Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Philippians 3:17-4:1 September 16, 2007

“Heaven – Part I”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

Way back in June, I started praying about what sort of sermons God would want us to hear together this fall. Lots of different ideas popped into my head, but one theme kept coming back over and over again – the theme of Heaven. This is a difficult subject because there is so much about heaven we don’t know. I’d rather preach about things that have more definitive answers to our questions. But in spite of my hesitations, in early August I had settled into the idea of a sermon series on Heaven. Little did I know at that time how much more I would be thinking about heaven by mid-September. But God knew – and I trust He has prepared our minds and hearts to learn, to grow in our knowledge of His truth, and to anticipate the place prepared for all believers – a real place called Heaven, our true home.
Let us pray:
O heavenly Father, we desire to know you and to know your truth. We have questions, and we have doubts. We ask for your Holy Spirit to come and teach us. We ask that you would help us peal off old ways of thinking that do not line up with Scripture. We ask that you would show us what we need to know so that we will be wonderful witnesses to your eternal promises. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The current death rate is 100%. Every one of us here has been born, and every one of us here will die. There’s only one guy in the whole Bible who seemed to escape the dying process. His name was Enoch, from Genesis 5:21-24. “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” So, I think we can say that other than Enoch, 100% of us will have to die. We don’t like to think about death; yet worldwide, 3 people die every second, 180 every minute, and nearly 11,000 people die every hour. If you believe what the Bible tells us about what happens to us after death, then it means that more than 250,000 people every single day go either to Heaven or Hell.
In Psalm 39, the psalmist David wrote, “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath.” Just think about a cold winter day and your breath escaping from your mouth. Think about how quickly it disappears. According to the psalmist, such is the length of our life here on earth. One breath. Doesn’t it make sense that we spend some time thinking about where we will spend all eternity?
The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:17-4:1, “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
As Christians, “our citizenship is in heaven.” Our ultimate nationality is not American, or Mexican, or African, or Korean. Our ultimate nationality is Heaven. Our ultimate residency is in heaven. We are only passing through here. How can we get to a place where we are really, truly anticipating going home to heaven while still being faithful to following God’s plan on earth?
“Two men were dying across town from one another. One was a very wealthy man who had amassed and enjoyed a fortune. His Victorian house was lavishly furnished with antiques and expensive paintings. A stylish car sat outside the door and a boat was on the nearby lake. The second man had never flourished financially, but he had loved the Lord and worked faithfully in the village church. The first, as he died, moaned, “I’m leaving home . . . I’m leaving home.” The second died saying, “I’m going home . . . I’m going home.”
I remember lying in my bed as a very young girl, crying alone in the dark. I remember thinking about heaven – about some eternal church service – and I wasn’t feeling very happy about going there forever. Yes, I love to sing – but forever and ever? For a long time I didn’t tell anyone about my concerns, because I thought being upset about heaven wasn’t very spiritual. I hoped I would get used to the idea of heaven as I got older.
Gary Larson, the cartoonist who created Far Side, drew a picture of heavenly living. Pictured is a man with angel wings and a halo sitting on a cloud doing nothing, with no one nearby. The man has an expression of someone marooned on a desert island with absolutely nothing to do. The caption shows his internal thoughts, “Wish I’d brought a magazine.”
Is this it? Are we going to be sitting around on clouds with wings attached to our backs, bored stiff? Are we going to be standing in pews singing every hymn in the book, and then starting over from the beginning once we get to the end?
What does the Scripture tell us about our home place? When Jesus said he went to prepare a place for us, he said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” What does that mean? Will we eat and drink? Will we care about eating and drinking? Will we know each other? Will John and I still live together as married people? What about all those babies who have died through miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions? Do they get older in heaven? Will we recognize them even though we never saw them alive? What about those whose first spouses died, and then they got remarried? How will that work? Will we have work to do? Will it be fun? Will I ever have to diet again? What about exercise? Will there be chocolate fountains? Will dogs and cats be there?
This past Monday I went to Harrisburg to see Norman Coons. After seeing Norman I went to the Cokesbury Store off of Union Deposit Road to get funeral bulletins for Jim Smith’s service. Cokesbury is a great Christian supply store. Well, while I was there I went looking to see if they had any books about heaven. I didn’t see any, and so I asked the clerk. “Do you have any books specifically about heaven?” She thought a while, and then answered, “I don’t remember seeing any. Let me ask the other clerk.” She called out to the clerk, “Do we have any books about heaven?” The woman thought for a few moments, and then replied, “It’s a great subject – but I’m sure we don’t have any books about it.”
I don’t recall a single class in seminary that taught me anything about what the Bible says about heaven. It’s like we get just so far, but never get to the really good stuff.
When John and I were expecting our first child in the summer of 1979, we went to childbirth classes at the Chambersburg Hospital. Well, that summer the hospital employees went on strike. Of the 6 classes we were supposed to take to learn how to go through childbirth, we only got the first 3 classes. Now, of course, the baby came anyway (somehow your body figures it out!) – but I know I felt more apprehensive because I didn’t have the information and the preparation that I thought I needed.
The same can be said about heaven. Think about the sense of purpose and peace we might receive if we spent intentional time learning about the best reward a Christian receives! Think what apprehensions in our lives might diminish if we have a better sense of this marvelous place God has prepared for us to live for all eternity! Think what a witness our excitement for heaven would be for the people around us who do not know where they are going after death. So, I’m excited about this series of sermons – though I have no idea how many sermons it will take to get what God wants us to get. Two weeks, four weeks, six weeks – every week from now until Advent – I have no idea! I trust God will lead me. That’s all that really counts.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God created the earth and the heavens. All that God creates is good. Those we love who have gone before us are in a good place. I don’t know much, but I know there is much to anticipate – not the least of which is being reunited with our loved ones. If there is someone you are looking forward to seeing in heaven some day, please raise your hand. Just call out a name of a person (or persons) you are anticipating being with again one day . . .
In 1952, young Florence Chadwick stepped into the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island, determined to swim to the shore of mainland California. She’d already been the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways. The weather was foggy and chilly; she could hardly see the boats accompanying her. Still, she swam for fifteen hours. When she begged to be taken out of the water along the way, her mother, in a boat alongside, told her she was close and that she could make it. Finally, physically and emotionally exhausted, she stopped swimming and was pulled out. It wasn’t until she was on the boat that she discovered the shore was less than a half a mile away. At a news conference the next day she said, “All I could see was the fog... I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.”
For believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the shore is that place Jesus promised to prepare for us, where we will live with him forever. If we can see through the fog of all our misconceptions of what heaven is like, if we can release the fears, if we can wade through all the mixed up messages we get from the culture about a heavenly life and get a clearer biblically-based picture of our eternal home in our mind’s eye, I believe it will help us live our lives more confidently, more joyfully, and more purposefully. That’s sounds good to me, how about to you?
May God help us learn, and learn rightly according to his holy word. May His light shine more brightly to those around us, as we fix our eyes on heaven. Please pray for me as I study and prepare, and I’ll pray for you that if there’s anything I say that isn’t pure biblical truth, you won’t even hear it. And most importantly, please pray that God will work in our midst and convince those who have yet to be convinced, that heaven and hell are real places. May God use all of us to transfer lost souls headed to the pit of hell, to the blessed heavenly kingdom of the saints of everlasting light.
Amen.

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

09-16-2007