Heaven
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John14:1-4
STORY
In The Muppet Movie, which was released in 1979, the Muppets set out to find adventure. Perhaps, to this day, what is best remembered about the movie is the opening song, The Rainbow Connection. We see Kermit the Frog sitting on a log in a swamp. It was as if the little puppet was truly alive and singing for all of us. Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, and the voice of Kermit, was hiding behind Kermit, submerged in water to make the hand puppet come alive. But the song was recorded earlier in a studio. Henson tried to sing the song in the studio, but was unable to put any authenticity into it. He then placed Kermit puppet on his hand, and sang the song through Kermit, which made the song a national sensation. The writers of the song, Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher, describe the meaning of the song: “I also like the fact that it starts out with the negative: ‘Rainbows are only illusions, rainbows have nothing to hide.’ So, the song actually starts out as if he’s going to pooh-pooh the whole idea, and then it turns: ‘So we’ve been told, and some choose to believe it. I know they’re wrong, wait and see.’ And again, he doesn’t have the answer: ‘Someday we’ll find it.’” The song begins with these words:
Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what’s on the other side
Rainbows are visions
But only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we’ve been told
And some choose to believe it
I know they’re wrong, wait and see
Someday we’ll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me
The reframe reads:
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me
DEVTION
Rainbows are caused by sunlight that always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the Sun. Rainbows are full circles. However, the observer normally sees only an arc formed by illuminated droplets above the ground, and centered on a line from the Sun to the observer’s eye. So, since a rainbow is a circle, if you are looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, you will discover yourself.
We believe in a celestial heaven that we will journey to when our life’s journey has ended on earth, but for those who believe in God heaven begins this day. This is because God’s kingdom is on earth as if it were in heaven, though only in imperfect form because of the presence of the evil one. Yet, in faith we can enjoy the foretaste of heaven as the Holy Spirit dwells within us. In addition to this, we experience heaven in the here and now because of our fellowship with other Christians.
Jesus gave us a poignant image of heaven when he shared that God’s heaven is composed of many rooms, and there is a special room just for you and me. As we all have our favorite room in our home, with our favorite chair, heaven will the same. Our special room is the place where we can find solace and comfort. It is a secure place of serenity. Our special room is our place of retreat from the hardships of life. Heaven will be the same for us, as it will be a place of peace and quiet. Perhaps not literally, but most certainly figuratively. Jesus gave us an image of heaven that we can relate to from our human earthly perspective.
Little more can be said of the comfort that heaven offers us, so I will let the early Church Father Augustine, who preached on verse 1, share his spiritual insight on God’s heaven and the solace that it brings to us for this day of daily living. In this short excerpt from Augustine’s sermon, Jesus is speaking to his disciples just after Palm Sunday when they feared the persecution of the authorities:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions.” By way of assurance to them in their trouble that they might with confidence and certainty look forward, after all their trials, to dwelling together with Christ in the presence of God.
We know what is on the other side, and we have found it.