Don't Worry About Heaven

² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? - John 14:2

Why believe?  Is faith all about death?  Is it only about what happens after we die or is it about life now?  Is faith nothing more than "fire insurance"... heaven or hell?  Or is it something more?  If faith was simply about where we spend eternity, what would the point of life on earth be?  Why not skip the whole thing and just start our eternity at birth?  It sure would have saved Jesus a lot of pain and grief!

When we live our life with too much concern about what comes next, we miss the whole point of life.  We miss life itself.  The whole point in God becoming flesh and living with us and being reviled and crucified... the whole point... was so that we no longer had to worry about eternity.  He has prepared our place for us!  We don't have to think about it, we just need to live life... abundantly!

If it was simply about where we are going next, Jesus could have died for our sins without taking so much time to teach us about life.  Jesus talked about social justice and loving one another way more than he talked about the life to come.  He wants us to get busy living now.

If our works are all about racking up brownie points for heaven, or if we go to church simply to make sure we aren't going to hell.... even if our evangelism is about heaven or hell for others instead of peace and joy in the here and now... we are negating Jesus' work on the cross.  He has gone ahead in order to prepare a place for us!  Don't worry about that!  It's done!  Worry about people and relationships and social justice.  Teach the world about Christ... not to save them from hell... but to bring them freedom and peace and joy and abundant life.

When Jesus ascended after his resurrection, the disciples stood looking up at the sky.  Angels or "men in white clothes" appeared and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” In other words... don't worry about heaven; instead, be about life!

Lord Jesus,
Thank you for taking away the worry and preparing a place for us.  Help us keep focused on the here and now and bringing the joy and peace of knowing you to others.  Help us and guide us as we work for justice in the world.  Amen.

Joys: Spending time with Cecelia this weekend; being home; my own brand of coffee