Heaven and Death

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view ..." (2 Corinthians 5:16a)

I've been thinking a lot about death lately. Not mine in particular. Death in general. I know it's not exactly a popular subject and not something you want to dwell on for any length of time ... but, it's a part of what I do. I had two funerals last week. And two the week before. Someone I hold very dear is eighty-eight years old and in the hospital. Hopefully, he'll rebound ... but when you're eighty-eight ... the odds are quickly moving away from you. My father turned eighty-one a couple of weeks ago. Every time I see him he looks a bit older and moves a bit slower ... which means he's getting older ... which means I'm getting older. We're all getting older. So. There it is staring at me again, with its beady little black eyes. Death.

In his second letter (which was actually his third letter, that we know of) to the Christians living in Corinth Paul is trying to help them understand what it looks like to live in heaven. Here we see the Platonic influence on Paul's thinking. He makes a sharp distinction between the earthly mortal body and the spiritual eternal soul. We all live in this earthly thing called a body (Paul calls it a tent, and elsewhere refers to dying as taking down a tent), but one day we will live in a new, heavenly body. There is a stark contrast between what we have now and what we will have then -- now a broken, pathetically limited body; then, "an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" (2 Cor.5:1).

Sounds great. What Paul says is true -- the older I get the more I long to trade in this body for a new, heavenly body. Frankly, any kind of new body would do. And in case you're thinking I just have a poor body image ... let me assure you, that's not it ... I used to have a great body, and was quite proud of it! But that was about 20 yeas and 40 pounds ago. So, a new body is sounding really good right about now.

But Paul doesn't linger on the new body and heaven for very long. He mentions it only to address how it impacts what I do with the body I have here and now. He says that we now see everything with different eyes because we know that Christ died for our sins and gave us eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus (which Paul talks about in his first letter) defeats death, once and for all, and is a real game-changer. It changes everything. Not just heaven. Not just spiritual things. It changes everything about what I'm going to do with the life I have left on earth. It changes me -- my priorities, my proclivities, my pecadillos, my perspective.

So, Paul says, we no longer see people from an earthly perspective. We don't see them as dying, decaying bodies. We see them as infinitely loved by God with eternal potential. And God wants to love them through us. Jesus wants to draw them to himself ... through us!

According to early church tradition Paul died in Rome in the year 67 A.D. He was beheaded -- most likely for causing unrest with his preaching of Jesus. The fire that almost consumed Rome in 64 A.D. was being blamed on the Christians. Although the most severe persecution had ended by 67 A.D., the memories lingered. Anyone associated with Christ was suspect. And anyone vocal about Christ must have had a death wish. Paul was probably arrested for his preaching. He just couldn't keep his mouth shut about Jesus. He didn't see death the way some do. "Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Shortly before his death he wrote these words: "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day ..." (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

It's as if he could already see it ...

Assignment: Find someone who needs Jesus and then BE Jesus for them.