
So rejoice, you heavens and all who live there!
But it will be terrible for the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you!
He is filled with anger, because he knows he does not have much time.” (Revelation 12:10-12 NCV)
So, there. Is a war in heaven. Or the other dimension, if you must. And Satan loses and is cast down to earth. And yay for those who live in heaven. But for those who live on earth (that's us, boys and girls!) woe to them, for Satan knows his time is short!!
So, ultimately, what are people afraid of? Finding out that they are slacking when it comes to the righteousness department? I sure am. Sinner, saved by Grace. But what doody people do with that information? Go to church on Sunday, Christmas and Easter. Then go about their daily lives as though Sunday, Christmas and Easter were the aberration. (not all Christians, I know. But certainly I myself have that attitude! When was the last time I mentioned God or Christ or, heck, Esther(? Esther?) at any of the many places I have worked? I long to have a men's group, but damn, it means I'll have to start it, which means I'll actually have to talk to the other men at my church. Crap. Having a group might actually make us accountable to our faith, but it would actually make us more accountable to our professions of faith! I'm writing this and I must say Pot? Meet kettle! But it doesn't change it!
whereswade,
Don't worry about accountability. That's God's end. Just set a goal of talking to one new person each week at church. Not even proposing anything, or organizing anything yet, just talk to them at coffee hour. After a month or two, then float the idea of a regular meeting group.