Tuesdays are for Heaven Ramblings…

Irish Jesus Fail

I love nativity sets, I have a collection of them. They make me happy. This one just made me laugh. Did you know that Jesus and his parents were Irish? I am just going by the hair color.

One Step Closer to Heaven….

What if heaven is nothing like we picture it? I am increasingly convinced this will be true for most of us. How well do you understand heaven? As I ask people in my church and Christians I come in contact with, surprisingly, most people have said, “I don’t know much.” Talking to people who have been in the church for four, five, and six decades I still hear them say that they don’t have a very clear picture of heaven. I am in the middle of a preaching series looking at eternity and this week and last week the focus is on what happens when we die, the new heaven and earth, and hell.

I am a little surprised myself by how difficult a subject these are to preach on. What is fascinating, however, is how little Jesus points to heaven. He talks about it, certainly, but he spends far more time trying to give people hope by pointing to the Kingdom of God, rather than pointing towards a heavenly reward. Hell is even more fun to try to make sense of. When Jesus continually spoke of Gehenna, a real place that everyone knew about the second he spoke about it, did they picture some eternal destination or their political and social plans going up in smoke in a crumbling pile of refuse that was burning outside of Jerusalem?

These are really interesting questions. I have benefited greatly from Surprised by Hope by Bishop NT Wright. If you want a great resource to examine the hope of our faith, especially in regards to eternal life, this book is the place to start.

Anybody have a good resource on our theology of hell? I am working through my library, but aside from reference works I am not finding as much as I would like.

Good day for Religious Liberty in DC

Thankfully the DC Council is rewriting its new bill legalizing same sex marriage. In the original bill the language made it sound like religious leaders had no discretion as to whether or not they could perform same sex marriage ceremonies or rent out their facilities for same sex marriage receptions. The original language didn’t provide for religious freedom in these decisions. There is no way such a law would stand up to legal review but at least they realize that not changing the law would  be a serious encroachment on religious freedom. This isn’t even an issue of homosexuality or same sex marriage, this is an issue of basic religious freedoms. If clergy cannot make choices as to who they sanction in marriage it destroys the very fabric of their faith. That goes for pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams a like.