“The Life of Heaven” by Brian Flanagan, Fiat Ventures
Fifth Sunday of Lent
In heaven there will be no flat tires. You’ll never burn anything in the oven. Milk will never expire. You’ll never accidentally oversleep and be late. You’ll never lose your keys. Nothing will get rained out or snowed out. You’ll never forget your phone charger at home next to your bed and have to hope that you can make it through the rest of the day.
Yes, heaven will be amazing – finally, a place with no more suffering. No more sickness, no more sin, and no more death. Martha knows this in today’s Gospel.
Her brother Lazarus has died. Jesus acknowledges her faith and says, “Your brother will rise.” But here is where Martha’s faith comes up short. She says, “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus is standing right there in front of her, in the midst of her suffering, but she grasps onto faith in something seemingly distant.
I think many of us do the same thing. We’re in the middle of a tough situation or some kind of suffering in our lives, but rather than asking God to come into the situation, we shrug and think, “Well at least I won’t have to deal with this anymore in heaven.”
Now Martha’s not wrong, and neither are we to cling to that hope of heaven. But we come up short when we don’t expect God to do much in our lives here and now. To illustrate this for everyone, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. He is showing us that the life of heaven begins now. Some saints have said that we Christians live in the “now and the not yet.”
Sure, we won’t experience the fullness of that life of heaven until we’re drinking bottomless Dunkin’ Donuts coffee up on a cloud with St. Peter, but Jesus wants that life of heaven to break into our lives here on earth even now. And we can pray for that!
See something on the news about conflicts in the Middle East? Pray, “Lord, we know that in heaven we’ll be in perfect peace and unity with you and all the saints and angels; let your peace enter into the hearts of all those at war and in conflict with one another that we would experience that life of heaven even now.”
Wondering whether to take that job or when the love of your life will finally come along? Pray, “Lord, in heaven we’ll be able to know and do your will perfectly for all eternity; help us here when we don’t quite know which way you’re leading us to have an ounce of that perfect trust we’ll have in heaven.”
And when we are experiencing tremendous personal suffering in this life, let’s ask God to come into the situation. He may bring healing, he may bring peace, but be sure that his grace and power will work in our lives and it is not bound by the pearly gates. Lord, let the life of heaven begin for us now!
