2. The deep, loving, friendships that I experience in my spiritual community have given me a taste of what I believe heaven will be like.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
Take some time to imagine what you think heaven will be like. Jot down some of your ideas.
We hear about heaven having streets of gold (see Revelation 21:21). Some people take this to mean that the streets of paradise will be made of actual gold. Others think the term might be a metaphor for something really good and valuable Possibly it can mean both things. For now, consider the possibility that it is a metaphor. If so, what could some of the goodness be?
Besides being with God, what do you think will be the best thing about heaven? What do you long for?
How could the deep friendships we share on earth be a reflection or foretaste of the goodness of heaven?
Most Christians think of their life after death as living in heaven with God and enjoying great joy and happiness. But Jesus talks about heaven—the Kingdom of Heaven—as something that God makes available to us now, on earth. Why, then, does it seem that humanity so often fails to experience the goodness and abundance that God has prepared for us? One possibility might be that we fail to participate in and develop such spaces where we can experience God’s goodness.
During His life on earth, Jesus created a small spiritual community with His followers. After His resurrection and ascension into heaven, Jesus’ followers created small spiritual communities with others who also believed in Jesus. The Apostle Paul expanded this model of spiritual communities to areas outside Palestine. Jesus knew, and perhaps His disciples also knew, that in these spiritual communities, followers of Jesus would see a picture and experience a taste of what the goodness of God is like.
The abundance of heaven, both now and in our future, does not consist of material possessions, accomplishments, or positions of power. The abundance God desires for us is an abundance of the heart; it is the peace and joy we experience in spite of our circumstances, not because of them. When we follow Jesus’ command to live in loving relationships with others, in spiritual communities that are defined by the members’ love and care for each other and for Jesus, we experience a portion of the abundance God intends for us. We get a glimpse of the overwhelming goodness that awaits us in heaven.
Both the present experience of abundance and the vision of even greater goodness in heaven depend on our participation in the spiritual communities that Jesus modeled, inspired, and commanded. If we are not participating in a spiritual community, we will not experience the fullness of life that Jesus came to provide for us, nor will we understand what our future life will be like.
Charles Wesley, in his well-known hymn, “Oh for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” (a hymn with many more stanzas than most people know about) writes in the very last stanza, “anticipate your heaven below, and own that love is heaven.” (Foster, Richard J, Spiritual Classics, p. 261.) Spiritual communities whose members share a deep love for each other, are an earthly example of this heaven that God desires for us.