Heaven And Hardships

The story is told that a man died and went to Heaven.  He was met at the pearly gates by the apostle Peter who led him down the golden streets. They went past mansions after beautiful mansions until they came to the end of the street where they stopped in front of a shack.

Peter said to the man, “Here’s your new heavenly home.” The man asked Peter why he got a hut when there were so many mansions in which he could live.  Peter replied, “I did the best I could with the money you sent us.”

On this 5th Sunday of Easter we talk about the kingdom of heaven – the kingdom of God – and we talk about hardship such as those caused by lack of money for food and for paying our many bills especially housing and medical.  Most of us face these hardships that are especially “hard” for the poor and disadvantaged to endure.  Consider that most of the people who have ever lived on this planet have been oppressed and poor. That was certainly the case during the time Jesus lived. Jesus called them the “little children” who he wanted to come to him.

None of us like hardships, but they happen: loss of employment, an illness (perhaps a serious one), maybe the death of a loved one, cancer, dementia, and addictions. Somewhat surprisingly, according to St. Paul and Barnabas who proclaimed the good news in our first reading from Acts, they said: "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."

There is an age-old biblical belief that God is close to the hurt and the lost. This is one reason why we call Jesus the “Suffering Servant,” and why we call ourselves his servants when we suffer.

I’m sure we all want entrance passes to the kingdom, and we might be prepared to pay the price for the admission ticket.  But, this raises two questions.  First why is hardship the ticket to enter the kingdom?  One answer is that an entrance fee of physical or emotional hardship or pain – especially when severe – can draw us closer to God because we begin to realize what’s most important in our lives – those we love and those who love us. That’s God country.

Perhaps just as important – maybe more – when we take away other people’s pain – help them overcome hardships – we take their suffering into our arms. We enter the kingdom when we become more like Christ and our God who suffers when we suffer.

Second, where exactly are we trying to go?  Where is the kingdom of God, or stated another way, “Where is the kingdom of heaven?”  Is this kingdom a place where we go when we die, if we’ve been good, whatever good means?  We certainly hope and assume so, but let’s remember that Jesus did say, “The Kingdom of Heaven (or God) is within you,” and it is “at hand” meaning now, not later.  Therefore, according to Jesus, we don’t die into that kingdom of heaven or God; we awaken into it.  Our eyes are opened, and we see.

It’s a Eureka moment when we finally realize: “The kingdom of heaven is within all of us – each and every one of us.” It’s a sort of incarnation. “God is in us,” according to Jesus. We all have divine DNA.  We and all of creation bear the divine fingerprint.  That’s pretty awesome.  If we would only understand and believe that, we might behave better.

The belief that God is“out there or up there” and not right here with us and in us now is the belief that tears us apart.  This commonly held view of God as separate and distinct from us has harmed our understanding of sexuality; our relationship to food, possessions, and money; and our relationships to animals, nature, and our own incarnate selves.  By incarnation we mean God is within us made even clearer by our all being the body of Christ – many individuals joined together as one Church doing God’s will which is fostering and showing God’s love to all around us – near and far.

The second reading from the Book of Revelations, builds upon this idea.  John begins by saying, “Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.  The former heaven and the former earth had passed away…” In other words, Heaven and Earth should not be considered separate from each other.  Through our own efforts and acts of service and love we bring them together.

This service and love is emphasized in our Gospel that has Jesus saying, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Jesus gave us this greatest commandment with a meaning even more obvious when we near the end of our lives. People facing death don’t think about degrees they have earned, or what positions they have held, or how much wealth they have accumulated.  At the end, what really matters is who we loved and who loved us.

We glorify God when we love, simply because God is love, and as a result: Love is the bridge between heaven and earth making both new.  Love is the sign of the kingdom of heaven within us.   Love is God’s dwelling place within us all.

Because it is May dedicated to our Mother Mary; there are many marriages occurring here at CTK; and love is in the air – and certainly in our Gospel reading – we end with this commonly selected reading by brides and grooms. It’s from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13:

“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things... Faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.” 

Deacon David Pierce