Heaven

The message given in the Sunday morning service in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, August 21, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Revelation 4:1-11.

            A belief in heaven is one of the most basic Christian beliefs.  We believe that, if we have faith in Jesus Christ, we will have salvation and eternal life.  And of course, we believe that eternal life will be in heaven with the Lord.

            But while a belief in heaven is one of the most basic Christian beliefs, it is also one of the most mysterious Christian beliefs.  What, exactly, is heaven?  Where, exactly, is heaven?  What does heaven look like?  What do we look like when we’re there?  What, if anything, will we do there?  We want to be able to picture heaven, somehow, but it’s really hard to do.

            The classic cartoons, of course, have us sitting on clouds, wearing wings.  That’s probably not how it works.  Some people believe we’ll see our loved ones in heaven when we die, and that’s certainly possible, at least if they, too, believe in Jesus as the Savior.  Some people believe we’ll see our pets, too–dogs, cats, horses, etc., and I cannot say that’s wrong.  Some people think of heaven as going home, going to the place where we belong, and I cannot say that’s wrong, either.

            Some people believe that heaven is a place of eternal rest, where we won’t really have to do anything.  Some people believe that, in heaven, we’ll be able to do the things we enjoy doing, the things we love to do.  And again, I cannot say any of that is wrong, too.

            But there is one thing I’m pretty sure we’ll do when we get to heaven.  We will worship God.  We will bow down before God and give Him our complete and total worship and praise.  In fact, I think we’ll be totally awestruck when we are in the presence of God.  And that brings me to our Bible reading for today.

            We’re told that there are four living creatures around the throne of God.  Leave aside their appearance–while it’s interesting, it’s not what I want to talk about today.  Also leave aside what it is they represent.  They’re obviously exalted, special beings, but the point for today is not who they are but what they do.  We’re told that “day and night, they never stop saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”  We’re also told that they “give glory, honor, and thanks to him who lives on the throne and who lives for ever and ever.”

            And then we’re told about the twenty-four elders.  Again, they’re obviously special, exalted beings, but who they are and what they represent is not the point for today.  The point for today is that whenever the four living creatures do what they do, the twenty-four elders lay their crowns before the throne.  And they say, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive all glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

            These creatures are given a special position in heaven.  They are the beings in closest proximity to God.  And we’re told that what they do, constantly, day and night, is give glory and honor and praise and thanks to God.  If that’s what they do, then how much more will we, we common, ordinary, weak, fallen, broken human beings, want to constantly give glory and honor and praise and thanks to God?

            And maybe you think, well, gee, that sounds pretty boring.  All we’re going to do in heaven is give glory and honor and praise and thanks to God?  That’s it?  We’re not going to get to have any fun?  We’re not going to be able to rest and relax?  We’re not going to be able to visit with our loved ones?  All we’re going to do, all day and all night, is give glory and honor and praise and thanks to God?

            Well, I don’t know that it’s the only thing we’ll do.  There are Bible verses that indicate that we do things to serve God in heaven, too.  I think that’s quite likely, that God will have things for us to do that serve Him while we’re in heaven.

            And maybe you still think, you mean, that’s it?  We praise God and we serve God in heaven, and that’s all.  Again, don’t we get to have any fun?  Don’t we get to rest and relax?  Don’t we get to do things we enjoy doing?  We’re going to serve God and we’re going to praise God, and that’s it?  That does not sound much like heaven to me.  It sounds boring, if you want to know the truth.

            But it won’t be.  It won’t be boring at all.  You see, no one’s going to force us to do these things.  God’s not going to say, “Serve Me and worship Me and give Me glory and honor and praise and thanks or else I’ll kick you out of heaven and send you to hell.”  That’s not how this works at all.  God never forced us to do these things on earth.  Why would He force us to do these things in heaven?  No, the reason we’ll constantly do these things in heaven is because they’re all we’ll want to do.  

            You see, on earth, we really cannot fully understand everything that God is.  Our words fail us.  Our minds fail us.  Our imaginations fail us.  God is completely beyond our comprehension.

            Think about all the things we say about God.  God is almighty.  God is all-powerful.  God is all-seeing.  God is all-knowing.  God is all-wise.  God is everywhere at once.  God is in the past, present, and future at once.  God is in heaven and on earth at once.  And yet, for all these things that God is, God is also all-loving.  God is all-caring.  God is all-compassionate.  God is all-gracious.  God is all-merciful.  God is all-forgiving.  But yet, God is also the one who will execute judgment, on us and on all the world.  And that’s just the beginning.  We could go on and on and on about all the things God is, and we still could never get it all said.

            And so, as human beings, we tend to minimize God.  We tend to bring God down to our level.  That’s not a bad thing, necessarily.  There’s an extent to which we have to do that if we’re going to relate to God at all.  And God does want us to be able to relate to Him, because God does love us.  And so, when we think of God as our friend, our guide, our companion, those are not bad things.  They’re necessary things, so that we can have the relationship with God that God wants us to have.

            But at the same time, if we over-emphasize those aspects of God, we lose some of those other things we’ve talked about.  We forget about the majesty and power of God.  We forget about the sheer awesomeness of God.  And that can lead us to start questioning God, to start doubting God, to start thinking we have the right to tell God what to do, rather than respecting the wisdom of God.

            But in heaven, we won’t have that problem.  We will be in the actual presence of God.  All of those aspects of God, the sheer grandeur and majesty and magnificence of God, will be right there in front of us.  The glory of God will hit us right between the eyes.

            And when we see that, and feel that, I think the only thing we’ll think about, the only thing that will enter our minds, is how fortunate we are, how blessed we are, how just plain lucky we are that God allows us into His holy presence.  We will feel so unworthy, and yet so happy, that God has just let us be around Him, has just allowed us to be there with Him and feel the incredible love God has for us.

            And feeling that, the only thing we’ll want to do is express our gratitude and thanks to God.  Thankful that we can be in heaven.  Thankful that we can feel that total love, that total joy, that total peace.  Thankful that, as far above and beyond us as God is, God still loves us so much that He has allowed us into His holy presence to feel that incredible love.  And we’ll be eager to serve God, not because God is forcing us to, but because we’re so grateful to God that we’ll want to do something to express our thanks to God in some sort of tangible way.

            I don’t know all the details of what heaven is like.  I don’t know where it is, or if it’s even in a physical place as we know that term.  I don’t know what it looks like.  I don’t know what we’ll look like.  There are all kinds of things about heaven that I don’t know.

            But I know that we’ll be in the awesome presence of our awesome God.  And I know that we will feel incredibly good, incredibly grateful, and incredibly loved, when we are in that awesome presence.  And feeling that, we will automatically give God thanks and praise and glory and honor.  Not because we have to.  But because there is nothing else we will want to do.