Who's in Heaven?
A Sermon of The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Ascension Sunday
Mother's Day
May 8, 2005
Text: Acts 1:1-14
I
Today is the Sunday after the Ascension, sometimes known as Ascension Sunday. The Acts of the Apostles describe the scene of Jesus being lifted up from the earth and taken to heaven. Today I want to talk about heaven and I begin by asking: How many of you believe in heaven? How many believe in hell? How many believe in an afterlife? How many believe that heaven will be full of people just like you? How many that heaven will be full of people not like you?
Here is a story about heaven. There was a couple engaged to be married who were driving together about a week before their wedding and they were killed in a traffic accident. They went up to the pearly gates and St. Peter admitted them into heaven. Then the couple said to St. Peter, "We were going to be married in one week and then we got killed. Do you think we could get married here in heaven? St. Peter answered, "I'll see what I can do?" Well, nothing happened for a few months and the couple came back to St. Peter, who again answered, "I'll see what I can do." Still nothing happened and the couple came back a year later and asked again. Peter again said, "I'll see what I can do." They came back again after five years and ten years, and Peter gave them the same answer. Finally, after 20 years, St. Peter announced to them, "I've got it all worked out" and the couple was married that day and they lived happily ... for a while. After a few months the couple came back and complained to St. Peter, "This isn't working. We have irreconcilable differences. Can you get us a divorce?" St. Peter answered, "I'll see what I can do, but it won't be easy. It took me 20 years to find a priest up here. I don't know how long it will take to find a lawyer!" (Just kidding.)
II
Who do we expect to find in heaven? Will it be people just like ourselves? Will it only be people from the blue states? People who voted for my candidate in the last election? People who share my values and world views? Would I really want to be in heaven with someone on the opposite political side, someone from the red states, someone who disagreed with my values and my political perspectives? Or to make this very current and applicable to the current dispute in the Anglican Communion, do I think that heaven will filled only with those who agree with my position on the election of Bishop Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire? This question of who gets into heaven comes down to whether I am the one who decides who goes to heaven or whether it is God's decision. It's pretty presumptuous to think that I am going to decide who goes to heaven.
III
And here we bump into that wonderful doctrine of the communion of saints by which we affirm that we united in one Body with all who follow Christ. This means we are united to Christians whose particular practice of Christianity may be different from our own. It would be so much easier if other people agreed with us -- but unfortunately that is not the case. What do we do with the unpleasant fact of profound disagreements between ourselves and other Christians?
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus prays that we might be one as he and the Father are one. How did Jesus call his disciples to oneness and handle disagreements among them? There is a clue toward the end of today's passage from the Acts of the Apostles where we see a listing of the apostles. We note that one of the people mentioned is Simon the Zealot. Who were the Zealots? Well, they were the group opposed to the Roman occupation of Palestine. They wanted to drive the Romans out of the Holy Land. They are like the insurgents who want to drive the United States out of Iraq. Simon the Zealot was like an insurgent; he was a member of the militant party opposed to any form of cooperation with the Romans. But then notice on the list of apostles the name of Matthew. Matthew was a tax-collector who was a collaborator with the Romans. He collected taxes for the Romans and cooperated with them in their governance of Palestine. I can imagine Simon and Matthew sitting across from each other at table and Jesus encouraging them to listen to each other and share the truth that each had -- with a goal of moving toward the greater Truth.
Simon and Matthew were not the only opposites among Jesus' followers. Jesus reached out to Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jewish governing council, the Sanhedrin, a wealthy man, who gave his own tomb as a resting place for Jesus after the crucifixion. Jesus also reached out to the poor, to prostitutes, publicans, lepers and those considered unclean.
If we look at the early church, we see that the first generations of the church was almost entirely Jewish. Gentiles could be admitted but they were expected to become Jews first; males needed to be circumcised and all had to observe the dietary regulations. St. Paul told Jews to keep their covenant which had never been revoked, and he admitted Gentiles without requiring them to become Jews first. Paul practiced a radical inclusion of Gentiles and Jews; for him there was no Jew or Gentile, but all were one in Christ.
How can we practice radical inclusion today? Pope John XXIII gave us this guideline: in essentials, unity; in unessentials, liberty; in all things, charity. For me, it helps to remember a question that my brother and sister and I often asked my mother when we were children. We would ask, "Mom, who do you love the most?" She always replied, "I love all of you equally?" This usually didn't satisfy us and we would pester her to give us a different answer, each probably wanting mom to pick us over the other. But no matter how hard we tried, she always stuck to her answer, "I love you all equally." Eventually, I think we got the message.
On this Mother's Day, it is good to remember that the Bible teaches that God loves us with a mother's and a father's love. God's love is very personal and extends to each and every one of us. God's love is inclusive and unrelenting. God calls all to heaven, yes, including the priest and the lawyer, those who support the election of Bishop Robinson and those who do not.
As a practical exercise, I ask you now to think of someone who is very different from yourself -- perhaps on the opposite end of the political spectrum or with very opposite values. Imagine that God also loves this person and that God has a place in heaven for this person and for you. Imagine how God might be inviting you to have a conversation with this person in heaven -- which could be mutually beneficial for both of you. Let's start by imagining the possibility -- and even if we are not able to have this conversation now, let us at least pray for this person and look forward to the day we might have a deeper communion. Amen.