For those of us that are old enough to remember the Baltimore catechism and the way it worked, which is by questions and answers, almost everyone who ever did that still remembers the very first two questions that were in the Baltimore catechism.
And that is the question “who made me?” And then the answer, of course, is “God made me”.
“And why did God make you?” And the very concise answer, but important: God made me to know Him, love Him, and serve Him in this life, and so as to be happy with Him in heaven.
Pretty basic, and pretty much an amazingly concise version of what we’re all about. But I want to talk a little bit about the last part of that; that idea of being happy with God in heaven.
And it’s funny that nowadays, not many people…people certainly don’t want anything bad to happen…when they die, but you know, people don’t talk about heaven that much. “I want to go to heaven” – that idea that part of what I’m doing in this life is to live in a way that will enable me to be with God forever in heaven. And I don’t know why that is, but I want to.
It’s interesting to see how people have considered what that was like over the centuries. What is it? What is it like in heaven? And we know, of course, it’s not exactly a physical place but…it’s more of a state of being. And it has to do with being with God.
And some of the things I was presented with (as) a kid I must admit, I was told “well…when you die…and if you’re good and you go to heaven. You’re going to get to look at God forever.”
That, I must admit, I mean I want to be with God, but the idea of just looking at Him for all time didn’t exactly make me wild with anticipation.
In fact, I remember somebody telling me a story about when he was taught about…limbo in heaven and trying to explain limbo, the place where tradition said unbaptized babies…when his sister told him, “you know, limbo is a place of natural happiness, so when you’re there, you know, you’re not with God but…you know, you can run around and play and have a good time, and there’s good things to eat…” And he says, “but when you (if you) go to heaven you have supernatural happiness, which means you get to look at God all day.”
When he went home and he’s talking to his mother about what he learned, he said “I want to go to limbo when I die.” And that was because his idea had sounded much more attractive; to be having a good time (rather) than just staring at God. But…you know, we’ve seen things in film, and of course Dante famously wrote a whole part of his Divine Comedy about what heaven was like, but I think that all of that, you know, thinking “what is it going to be like?” Will it be kind of like this world, with all the stuff that’s bad missing? Will we be able to be with those we love? That’s (what) a lot of the scriptures seem to say.
Many of the images that are given for that time have to do with feasting. Isaiah says talks about rich food and choice wines. He even says “rich, juicy food”…that’s what we’ll share. This idea of a banquet, a party, and enjoying the love, and the love and care of all those around us. And you know, there have been some really dramatic versions that we see in film. That, you know, big beautiful waterfalls and gorgeous sunsets all the time.
But I would like to point out that Saint Paul has something to say about it. And what he says is actually quoting a part of Isaiah. He says “what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, and what has not entered into the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
What is Saint Paul saying? He’s saying, the best possible you can imagine about what it’s going to be like. You can spend a lot of time and come up with the most amazing place that you could possibly imagine. Saint Paul’s saying “not even close”. Not even close at all, the idea. And what an incredible thing for us to believe.
And what…helps us live the life as we live it, that idea that God…loves us so much that He’s prepared for us something we can’t even begin to grasp, because He’s so infinite and we’re so limited.
So I think we all…are here because we want to go to heaven too, and as we live our lives, we need to keep in mind what God intends for us; that life with Him forever maybe not staring at Him for all eternity, but sharing His love with Him and all those we love. That is something that we long for. But it means that we have to look at the way we live our lives. Because in a sense, our lives are rehearsal for that we need to (do) if we really, truly want to be with God forever in heaven. We have to know Him, love Him, and serve Him.
