Exploring Death and New Life in Heaven
By the Rev. Kit Billings -- Sunday, March 7, 1999

Letter From Your Editor, March 1999

Bible Reading

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:1-6)

Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.

"But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise; for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living--for to him all are alive."

Some of the Scribes responded, "Well said, teacher!" And no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Luke 20:27-40)

Reading from Swedenborg

I wrote a special book about the spiritual world called Heaven and Hell, containing descriptions of many things in that world. Since every human being comes into that world after death, I also described what it is like for people there. Everyone knows—or can know—that we go on living after death, since we are born human beings created in the image of God, and because the Lord teaches this in the Bible. But until now no one has known what that life is like.

People have believed that we would then be souls. And they have thought of the soul as similar to the ether or the air, or like a breath such as people breathe out when they die. They have thought of it as remaining alive even though it has no eyesight, hearing, or ability to speak.

Yet after death we are human beings every bit as much as we are now. In fact, we are so fully human that we do not even realize that we are no longer in the previous world. We can see, hear, and speak as in the previous world. We can walk, run, and sit down as in the previous world. We can lie down, sleep, and wake up as in the previous world. We can eat and drink as in the previous world. We can enjoy the pleasures of married life as in the previous world. In short, we are human beings in every way.

It is clear from this that death is not the end of life, but a continuation of it; it is merely a crossing over. (True Christian Religion #792)

Sermon

One of the many things I appreciate about the end of autumn is its powerful way of reminding us that naturally speaking, life comes to an end. As trees drop their leaves and once-lovely flowers droop and die, my subconscious mind begins to ponder the meaning of my mortality.

As our New Testament reading illustrates, one of the quintessential issues we all face is that of death, and whether or not we believe there is an afterlife. As Abd-El-Kader once wrote, "Death is a black camel, which kneels at the gates of all." Is that camel something you fear? Or have you learned how to stoop and stroke its peculiar, hairy head?

A five year old girl, returning home from the funeral of her grandmother, rode in a car with her other grandmother. "Where did Grandma go?" she asked

"We believe she went to be with God," the other grandmother replied.

"How old was she?"

"She was eighty years old."

"How old are you?"

"I am eighty-three."

The little girl thought a bit, and then said, "I hope God hasn't forgotten you!"

I don't think God has forgotten any of us when it comes to death. God knows that we all are going to die at some point, and that we are faced with this reality in some way within our minds. One reason this arrangement is useful is that it helps us to consider the possible existence of God and a spiritual quality to life.

Our mortality also helps us to wrestle with what and who is most important in this life: others or ourselves? Our personal philosophy or the Lord's divine commandments? What is most important to you: your own bodily security or your willingness to take risks for the sake of others? Your all-American comfort needs or those of your neighbor's down the block, or on the other side of town?

It is very useful to think about our mortality now and then. This is one of the great uses of attending funerals and memorial services: they help us not only to remember and pray for our dearly departed, but also to reflect deeply about our own future death and what it means to us.

As we can see from our reading in the Gospel of Luke, the people of Jesus' time discussed life after death just as we do today. The Jewish religious leaders who questioned Christ about resurrection were Sadducees. They are depicted in the New Testament as opponents of Jesus along with the Pharisees. These two groups were separate from each other, and were often in conflict. They were poles apart in their beliefs! The Sadducees were devoted to the holy writings of Moses alone, and held no regard for the books of the prophets and the "man-made" traditions offered by the Pharisees, which were called the Tradition of the Elders.

Each group wanted control over the Temple. The Pharisees simply wanted to have authority over the religious life of Israel, while the Sadducees wanted both religious and political power.

The Pharisees upheld a general belief in the afterlife, supporting the reality of angels and spirits, while the Sadducees did not. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. And so, to demonstrate the ridiculousness of believing in life after death, they proposed a scenario about a fleet of seven brothers. These men each married the same woman in turn after their next older brother died off. Thus, the Sadducees' question: "Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be?"

The Lord met their query in terms and language that these loyalists to Moses' law could appreciate. He referred them to a passage in Exodus where God spoke of himself in the present tense saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

Christ upheld God as being Lord of the living and not of the dead. With Jesus, who was the living God of the universe in his soul, the afterlife was a present and substantial reality--just as real and substantial as life on earth. For in God's eyes, the spiritual and natural worlds are each an extension of his own omnipresent life force. When Jesus was in states of inward harmony, this reality was as clear to him as the full moon during harvest time. And Jesus wanted to convey this life-enhancing truth to everyone he encountered.

Clearly, the Lord appreciated this question and the thoughts of the Sadducees, whom he already knew had positioned themselves as his enemies. Instead of dismissing them, he responded to them in words they could respect.

Thus is God's attitude toward all of us regarding death and afterlife. God cares about our questions, our doubts, our fears, our worries. God wants us each to discover the truth about them in our own unique timing and way. By meeting the Sadducees on their own ground, quoting to them words from one of the books of Moses, he helped them to be more receptive to his truth and teaching. It is important that we know that the Lord is trying to meet each of us in a similar way--on ground that we feel is secure and familiar.

In the past couple of weeks we have lost two of our long-term church members to that black camel kneeling at our gates. Whenever we lose a loved one to death, it can be useful and meaningful to consider how we feel about death and about what comes after it. Now may be a good time to approach God in prayer about any unresolved issues surrounding death and life after death.

How are you these days when it comes to your own death and resurrection? If you want to read a good Swedenborgian book dealing with a variety of issues and concerns about death and resurrection, I recommend A Book About Dying: Preparing for Eternal Life, by Robert Kirven. It is a useful resource for people facing their own or someone else's death.

One of the purposes of Christ's Second Coming, which our church says happened in spiritual form during the late 1700s, was to enable people to delve more rationally into the mysteries of faith. Swedenborg said the Lord granted him special access to spirits and angels, in part so that he could report back to those of us still on earth about what death and life in heaven or hell is like.

God showed Swedenborg that we are intended to know about and understand the basic quality and nature of the spirit world. This is partly so that we may enjoy a fuller understanding of it--for when we are in the light of awareness instead of in the darkness of ignorance or falsity, our souls are open to more joy and peace. As William Cowper once said, "All truth is precious, if not all divine." It leads us into inward serenity!

As Swedenborg witnessed with his spiritual eyes, when our minds gain greater access to truth, the love-filled, golden light of heaven flows more fully within! And with that gorgeous, enlivening light comes heavenly contentment. Swedenborg's tour of heaven and hell were also granted so that you and I might find substantiation for the eternal truths Jesus taught during his ministry on earth.

We find in Swedenborg's teachings that heavenly life exists anywhere God's presence is welcomed and enjoyed. And we find that we will enjoy its life and atmosphere if, during our life on earth, we choose to invite the lovingkindness and truth of God and heaven into ourselves, while showing them outwardly in charity toward our fellow human beings. This process of growth into an angelic personality must be started here on earth. If we choose not to do so, then the pathway toward change from selfish intending and thinking gets very, very difficult after we separate from our bodies.

The Lord spoke about this crucial truth in our reading from Luke. By saying that people are not given in marriage in heaven, he was symbolically speaking about our need to embrace the marriage of goodness and truth within us while living here on earth. We all need to engage in the joining of love and faith, goodness and truth inside of us here and now! If we wait until we die, it will be too late. Jesus said, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage."

The divine, spiritual truth it this is hard to deny: our choices here really matter! This is why the Lord taught so clearly about life beyond death, and why he showed himself resurrected to his disciples at Easter. He wants us to be totally convinced of our eternal existence. Why? So that the more important issue of how we approach life today will become of paramount importance.

Exploring the issue of death and life after death is important to help us become convinced of our eternal existence. When this growth happens, our focus turns away from doubt and wonder about the life beyond, and toward the foundation of our future eternal living--a foundation we lay one block at a time with the mortar of love, using tools of faith and wisdom.

Our church's teachings reveal that heaven holds a unique and specific job for each of us--one suited to our deepest love and inspiration. God is helping us to fully prepare for it in ways we are often unaware of. Heaven operates as a grand community, full of diverse faith traditions and distinguishing doctrinal viewpoints, which are all inwardly connected through the affection and value of loving God and our neighbor.

I believe that a church's closeness to the truth about the nature of life after death grows as it leads its members to improve their quality of life here and now. For the angels' attention is centered on loving and understanding their neighbor. Christ demonstrated this in his caring exchange with the questioning Sadducees, even though he knew they saw him as their enemy.

I pray that your inward exploration of death and of life in resurrection will move you closer to a heartfelt agreement with the Lord's enemies, who finally responded, "Well said, teacher!"

Kit Billings is serving as a hospital and hospice chaplain for Alegent Health in Omaha, Nebraska, where he lives with his wife Penny and their daughter Julia. (Updated 12/2007)

Prayer

Dear Lord, you have created a world in which birth and death are equal partners in the flow of life. As we contemplate our own death, whether near or far, and as we face death among those we love, give us a deep conviction that death is not the end of life, but merely a crossing from this temporary plane of existence to the everlasting home you have created for us. Transform sadness and fear into comfort and joy in the eternal power of life. Amen