Sermon: How Do We Get To Heaven?

How Do We Get to Heaven?

A sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma

What does every person want more than anything else? The Gospel of Matthew gives this answer: heaven. Now, I have heard people say: " The Bible really doesn't have much to say about heaven. It doesn't tell us what heaven is like." That's just not true. It has much to say, and Matthew probably has more to say than anyone else.

What is heaven like? It's described in our passage from Matthew, the passage we call the Beatitudes. What is heaven like? Heaven is that place where the deep emptiness inside of us is filled. Augustine puts it this way: "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." Heaven is that place where that restlessness ends and that emptiness is filled. Heaven is that place where we will be comforted. Morton Kelsey in his book, Afterlife, summarizes his years of experience as a Christian counselor in this way. Every person bears some secret burden but each of us hides it well. We long to be comforted. Heaven is the place where we receive it. Heaven is a place of gentleness, and we all want to be treated gently. Only as we are treated gently do we feel free to reveal ourselves, and we only feel loved when we are able to do that. Heaven is that place where everything will be as it ought to be. There will be no injustice. Heaven is that place where the prodigal is welcome. It is the place of complete forgiveness. Heaven will be the place of perfect peace. It will be complete rest in the arms of the Father who loves us and complete joy as we play in his presence.

Everyone wants heaven. The question is how do we get to heaven? The Gospel of Matthew gives the answer. The first part of the answer is: we do not earn it. We cannot work our way into heaven. That is impossible. That is not the path that God provides. As Lutherans we should all be eminently aware of this. The first principle of Lutheran theology is: we are not saved by our works. We cannot enter into heaven on the basis of our works. Unfortunately, even most church members don't realize this. In a church survey conducted by the Barna Research Group in 1992 54% of Protestant church members said that if people are good enough they can earn a place in heaven. They operate with what we might call a "ladder theology." Earth is at the bottom of the ladder. Heaven is at the top. The rungs of the ladder are the qualities we see described in the Beatitudes. When we follow the rules as best we can we climb the ladder to heaven. Many centuries ago Martin Luther put it this way: "The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man is the idea that somehow we can make ourselves good enough to deserve to live with an all holy God." Obviously, Luther was right if the majority of Protestant church members still hold on to this heresy today.

How do we get into heaven? The second part of the answer is this: we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the second great principle of Lutheran theology. In Jesus we learn about this incredibly loving God who is always working for our best interests. He desires to give us the gift of heaven. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus he reconciles us to himself. Because of Jesus we receive the gift of heaven. There are no strings attached.

Of course, all of this raises another question: what role do the Beatitudes play in the life of a follower of Jesus? If they are not things we must do in order to merit heaven, what role do they play? I think we can answer that question in three ways.

First, the Beatitudes are a source of meditation. They call us to receive the comfort that comes when we think about the beautiful new life that God is going to give us. In this life we experience emptiness, grief, hostility, injustice, hatred, conflict, and persecution. In heaven we will experience the opposite of all those things.

Second, since Jesus is in the one who has been baptized, we begin in various ways to experience the joy of heaven right now. As we listen to God's Word, as we receive Communion, as we participate in the fellowship of the church, as we pray, we experience heaven right now.

Third, the Beatitudes become goals for the behavior of the people of God. After all, the qualities of life that are described there are the qualities we see in Jesus. Jesus did not love God in order to earn God's love. He loved God because he knew that God loved him. We are called to do the same.

Ronald Guetttler describes how the desire to model ourselves after someone else can be a powerful force in our lives. He says there are 85 people listed with the name "Santa Claus" in phone books across the United States. One man who goes by the name Santa Claus lives in Oakley, California. He says that he does his best to keep a low profile except during Christmas. He says that people have high expectations of Santa. He talks about the embarrassment of receiving a speeding ticket one year. The headline in the newspaper read, "Santa Nailed for Speeding." Another Santa, Santa Michael Claus of Texas, is a telephone lineman. He is a big burly guy who takes his role of Santa with the utmost seriousness. He says, "I'm a walking target. Anything I would do wrong would be immediately noticed."

Of course, all of this makes you wonder. If someone who bears the name of Santa is so concerned about being a positive role model, how much more should we be concerned if we bear the name of Jesus? We should aspire to be like the person who is described in the Beatitudes. We should aspire to be like Jesus.

Whether we are conscious of them or not, we all have goals that motivate us. Sometimes they are positive like the qualities of life described in the Beatitudes. Sometimes they are not. A middle-school teacher talks about a behavioral goal demonstrated by a student in one of his classes. The young man was assigned an in school detention for fighting in the hallway.

The teacher noticed a statement on the t-shirt he was wearing. It read: "No mercy! None expected, none given." The teacher asked: "Do you really believe what you have written on your shirt?" "I wouldn't wear it if I didn't," the student shot back. "Do you know what mercy means?" the teacher asked. "It means I give as good as I get! If someone hurts me, I hurt them back even worse." "But suppose someone is really kind to you. How do your respond to that?" he suggested. "I guess I'd be kind right back," he stammered. "Then wouldn't you be receiving some kind of mercy and giving it right back?" he asked, placing his hand on the young man's shoulder. "I suppose so, but it doesn't happen very often," he admitted. "Perhaps if you began each day expecting goodness and mercy instead of trouble, you'd have a happier day," the teacher countered.

The Beatitudes encourage us to reflect on our goals. Are they positive or negative? Do they reflect the attitude Jesus talks about, or do they reflect the negative attitude displayed by the student? When we display the attitudes we see in the Beatitudes, we bring heaven into our lives and into the lives of others.

How do we get to heaven? Not by works but by trusting in the love that God has shown us in Jesus. It is this love that inspires us to share our faith in Jesus with as many people as we can. It is this love that inspires us to bring a little heaven into the lives of others through our behavior.