Heaven Help Us - Again
April 25, 2008 by pistolpete
{first posted April 26, 2007 in Necessary Therapy}
We see and hear so much of hell. Just whatever happened to heaven? Philip Yancey ponders this and many other questions in his book I Was Just Wondering. Yancey identifies three factors in our loss of heavenly thoughts.
First - “Affluence has brought us in this life what former generations could only anticipate in heaven.“
Why dream of a heavenly hereafter when what you most want is in the here-and-now? This isn’t to say we’re actually satisified with what we experience in this life, only that we delude ourselves into thinking that the best is not yet to come, but it’s here for the taking.
Second, writes Yancey - “A creeping paganism invites us to accept death as the culmination of life on earth, not as a violent transition into an ongoing life.”
Yancey cites death & dying expert Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. The final stage is not one of preparation for something yet to be gained, but acceptance for something that has been or is about to be lost.
Third, Yancey says - “The older, biblical images of heaven have lost their appeal.”
Who wants to wear a white robe all day, play a harp and walk along streets of gold? Can’t we do better than that?
Yancey finds hope for heaven in the modern world within the African-American faith community.
“If you want to hear newer, more relevant images of heaven, attend a few black funerals. With characteristic eloquence, the preachers paint word pictures of a life so serene and sensuous that everyone in the congregation starts fidgeting to go there.”
One of the first funerals I ever attended was in a predominantly African-American church. As I walked in, streams of mournful music played on the organ, accompanied by the sound of women wailers. The casket, with the dead body prominently displayed, was placed just below the pulpit.
The grief-stricken sounds, however, soon blended in wonderful harmony with a beautiful baritone voice singing hopeful words from the Psalms. As the service progressed, loud cries became triumphant shouts.
The dead body was still in front of us, but we were transported to heaven. If you closed your eyes, it was as if you were already there. Even if you kept them open, the sight of this corpse wasn’t nearly as potent as the sight of the empty cross above it.
This is the greatest challenge for Christians living in a death-dealing culture. Instead of giving them hell, go out there and ”give ‘em heaven.”
A vision given from god to a prophetess in 1901
twin towers in new york city.
On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify the owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: “How can we best glorify God?” The Lord was not in their thoughts.
I thought: “Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish in the sight of the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of man.”
As these lofty buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride that they had money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their neighbors. Much of the money that they thus invested had been obtained through exaction, through grinding down the poor. They forgot that in heaven an account of every business transaction is kept; every unjust deal, every fraudulent act, is there recorded. The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah.
The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof buildings and said: “They are perfectly safe.” But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines
How exciting! Another post. Even if a refried one. You, go!
What a timely message for me! I turn 60 next week and have been thinking that my anticipation of heaven needs work! “I believe. Help me with my unbelief!”
Great post. Keep up the great work!
Indeed, great post! I’m so tired of the hell-hand-wringing.
In a little while jesus will come endurance is your focus. For we walk not by sight but by faith.