Longing for home

The other day I said something that I shouldn’t have said. Now before you start thinking that I was cursing like a sailor or lying like a rug, let me assure you that what I said was not malicious or sinful. Categorize it more in the “open mouth; insert penny loafer” type of talk. Chalk it up to lips moving before brain was fully engaged.

Here’s what happened: A friend of mine was having a bad day. I knew that this friend was having a bad day, and I should have been more sympathetic or more tenderhearted. But I wasn’t. In fact, with all the tack of a china shop visiting bull, I proceeded to joke about my friend’s bad day. That was a dumb thing to do.

Of course, when it occurred to me that my feeble attempts at humor were not being received with the jocularity of my intent, I quickly apologized, and my friend quickly forgave. But all that got me longing for another day and another place.

I long for the place that the Bible describes. A place where there will be no more remorse, no more sin, and no disappointments. It’s a place that will have no misspoken words, no feet in mouth, and no need for apologies. I’m no heaven expert. I can’t describe the Pearly Gates and I don’t know the depth of the Crystal Sea. Still, I long for that place. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Eye has not seen, ears have not heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”(1 Corinthians 2:9) Wow, that sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

It sounds a whole lot better now than when I was in the fifth or sixth grade. Back when I was a pre-teen, we were working on a Christmas Program at church. I was a member of the angelic choir. (Who in their right mind would think that pre-teen boys should be in the angelic choir? I do not know, but that’s where we were.) And during the dress rehearsal the choir director was pulling her hair out— because we back row cherubs were bopping each other on the head, making bodily noises that no angel ever made and acting quite un-seraph-like. She shouted for us to stop our less than holy antics by stating, “You boys had better start behaving, because if you don’t like being in the choir now, you’ll be in big trouble in heaven because singing in the choir is what you’ll be doing all day long.”

Now to a group of fifth and sixth grade boys that made heaven sound as appealing as spending the afternoon in a beauty salon while all the old women are getting their blue hair permanents. In other words, it sounded pretty stinky to me. In fact, I could think of nothing worse than spending the next ten billion years of my life wearing a dopey choir robe made out of bed sheet and a fake halo drooping over my head.

Too often we read the Scriptures on heaven and we miss the point entirely of what it will be like. You see, the writers of the Bible had a pretty big order to fill. They were called to describe with words that which no words can describe. Remember Paul’s words… “No mind has conceived what God has prepared.” How do you write what heaven is like when no mind can conceive what heaven will be like? Do you see the dilemma?

So the Bible writers used figurative language and symbols. They talk about heaven as being “the city of God.” But don’t think of it in terms of a city with sidewalks, fire departments, elections in November, and trash pick up on Tuesdays. It simply means there will be community. Community like you’ve never before experienced.

And the Bible writers talk about heaven as a mansion with many rooms. Again, don’t worry about the color your room will be painted, the posters that will be on the walls, and if it’ll have a walk-in closet. The Bible simply means that we will be home. Finally home.

There’s talk that in heaven there will be white robes, and maybe you’ve thought “Oh no… white just isn’t my color, it really makes my face look flush.” Or, “Oh my goodness, robes? Robes do nothing for my figure. They add ten pounds to my hips.” Again, the message of white robes is symbolic. The Bible is teaching us that we will experience the joy of purity— no sin, no mistakes, no errors, a perfectly clear conscious.

And that’s what got me excited about my little humor mishap the other day. I get so tired of saying the wrong things and doing the wrong things. I get so tired of tasting my sneakers because I’ve put my foot in my mouth again or over reacting toward someone I care for and then knowing I need to apologize. I get tired of seeing news reports of war and sickness and trouble and abuse and heartache. Sometimes I just get tired of our sinful world. I think I know what Paul was meaning when he wrote in another letter to the Corinthians: “meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling…” (2 Corinthians 5:3).

That’s when I like to read in the Bible that there is coming a day when we followers of Jesus will be in heaven and the worries and cares and trouble of this old world will be no more. That sounds good to me! It motivates me to tell everybody of this wonderful place that God is preparing for his own. It encourages me to keep my eye on the prize and to keep pressing on. Oh I can’t wait! It’s no wonder we used to sing, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!”