Why Wait for Heaven? | Ears to Hear #18

Many Christians spend their lives desperately praying to escape earth and finally reach heaven. But what if we’re missing something? This episode challenges the “get me out of here” mindset and explores how we can actively bring the reality of heaven; peace, justice, love, and God’s presence, etc. into our everyday lives right now.

Title Song: Nothing but the Blood of Jesus by Free As a Bird

Sponsors: Be the first

Find me @:

Email: rjmcrae.biz@gmail.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@reedmcrae

Tiktok Ears to Hear: https://tiktok.com/@ears.to.hear.pod

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reedmcrae 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome everyone to Ears to Hear. Excited to chat with you today. I'm going to start by quoting Bo Burnham. If you're not sure who that is, he is a comedian and he had a song come out in 2013 called From God's Perspective. And, you know, it's an interesting piece of work for sure, but there's a couple lines in there that really you know stick out if you listen to them and listen to what he's trying to say. And he's kind of critiquing religion. That's his whole point. Um, I think he says things along the lines of like, God isn't um like drawing the line at the deli aisle about like certain rules regarding what meats can and can't be eaten. Um it's funny, it's good. I recommend listening to it. But either way, he says, you pray so badly for heaven, but maybe life on earth could be heaven. Doesn't just the thought of it make it worth the try. That's kind of the point, the theme I want to get at today is we spend our whole lives as Christians desperately trying to get to heaven. I mean, that is the why behind much of what we're doing. We're trying to get to a place that we don't even fully understand, we don't agree upon. There's some traditionalist views of heaven with you know the whites and angels singing and playing harps and marble floors and gold and worshiping at the throne of God and and Jesus Christ. And um, cool. That's cool. I mean, sure. Uh I I don't tend to view heaven quite like that. I think um heaven will consist of whatever brings us the the joy that we get here, the most joy that we could achieve here, that will be the heaven we live in. You know, I think about the happiest, most peaceful times in my life, and it's usually it's usually with certain people. It's usually with like family and you know, holiday seasons and spending time with loved ones and um having new experiences and new places and new cultures and things like that. And I'm I'm not saying heaven is gonna be some travel itinerary or just Christmas 24-7, but the emotions at least will be that times you know, a million, whatever. Um, either way, whatever your idea of heaven is, as long as you have that idea knowing, trusting God that it will be the best state of living that you could possibly ever live in. And again, whatever that looks like for you, keep that vision in your head. But don't get it twisted. You're not gonna go somewhere that you don't want to be. Like, God isn't gonna have you be somewhere that's less than what you have achieved via keeping the commandments. Today's episode isn't about the merit-based what's needed, what's not needed, what rules to be kept, what straight and narrow path you have to follow to get to heaven. I'm not talking about earning heaven. That's not today's goal. Today's goal is about instead of trying to like escape now for this future place to work by the sweat of our brow and earn heaven at a later point. It's kind of an invitation today to bring the reality of heaven to your everyday life. Um, like Bo Burnham says, doesn't the thought of heaven on earth now make it worth a try? You know, what if even in small ways you could slowly turn your day-to-day living into heaven on earth? And I talked a little bit in my last episode about the unexciting Christian life and how these I mean it's hard, it's hard, and I'm I'm just thinking now because even since I've made the last episode, I've had like a little bit of like, oh man, like it just doesn't feel like anything major is happening spiritually. Um, and I need to take my own advice because that's not the point. The point isn't these like pinnacle climax experiences in our spiritual journey with God, it is about the little day-to-day efforts. So a lot of us are praying hard to get to a place that isn't yet for us, but again, I think the point that God wants us to understand is we need to bring the idea of heaven not only to ourselves and in our personal lives, but bring a piece of heaven to those around you. And if we go to the New Testament and Matthew chapter 5, verse 13 through 16, Christ is saying to the people on this is the Sermon on the Mountain, he says, Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of men. He continues, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light excuse me, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven. This isn't about boasting. This isn't about, hey, look at me, look how good I am. It's if you have become born again, if you have the light of Christ within you, people will notice and see that. So Christ isn't saying go and like show off your your faith, but be somebody whose faith just oozes out of them. Be somebody whose faith is worn on your sleeve in a natural way, and you will be the light of the world. That light is from Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is in heaven. And when people see that they go, Man, that guy lives different. Man, have you noticed the way Sherry just like operates? Like she's just under, she's always peaceful, like she never like gets upset or angry about anything. She just seems so oh well it's yeah, you know, she's super Christian, and and that's awesome. People people notice that stuff. And I just think if we if we treat Earth like some waiting room for heaven, um where we're just like surviving, we're on survival mode, and this is like some brutal test we're being put through, which again we can talk about like the nuance of some truth behind that. But if that's all this is, it was just survival mode until we gain heaven, I think we're we're missing the point, and we we're not gonna have nearly as good of a life, but not even that. We won't we won't develop the relationship with Christ that we need, and that's that's what Christ tells us in John. For this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. That's life eternal. You want to talk about eternal life, you want to talk about heaven? Again, it's not so much about it being like this far off distant place. And and yes, I do believe in like a real literal heaven at a later point. I believe that, but if Christ is telling us life eternal, to have eternal life, it's to know me, it's to know God. Well, that process is is now he's given us his word. This is how we know him. This and praying and and serving and changing and becoming, and and you know it, you know people in your life where it's like, oh, he like that man knows God. Like you can just you can tell. Um, you can tell, you know. I just think about certain people, I think about people in my family, I think about like my mom. My mom just be praying. Like I know that. I just know she's always praying for all of us all the time about everything, and that's beautiful. She she's somebody who knows God. Um, you know, there's some like older couples in my in the church, uh, an area I grew up in where it's just like man, they like live a very quiet life, and they're just so like they're not they're not like loud about their faith or anything, but you can just tell like a good portion of their life is dedicated to becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. Like that that wife, that husband, that couple, they just they know him, and I don't know what that process would look like for them, but through them, they're bringing heaven on earth, they're creating that here. And so um I just think it's important if we're we're trying to again escape, if we're trying to have this get me out of here mentality, I'm just gonna suffer until heaven. Um, then we kind of disengage from a lot of things here, like we become extremists in a way, and that's not the point. I'm not saying to like become an extremist and like disregard every other facet of human life, you know, um, cultures and politics and um community and even like our personal relationships and cut people off who are drawing you back. It's like, no, because now we're missing the point because Christ wouldn't do that. That's not what Christ would do, and I imagine like Christ obviously had a pretty emotionally strenuous life as far as like bringing forth miracles, bringing people onto his fold, while like this impending just weight of his upcoming death and and ultimately resurrection, I mean, that clearly was like weighing on him the entire time. But that didn't stop him from interacting with people and bringing heaven to everybody that he interacted with, or at least trying to. He never forced it upon people, it was always an invitation. But when he'd interact with somebody, when he's talking with the Samaritan woman at the well, I mean, that is like a world-shifting conversation for this woman. Like there's so much going through her head, and as she realizes that she comes to know this is her Lord, boom, now like heaven's here with her. To everyone he he performed a miracle to, to everyone he looked at and hugged, and and the unwritten stuff that we don't know, he's bringing heaven. And some people rejected that heaven, some people don't want to hear about that heaven because of one reason or another, but that's not the the point is we still need to we need to offer that to people through our actions. Um and again, as far as not being an extremist, like the point isn't about creating some utopia here on earth, like it's not about some like false, like perfect society um that that we create, but as Christ says in the Lord's Prayer, like thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, right? So God's kingdom as it is in heaven, thy will, God, as you have it in where you where you reside, let it be done on earth as it is there. And that's our job. Me and you. That's mine and your job to bring the kingdom and bring God's will here on earth, just as it is in heaven. And I think that just gives life so much more purpose, so much more meaning, and you just gotta start living heaven where you're at. That really is really is the goal. Because one day we'll be there. We can get there. But until then, until that point in the future, it's not about waiting for it, it's not about suffering for it, it's about making the small little choices each and every day so that heaven can be a place here on earth. And I think that just looks like little moments, little choices, little like reflections in your day, choosing joy, choosing you know what you're doing with your friends and where and how. And um, I mean, again, that that can look like so many different things because we're all different individuals. So heaven for you again might look a little different than heaven for me, and that's okay. And I think God would have it that way. Again, I the idea of just some white marble palace with gold um what's it called? Leaf? Gold leaf? Uh you know, I heard like the White House has like gold leaf all over it now or something. And again, that's that's not like that's not heaven. I'm sorry. It's just that's not like not that heaven won't be beautiful and nice, but like we're not just gonna be sitting there playing harps and singing forever. I mean, come at me. I just don't that that is a symbolic representation of you know, if you do go to a place like that here on earth, that's like a very nice place where you're probably a bit more reverent and you feel like in awe of your surroundings, and those are the emotions that heaven will definitely evoke. But I'm not spending infinity chilling in a marble castle, you know, and I like that doesn't do it for me. I mean, maybe, maybe we'll all just be our brains and like desires for certain things will be shut off where that was just exactly what we all want to do, and just sit together with family in the marble castle. But regardless, and if that does it for you, that's cool. Either way, bring heaven here on earth. That's done by your choices, by what you choose to bring into your life and into the lives of others. Be that light that cannot be hid on a hill, and uh yeah, I think it's worth a try. It's worth a try to bring heaven here. So that's my invitation today. We'll chat next week. Thanks for being here.