"Heaven"

  

"Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

 

            Some of you may remember Aaron Markuson. He just died recently at the age of nearly 100. For some time he had been one of our Covenant administrators, and was instrumental in developing the CHIC high school conference, as well as one called "The Covenant Youth Quadrennial," for college students. After his retirement, Aaron moved to Seattle, and for a time was visitation minister at First Covenant Church there. When my father was close to the end of his life, and was in a coma for over a week, Aaron would come to the hospital and pray with us. When Aaron prayed, he would take you up close to heaven. It seemed like you were standing on tip-toe, straining to look through the gates. That is as close to heaven as I have ever been.

            I don't think about heaven as much as I ought. Maybe in this time of my life I will begin to think more about it. The hymns we sang today help. "Onward to the prize before us! Soon his beauty we'll behold; soon the pearly gates will open, we shall tread the streets of gold."

The problem is we are too busy. There is so much going on around us, and then so much in our memories, both regrets and joys from the past. It is hard to keep the focus ahead sometimes. We do not have a lot of information about heaven. Most of our questions about it go unanswered in the Scripture. But what is clear is that we have something to look forward to, to live for, and to put some effort into. Many people talk today as if heaven is a kind of entitlement. So they don't put much effort into reaching it. But Paul put a lot of effort into heaven, as he writes, "straining toward what is ahead, pressing onward toward the goal." By that he did not mean polishing up his righteousness, trying to be good enough to get into heaven. That is a serious mistake many people make these days.

            Paul puts effort into the heavenward call of God in his life. He talks about it as if he is running a race. Now when I was in high school, I enjoyed being on the junior varsity track team. I went out for the shot put, because it did not require any running, any real training. It was just pleasant spring afternoons. At the JV meets I would get done with the shot put and then walk around and see what else I could enter. One day I came upon the 880-yard race, and I thought that would be fun to try. The first hundred yards is a lot of fun, and I was in the lead. Then by two hundred yards I was in last place, by the end of the first lap I lagged about half a lap behind, and I think they had to delay the start of the next race to wait for me to finish. If you don't train, you don't win the race.

            When our son David was in high school, he became a runner and his race was the 800 meters. He put a lot of effort into it, and it took him a long time before he actually won a race. It is not easy to win a race. In fact, it is painful. It requires effort, perseverance. When Paul talks about going to heaven, he uses the language of a runner.

            N.T. Wright says we know about heaven because of the Ascension of Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and he is now there, in his thoroughly embodied risen state. In heaven Jesus has been given all authority. From heaven Jesus stands over against us and addresses us as Lord. Jesus has gone ahead of us into God's space, into God's new world. Then Wright says that in the biblical language of heaven and earth we find two different kinds of space, of matter and of time.

            Heaven and earth are very different types of space, and yet they are very close. Wright says that C.S. Lewis did a great job in the Narnia stories of imagining how two worlds could relate and interlock. The other place you catch a glimpse of these two kinds of space and matter is in the Gothic cathedrals in Western Europe. In a cathedral you stand at floor level, and know that you belong within this great structure, and yet you can only inhabit a very small portion of the space. You can see above great spaces of light and beauty, but you cannot go there, for they are spaces into which only our music can penetrate. That is a picture of heaven, of God's space.

            So Paul talks about his desire to enter into God's space and the strenuous effort he makes towards that goal. He realizes his spiritual journey is incomplete, he is not there yet. But he pursues Christ; his knowledge, his sufferings, his resurrection power. Notice his language. He is not talking about human achievement. He says he presses on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of him. There is both urgency and assurance in that. It is God's work, God's grace in our lives that opens the door to heaven. It is our response of forgetting what is behind and stretching out for what is ahead that is so important in winning the prize. He says, "let us live up to what we have already attained." And then he says "our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there." There is effort called for in our living. We are to be training always, and we have confidence in Christ, our citizenship is secure.

            In Revelation John writes in a way that is more visual than Paul. He sees and hears. There is a new heaven and a new earth. This vision of hope comes from several places in Isaiah. One of them is chapter 65:18, "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more."

            Craig Keener says that here is a vision in which "God replaces the old creation with a new one able to endure the revelation of his glory." There was in the Jewish discussion of the end time a realization that the earth would have to be purified, and that the Day of Judgment would transform the heavens and the earth. Some spoke of this as a renewal of the earth and others as a replacement of the earth. The Christian hope has both elements, though replacement seems dominant in Revelation. But the emphasis here is in verse 7, again two balancing words, "overcome" and "inherit." Those who overcome receive the New Heaven and earth.

            Other places in Revelation give content to overcoming. Those who overcome do not compromise with the world's values, especially in chapter 2, the areas of sexual immorality and idolatry. Those who overcome do not depend on their own strength, like the proud do in chapter 3, "I am rich. I have acquired wealth and I don't need a thing." Those who overcome are able to face persecution for their faith, as in chapter 2, "Do not be afraid of what you are about to sufferÉ. I will give you life as your victor's crown."

            The life of overcoming is balanced by understanding that heaven is what we inherit. We have confidence in who we are in Christ. We eagerly await what is ours in Christ. There is a warning here too. There is also an inheritance for the disobedient. For they inherit life outside the city. They experience the fiery lake instead of the river of life. They find their end in the second death rather than live to see the abolition of death in the New Jerusalem.

            The hope of heaven turns our attention forward. We strain towards what is ahead. My brother sent me something from our home church, Seattle First Covenant. Their building is now one hundred years old. In researching the building they found that almost everything in the structure had been changed, significantly and many times over through these years. The sanctuary, the entryways, the exterior, the stairways, the rooms – everything had been changed again and again with each new need and opportunity to minister to the congregation and the community. It seems the only thing that has remained the same over the 100 years is the men's rest room.

            That is a good example for us. It applies not just to buildings but to our lives. If we are bound for heaven, are we making the necessary changes in our lives so that we stay focused on heaven and ready for it? Are we willing to admit our sin and repent of it? Are we willing to renew our thinking in the Lord? Are we willing to forget what is behind in our personal lives, so that we can be free to serve the Lord joyfully? Do we keep our hearts tuned to God's voice?

            "Onward to the prize before us! Soon his beauty we'll behold; Soon the pearly gates will open, we shall tread the streets of gold."

            Amen.