Eschatology

Joel Stein, Maria Shriver, Mark Twain and John Lennon--what could these four possibly have in common? All of them are interested, on some level, in the Judeo-Christian reality of heaven.

Joel Stein, a popular writer for the L.A. Times, wrote: "Last March, after some campaigning, I got Starbucks to put a quote from me on the their paper cups. It said 'Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can't wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than hell.'”

Maria Shriver wrote a children’s book about heaven (cleverly titled What’s Heaven?). In that book she describes heaven as: "somewhere you believe in. . . . It’s a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talkto other people who are there. You can sit next to the stars, which are the brightest of anywhere in the universe. . . . If you’re good throughout life, then you get to go to heaven. . . . When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you up to Heaven to be with him. . . . "

John Lennon encouraged an entire generation (partly because of religion's misuse of the afterlife) to imagine the world "without heaven."

Perhaps Mark Twain captured cynicism and questions regarding heaven the best when we wrote, “The only thing that trumps the suffering of hell is the boredom of heaven."

We're starting a series on "heaven" at Rochester Church today. We're going to consider the diverse language and metaphors employed in both testaments. I firmly believe that "eschatology" is making a comeback in many religious circles because people are starting to realize (again) that your understanding of the end (that is, what God intends to do with humans and creation) shapes everything (ethics, morality, passion, calling) in the present.

Hope: Christianity and America

Today marks a historic day in the life of the United States. Regardless of one's political leanings (right, left, or indifferent), today is a day when we celebrate what is good and right about America. I hope that those Christians who prayed lock, stock and barrel for George W. Bush because "Paul tells us to pray for our leaders as they are elected by God to serve in government" will continue to pray for Barack Obama even when his politics might be difficult for them to swallow. I also pray that, although Obama's election signifies an important step towards the ideal that all men and women are created equally, that others do not fall prey to a pseudo--messianic love affair with Barack. He is not the messiah.

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Hope has become a big word in today's rhetoric. Obama used it. So did other politicians during the election. Here's a brief reflection on the substance of hope (God's future) from a decidedly Christian view point. At least one decidedly Christian viewpoint.

The end of time, as I understand it, is the full completion of becoming the humans God crated us to be. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, I am, in this precise moment, only a sliver of my true self. All of my past selves, present selves, and future selves are part of a much larger whole. In the fullness of time I shall “known and be known.” I shall at last be the full Josh as you will be who God, long ago, set in motion you to be.

Because I’m a Christian (investing my beliefs and convictions in the teachings of Torah, the Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Jesus Movement) I am enrolled in a story moving towards:

1. Physical resurrection of all people.
2. Judgment of good and evil.
3. A complete healing of land and creation.
4. The full presence of God.
5. A mysterious new chapter called forever.

Thus, my understanding of the church’s role in the in-between time (today and God's final hour) is not so much about a narrow moralism (of the liberal bent which tends to focus solely on certain social issues or the fundamentalist bent focused on private piety). The church’s primary character is one of hope. Not hope in a New President (be it Reagan or Obama), a New Philosophy, a New Movement . . . but hope that a new day is dawning.

When tyrant will walk with victim
When Lions will lie down with lambs
When tanks will be turned into tractors
When enemies will become friends
When the crooked will be made straight

This all leads us to two important questions. First, what’s worth hoping for (what is the substance of genuine Christian hope)? Second, Are our hopes big enough? Or, put another way, do we Christians settle for crumbs when a feast has been prepared?

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.