Is Heaven Real?

I wanted to thank Stacy Reaves for filling in for me last Sunday.  Her job as a Hospice Chaplain makes her uniquely qualified to talk about the things at the end of life.  Jon and I returned from the very warm and relaxing beach in Cancun yesterday.  I needed some time to rest and recharge before Lent begins in a couple of weeks. 

Our next topic in our series is a question that I have never really asked.  Is heaven real?  This topic is a result of the survey that Adam Hamilton did with his congregation and their results.  Last week I mentioned that I didn’t know who got to go to heaven and I did not mean that to be flippant.  I meant it as a reality that God can do all kinds of things that I don’t think are possible.  My limited mind understands that I have no idea about how that works and ultimately only God does.  Yes, we have hints in our lives and in our scriptures.  But I think that it is a holy mystery that I can’t answer.  Stacy talked about the witness she sees where people talk to those who have died before them, loved ones, who come at their time of crossing over and usher them to the other side.  I think that is beautiful and it is what I hope for. 

Let’s talk about hell for a moment.  In the Hebrew scriptures they reference this place of darkness called Sheol translated to mean the “place of the dead.”  I think our largest influence of what we believe about hell comes from Dante’s Inferno.  We get our cultural images of a devil with horns and a pitchfork from this book.  There is actually very little in the Bible regarding hell or Satan.  I have heard it also described as simply being away from God- separated from our Creator.  These are probably the two extremes.  I also think we like the image of hell and the idea that people will finally get what they deserve and that there is some justice served to those who are evil or greedy or hateful.  But we never think that we will be one of those people who are sent to this fiery eternity.  But I digress.  We are talking about heaven. 

The Bible uses images of a banquet and a mansion full of rooms for describing what the afterlife might be like.  It casts the image of streets of gold before us but that seems silly because why would we need streets if we are all angels?  And would gold have any value?  I love the way Bev Burke teaches the confirmation students.  She says what was, what is and what will always be.  The piece of God that inhabits us, our soul or spirit, comes from God when we are born and then goes back to God at the end of our time here.  It is really beautiful without having to know specifics.  I hope you will join us for worship on Sunday as we continue to explore this topic about life after death. 

Much love,
Pastor Heather