(Sermon by Pastor Michael D. Schultz 05/06/07)

INTRODUCTION:

For many it is now vacation planning time of the year.  If the destination is the beach, some will say, “I love relaxing at the beach,” and others will say, “How could anyone want to go sit on a beach for a week?”  Camping?  Some say, “I love to get outdoors,” while others feel, “The best camping I’ve ever done was at a five star Marriott.”  And when the vacation destination is a family reunion, some will joke and say, “That’s not really a vacation at all.”  So how about this place John saw? 

Heaven  –  I Want To Go There!

Seems the older Christians get, the more they can be heard to say, “I’m ready to go home.”  But to Christians of all ages Jesus can be heard to say two things: "Soon enough!" and "Sure enough!"

This is one of those bible chapters that has received a lot of attention.  Not even part of the reading for today (but included in this chapter) are the pearly gates and the streets of gold.  What a place!  But way beyond what the proudest owner of the classiest car could ever boast, of this place it must certainly be said, “Look at her shine!”  When we remember that this is a vision, what we need to bear in mind is that the city of Jerusalem doesn’t stand for a city.  In the Bible, the city Jerusalem has always stood for the people, God’s people, specifically believers in Jesus.  In heaven, it’s the believers themselves who are shining, shining with the glory of God, as if a million spotlights were beaming onto a billion diamonds.  I want to go there!

Only the truth about Jesus puts any person there (the imagery of the foundations).  Only true believers in Jesus get in there (the imagery of the gates).  These believers have been gathered in from every nation on earth (the imagery of the gates facing the four points of the compass).  Believers don’t meet God in church or any other specific location because God’s presence fills heaven (the imagery of no temple).  God’s glory lights up every nook and cranny of heaven (the imagery of no sun or moon).  It’s the safest place there is (the imagery of the walls).  I want to go there!

I hope you do!  I pray that you’re not losing sight of it.  Today we’re singing, “Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blest – the sight of it refreshes the weary and oppressed.”  There’s plenty that’s oppressive and plenty that can leave you weary, but this is where you’re going.  It’s why we have bibles, churches, sermons and Sunday School.  Because of Jesus, the story of your life does not end poorly; it ends well, really well, the kind of good that goes beyond what we can say or know.  You want to go there?  Jesus says, “You will.  Soon enough you will.”  Just the sight of it is a refreshing pit stop along the way.  You’re not going to get behind or get penalized for it so take all the pit stops you want. 

What you don’t want is to have to wonder, “Will I make it?”  I don’t see Peter at the pearly gates.  He’s not the gatekeeper.  But there is an angel at each one, denying entrance to those who don’t belong there.  You have never experienced anything so traumatic or so disheartening as what it would be like to stand before one of those gates and see the angel step in front of it and hear the angel say, “No!  Entrance denied!”

What gossip is so worth sharing, what grudge is so worth bearing that, destroying your faith in Jesus, it would leave you shut out of this city?  What high opinion of yourself or what strong conviction of your own is so important that, putting you at odds with Jesus, it would leave you in the wretched pit of hell?  Is there an amount of money, a model of car, a piece of real estate, a personal accomplishment, anything you might want (good, bad or otherwise) that’s so desirable that it becomes more important than being with Jesus in this blessed body of believers?

There can’t be any such thing, but there has been.  To our own shame and horror there has been.  I should never be able to be in this group of people.  Big sins, little sins, known or unknown, I’d have to be shut out, were it not for the fact that Jesus, the Lamb who lights up heaven, once had the light of his holiness snuffed out.  He died for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.  He offered his life for yours to take away your sin and to give you this bright, bliss-filled future.  He lives again/forever to bring you there and be there with you. 

“Will I make it?” is something we needn’t wonder about.  Instead we can concentrate on a promise Jesus makes.  “This is yours.  This is what awaits you.   Soon enough and sure enough, you’ll be part of this shining group of saints.  By my death I won this for you.  On my life I promise it to you!”  Jesus’ promise will not fail.

So what do you think will be the best thing about heaven?  What would be the number one reason for saying, “I want to go there”?  Oftentimes, after a painful illness or a life that has been filled with many difficulties, people look forward to heaven because of what’s not there – there’s no sickness, sadness, sorrow, pain or death.  Those are pretty good reasons to look forward to it.

Equally inviting, if not more so, is the prospect of a reunion with loved ones who have previously died in the Christian faith.  If grandma died in the Christian faith first and grandpa later, it’s not uncommon for surviving family members to feel happy that grandma and grandpa are together again.  We know from Jesus that they aren’t married in heaven as they were on earth, but they are together, and reunion with Christian loved ones in heaven is a clear and comforting promise of Christ – something to look forward to.

Yet, there’s one reason more compelling than any other for saying, “I want to go there.”  Not by accident, the dimensions of the city John saw were a perfect cube – depth, width and height equal, just like the holy of holies in the temple, that off-limits, cubical room that housed the ark of the covenant, off-limits because the holy God chose to dwell there.  In heaven, the holy presence of God is no longer off-limits.  The best thing about heaven is always being in God’s presence, not as a matter of faith but as a matter of fact, being with God and feeling his presence and sharing his glory and seeing Jesus’ face shining with grace and holiness and love.  I, a sinner – no longer a sinner – enveloped by the light and the love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - I want to go there. 

Because of Jesus’ death in your place and his return to life, you’re on your way there.

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