Faith Works 4-3-21

Faith Works 4-3-21

Jeff Gill

Following Jesus to Heaven

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Then Jesus says "Follow me."

To the cross, to the tomb, and to resurrection. "Christos anesti," "Christ is Risen" is the ancient greeting of Christians, one to another, on Easter day and after. "Alithos anesti, alleluia!" or "Christ is risen indeed, alleluia!" we reply.

Getting to this greeting, reaching the confidence of faith affirmed on an Easter morning, we do best to follow Jesus all through Holy Week, as long and as far as we can, for everything we have been put into this world to learn and share and comprehend. It takes a Lent to make an Easter, you could say. Following is the preparation we need for arriving.

Tim Keller's essay in "The Atlantic" that I've quoted before in this space (which is easy to find online), all-too-aptly titled "Growing My Faith in the Face of Death," has been a tool for me in cracking open John 21:18-19, to get at the good material within those two verses. 

After learning alongside of his wife that he has cancer, this Manhattan pastor writes: "Since my diagnosis, Kathy and I have come to see that the more we tried to make a heaven out of this world—the more we grounded our comfort and security in it—the less we were able to enjoy it. To our surprise and encouragement, Kathy and I have discovered that the less we attempt to make this world into a heaven, the more we are able to enjoy it."

Some say this world is all the Hell we need, all there is. That's a subject for another day. But certainly the sorrows and torments of this world don't take a great deal of description by me to convince you or anyone that it's far short of any kind of adequate Heaven. Just check out the last few weeks in this paper.

But part of the revelation of Easter is that resurrection takes place both in this world, and the next. I know the rejection of any hope or idea that there IS a next world, beyond the one immediately available to our senses or mental understanding, is what pushes some away from the Christian gospel. What Easter I believe opens a door for, whatever your present faith perspective, is the awareness that there is in THIS world the beginning of many of the promises of heaven. This sometimes hellish world also contains wonderful and mysterious hints of a heavenly hope, available to anyone.

The caterpillar and the chrysalis, the spring blossoming out of winter, discovering in a box full of letters something a century old that speaks to us today: the Easter moments are all around us. And if we can take some of our anxieties and set them aside in the present moment, there are immediate joys available to any of us.

Keller went on to say about this world, in the light of his deeper hope: "No longer are we burdening it with demands impossible for it to fulfill. We have found that the simplest things—from sun on the water and flowers in the vase to our own embraces, sex, and conversation—bring more joy than ever. This has taken us by surprise."

This world is not heaven, but it can point the way to it. And if we don't confuse the map for the territory, the sign for the destination, there are joys in simply seeing the marker, the milestone come into view, saying "Columbus 21, Cumberland 236." Kirkersville may not be heaven, but you can find the way from there, just as it isn't Columbus, either. 

In Bethany, West Virginia, which is not on the way to anywhere, actually, there is a sign. It tells you on arrival in that Northern Panhandle hillside town: "This is the center of the universe. You can get anywhere from here." Likewise, you could say that the kingdom of God is in the midst of where you are; the realm of heaven is very near us, indeed.

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's been seeking to follow Jesus more closely this Lent now ending. Tell him about your journey and temporary destinations at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.