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Where is Heaven
Last week I wrote to you about the opposite of Heaven (you know, that other place). It figures that this week I should write to you about Heaven. In particular, is Heaven a place? Is it a state of mind? Is it a fabrication to control the masses? Or, is it something else entirely.
Let me ask you a question: if you were asked to point to Heaven, where would you point?
A recent survey of Americans showed that nine out of ten believe heaven is real. 85% of those surveyed believe they are going there. A friend of mine said, “I find it strange that 85% believe they are going to Heaven because with America’s declining belief of Christianity how do people think they are going to get there?” Come to think of it, how can we get nine out of ten Americans to agree on anything? Perhaps that’s a part of the unity of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, my friend’s question assumes that heaven is a place (how do they think they’ll get there). But is it a place?
How many of you, when asked to point to where heaven is, would point up? The Old Testament points to heaven being in the sky or beyond the skies. If you point up, you’d be following the model found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Instead of pointing up, would you point to heaven being inside your heart? Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is around, near, and in us. By pointing inward, you’d be following the New Testament model.
When asked about where Heaven can be found, how many would point to their family or friends? How many would point to their pets? Actor and social commentator, Will Rogers, said this about heaven: if dogs are not in heaven, I want to go to where they are. Speaking of dogs, it is said that within some Native American tribes, they believe heaven is where we will dance with our dogs.
Where is Heaven? Some would point to good work being done in their community. We recently had a group from All Angels and Temple Beth Israel tour the Turning Points facility in Bradenton. They saw firsthand the good work being done to help those experiencing homelessness and what is being done to keep people from experiencing it. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is for those who do the will of God the Father. He expanded on that theme by saying that when you heal the sick – both mental and physical – you proclaim (through your actions) that the Kingdom of God has come near.
Some point to heaven with their hands folded in prayer. For those folks, Jesus would say the Kingdom is around, near, and within when people love, when they sacrifice for one another, when they pray, and when they serve one another. That’s heaven.
When pointing toward Heaven, some would point to the Church (and All Angels in particular). We are building the beloved community here; and that, to this author, feels like heaven. Going back to the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), it is written that heaven is not big enough to hold God’s presence. In the New Testament, Jesus said that not even the gates of hell can withstand the growing presence of the Church. That’s reassuring to know that God is bigger than heaven which means God’s presence is in all the places where one would point – up, or inside, or toward those helping people, to the Church, and to hands that are folded in prayer. It seems that Heaven is wherever you would point because it is all around, and inside, and outside too.
- Rev. Dave
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