You Asked for it:
What about Eternity?

Today’s You Asked For It Topic is “What About Eternity?” The passages chosen for today’s sermon show that the Bible, itself, has different thoughts about the eternal. Let’s look first at an Old Testament understanding, as it is expressed in the Psalms.

Read Psalm 6:4-5

The psalmist expresses to God the need to be delivered, the need to be saved now, in this life, as he will not be able to remember, to have a relationship with God in death. He refers to Sheol which is the resting place of the dead. Sheol is seen as a place where people exist in a state of twilight sleep. They are not fully alive or conscious. Sheol is a place you go whether you were a good person or bad. So God’s saving, steadfast love is very much a this world experience.

This understanding by the Jewish people of what happens to people after death changes and evolves over the centuries. Especially after the exile. During the Babylonian Captivity the Jewish people are exposed to some other religions that have a concept of eternal life, and that begins to impact their own theology. Yet, it is important to realize there is not a common belief system about eternity within the Jewish faith around the time of Jesus. Occasionally, in the Gospels, you hear about a group called the Sadducees, but more often you hear about the Pharisees. Interestingly, the Sadducees are the more prominent group during Jesus’ ministry, but are almost gone by the time the gospels are written, because certain beliefs they held could no longer be maintained and consequently they lose authority and membership. One belief of the Sadducees was they did not believe in eternal life, where the Pharisees do.

Maybe the biggest influence in understanding eternal life is the introduction of Greek philosophy. Here we find a very dualistic way of seeing the world. If there is light, there has to be darkness. If good there has to be evil. If a heaven, there has to be a counterpart. Certainly, as we read the next scripture from the Gospel of John, the Gospel that reflects Greek influence the most, we see that Jesus expresses a belief in the eternal.

Read John 14:1-3

Jesus does not tell us what heaven looks like, only that he goes to prepare a place for us so we can join him. We can also hear this belief of Jesus when he says to the thief that is on the cross next to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

The writing we are about to read from Paul, is older than any of the gospel accounts. It is probably written within 20-25 years of Jesus’ death, and20-30 years before the earliest gospel. It is obvious, by what Paul writes, that there is already deep discussion about eternity, Jesus’ resurrection, and the implications it has for each and every one of us.

Read I Corinthians 15:12, 17-20

Sermon:

As said in the introduction, today’s “You asked for it topic is, “What about Eternity?” This may be one of the most philosophical of all Christian beliefs. I was sharing that this was the topic this week at our bi-weekly minister’s meeting, someone asked if I had a guest preacher coming who had returned from eternity to tell us about it? This next deal may sound familiar to some of you. Nancy worked out a deal with her grandfather that if there was any possible way to return and tell her about eternity he would do it. It has been over 16 years since he died and she is still waiting.

Actually, our concepts and understandings about eternity may be the most revealing about our own inner values and needs. As one theologian said, “Our images of God may say more about us than God.” The same may be said about eternity. When we think of heaven as this perfect place, we may all find that we have different understandings of perfection. For example I remember seeing a comedy skit about a person who had died and who had been met by an angel that was leading him to his final reward. The man was really nervous for he was not sure what he would face. Finally they come to a door and the angel says, “Behind this door is where you will spend eternity.” The man takes a deep breath and opens the door, and immediately you see this huge look of sadness as he sees he has come to hell. He walks in to this hell and you see the room is a library, and this man has been an avid outdoorsman. As the angel prepares to close the door he says, “You know it’s interesting, there is another room just like this one up there.” So what does your heaven look like and what does it say about what you value and hold dear?”

As it was pointed out, even biblically, we are given some different understandings about what happens to us after our earthly death. How eternity is understood. What I would like to do today, is simply present some understandings of eternity as they have been wrestled with by different Christian theologians. Paul is right when he says in I Corinthians 13, “Today we see dimly, someday we will see clearly.” Someday we will know for sure, but today we simply do the best we can to formalize an understanding.

The very first question is, “Does immortality even make sense?” There are some that would argue that the concept of being immortal, never dying, “Is simply an attempt by we who must die to say I matter.” That it is merely wishful thinking for those who cannot accept that life is limited. Yet, I find it such a universal belief about the eternal spanning time and cultures and different religious faiths that I find myself having just the opposite thoughts. Since I believe we all posses a spark of the divine within us that seeks to lead and guide us, I believe it is a universal spark of God designed to give us all understanding and hope. It seems you have to work hard to try and deny the hope that is so universal, rather than simply embrace it as a gift from God.

There are some who are afraid that if you embrace heaven and eternal life that you will deny the importance of this life. There is a wonderful old gospel song that is entitled, “You’re So Heavenly Minded You’re No Earthly Good.” We hear this theology in such words as, “This world is not my home, I’m just passin’ through. My treasures all laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.” I believe there is a legitimate concern here, as even today we see many evangelicals who have a concern about the environment and are preaching the very biblical thought of being good stewards of God’s creation, being chastised by other church leaders for their stances. Yet, it still seems like a very weak argument to me, as I find that most of us believe that our present life is important, and in fact it is so important that we need to be held accountable for how we live it. Actually, those who would hold to the idea that this world is not my home still place eternal significance on this life. It is what we do now that decides our fate. That we are held accountable for how we live today. In fact I find that many who believe this is all there is are the ones who may take how we live our lives now a little more self-focused. If this is indeed all we have to experience, let’s eat drink and be merry, and to heck with tomorrow.

The last thought I have about the question of whether immortality makes sense is one I hear many struggle with all the time. Do we live in a just universe? I believe we do. So I cannot in my own mind accept that little children can be born into places like Darfur, suffer and die from malnutrition and simple say, this is it. What does this say about me? I have to believe this God I know is a God who ultimately is able to bring justice and love and compassion to all of God’s children.

As someone asked, “If heaven is possible, why not now?” And the reality is it is now, at least in part. Jesus himself said, “Today the kingdom of God is in your midst.” We have learned that a better translation is, “The reign of God” versus the kingdom, but the point is we are already living our lives in the realm of the eternal. So this is not a place I’m passing through, but a place where God is now and what I do is important to God now. Sometimes we are asked to take on the pain of others. Who we are and what we do matters, and so we will need to someday be held accountable for the choices we make.

Now the question is, does our concept of eternity need to be based upon a reward and punishment model, or a reward and fear model like we are so used to hearing? Again, scripture does give us some suggestions that this is true, and yet, at the same time seems to challenge this belief. In the book, I John, chapter 4 verse 18 we hear, “There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear for fear has to do with punishment.” Also John reminds us that “God is love.” Fear is a very effective tool in trying to get people to do what you want. As Gandhi reminds us though, “A faith that is built upon fea, must continue to preach those fears or die.” So do we need to create fear through the threat of punishment? As was stated earlier, the concept of eternal punishment becomes prominent in Greek philosophy and finds its way into the Jewish belief system. But let’s look at the implications of this belief, especially in light of our image of a loving God. As someone said, “Imagine a woodpecker with a rubber ball on its beak hammering on a stainless steel earth. Finally through shear determination the woodpecker dismantles the earth. Even then eternity has just begun.” Some theologians ask the question, “What can we possibly do in a finite world and life that would elicit eternal punishment?” Some theologians suggest that if there is indeed eternal punishment there cannot be a heaven. How can there be joy, if you know others are in eternal pain and punishment.

One of these theologians is Nels Ferre. He says that if hell is real, then God’s love is frustrated, so heaven becomes a place of mourning. So Ferre becomes a part of a group that believes in “universal salvation.” All people finally respond to God’s grace. Dr Ferre shared this belief about universal salvation in a church he once pastored. After the sermon, he went to the back of the church to greet people as they left. As he was doing so, a wonderful older woman shakes his hand and says, “Dr. Ferre, I love your sermons and I have learned so much from them about being a good Christian. But today you were wrong.” Dr. Ferre, a little puzzled asks her to tell him a little more. She responded, “Today, you said there is no hell, and you are wrong. My husband is in hell and he is staying there.” Now, Dr. Ferre would also say that we still have to make the choice to freely enter into heaven. God will never coerce us to do so. So Dr. Ferre would certainly believe in a place similar to what we have known as purgatory, a place where God’s love would continue to reach out to us, until that love wins us over and we freely choose to enter heaven. His belief is, God’s love will never be frustrated, but will ultimately prevail.

Sometimes we need to be careful that our thoughts do not express our own pain or frustration with another. There is a wonderful poem about a person who was so sure about their own goodness and righteousness that when they died and then entered heaven it was no surprise. Yet as he walked around he began to see people who he had known in his earthly life, who he was sure would never make it into heaven based upon how they lived. As he continued to see these people he began to realize that he would have this very puzzled look on his face. Also, he finally realized that as these same people saw him, they had the same puzzled look on their faces when they saw him.

The bottom line is what I said when I started, no one knows for sure, that today we see dimly, only when we experience it will we know for sure. Surely there is enough credible evidence that we are not simply experiencing wishful thinking. As Paul said, “If this is all we were doing, then we are the most to be pitied.” Our surest hope and promise is the reality of Jesus’ own resurrection. Paul, himself, says “I have talked with over 500 people who saw Jesus after his resurrection, and many of them are still alive.” In other words, I can still help you meet those who have had that first hand experience. For us today, we still have the presence of God in our midst, as we live in the reign of God. How we build the trust in the promise and hope of our faith is to fully live in the paths and directions Jesus shows us, which allows us to build that at-one-ment relationship Nancy talked about last week. As I tell people, I do not worry about what happens at death, for I know the God of love, and I simply trust that in that love God has for me and you, God will do the best God can do for me and you.

Please know I barely scratched the surface of this topic, and that each point could have been discussed in much deeper detail. All I could hope to do today is introduce a variety of thoughts about the topic of eternity that you may ponder. But let me close with a little bit of a confessional, an abridged addition of what I believe for myself. I do believe in eternal life, and that someday I will meet God face to face. Some call it judgment day. And I do believe that my life and how I live it is important to God, so I will have to give an accounting of what I have done. As a friend shared with me, the hardest part of that face to face encounter will be to have to look into those perfectly loving, grace-filled eyes of God, and see how my life at times disappointed God. To see those times where I walked away from the love God tried to share with me. To see those times I had the opportunity to share God’s love with others, and I did not. That will be hell to see that look of disappointment. But I also believe that God’s love is never frustrated and that I still will be able to repent and know that forgiving love of God that makes my relationship whole and brings me into at-one-ment. And because of that I and all of us will be able to live in that love for ever and ever.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on September 23, 2007.