This is actually a post that I started writing on a sticky on my computer a looooong time ago and never finished. I figured it was about time to get around to it! :)
So I've been thinking about heaven lately. Really, it mostly started over chorale tour over spring break last year. We sang a Copland arrangement of the hymn "Shall We Gather at the River?," the full text of which is:
- Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God? - Refrain:
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God. - On the margin of the river,
Washing up its silver spray,
We will talk and worship ever,
All the happy golden day. - Ere we reach the shining river,
Lay we every burden down;
Grace our spirits will deliver,
And provide a robe and crown. - At the smiling of the river,
Mirror of the Savior’s face,
Saints, whom death will never sever,
Lift their songs of saving grace. - Soon we’ll reach the silver river,
Soon our pilgrimage will cease;
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace.
Singing this so many times in Chorale, and especially at a time where I was thinking about leaving Wheaton and not seeing a lot of people for a long time, and maybe not seeing some people ever again, was really, really hard. I think I probably had tears welling up in my eyes every time we sang this song.
I have to say, I'm really excited for heaven, and this song is a good example of why. For one thing, how amazing is it to think about someday gathering at the river with all of the other Christians from all of eternity??? This means not only the people that we knew and loved on earth, but also every single other believer from the beginning of time to the end of this world. Whoa.
Singing this on tour, it just filled me with such joy that even though a separation from so many people I love was fast approaching, it was only a temporary one! One day I will see all of these people who I have come to love so dearly again and that I will NEVER BE SEPARATED FROM THEM AGAIN! And even more so, the same is true of God! When I get to heaven, I will no longer feel torn between earthly and heavenly pursuits. I will no longer struggle with how to worship God with tasks that don't really feel all that worshipful most of the time. I will no longer be in pain, or feel sorrow or shame, or shed tears (the bad kind of tears, that is......I kinda think I'm going to :') a whole lot in heaven!).
One thing that I think about heaven a LOT is that when I get there, I will no longer perform ANY activity without it being an act of worship to God. This is how we're supposed to live now, and we in our human weakness just *cannot* figure it out! And it's so frustrating!...we know with our minds that everything should be done as if for the Lord, but we just can't get our sinful selves to do this. This is one of those ways in which I feel incredibly torn (I don't know if that's the right word, but it's late) as a Christian. So it's just way exciting to me that in heaven, this will no longer be a problem. I don't know what heaven's really going to be like, but I think that there will be work there (there was work in the Garden, so why not in the City?), and it will be work (and relationships and so many other things) done in the way that we are MEANT to experience them, and that is just pretty darn exciting.
I don't really have a good conclusion for this, other than to say that I'm really really excited for heaven...and at the risk of sounding über cheesy, I'm really really excited for all of the people that I'm going to see up there and how righteous (in the sense of "in right relationship," not some hippie sort of lingo) all of my relationships are going to be. No more broken relationships...that's just too wonderful to even fathom. :')
And now, I'm tired. This has been really scattered (written as it was in small pieces over the course of several months), but oh well. Good night.
I have thought those same things many many times!
ReplyDeleteIm kind of obsessed about the idea of heaven/the new creation.. if I ever go to grad school again my thesis will be on it Im sure.. and the nt is obsessed with it too seriously.
I like to refer to us as the wheaton diaspora; we are dispersed in this age for the kingdom's sake, only to be regathered in the end..
Cool post. I also think about heaven all the time, although possibly not with as much longing as you do.
ReplyDeleteWe were talking at dgroup last week about what you might call "the sacrament of ecstasy" (at least that's what I'd call it, hehe). That is, sometimes God gives us tastes of heaven on earth, and the enjoyment of them can and ought to be more than simply enjoyment, because those moments or relationships or works can be the means by which he pours out his grace on us to make us worshipful. For me, playing organ is the clearest such gift. Surprisingly often when I'm practicing or performing or playing for church or singing hymns alone, I get physical goosebumps because God is in the room with me, and even my body knows. It's incredible. And that's just goosebumps! In heaven, I think light will radiate off our faces.