The other day, I read a folk tale about paradise in Best-Loved Stories Told at the National Storytelling Festival. Steve Sanfield's story is entitled "Could This Be Paradise?". The basic story is that a man set out from home in search of paradise. He got rather far from home and settled down to sleep for the night, but before doing so, he pointed his shoes in the direction that we was heading. During the night, someone or something full of mischief, turned those shoes in the opposite direction. The man walked all the next day and arrived at a place that seemed so familiar right down to a vary familiar looking house and the family who dwelt there. He spent the rest of his days wondering if he truly had found paradise.
Here is a link to the tale, but you might also find it in your local library or book store:
Of course, I can't just give you the tale and that be it. A little commentary and preaching must accompany it. Is anything really free?
As a minister, I have encountered a number of people who have definite opinions about heaven. They are so definite that it would offend them to hear that I've used the word "opinion" regarding what they hold dearly as absolute truth. Among this group are those who are biding their time just waiting to go to heaven. They occupy a pew on Sunday morning, but do little else. Some of their colleagues are a little more dangerous. They seem to me to be folks who will be rather disappointed with heaven if some people don't go to hell.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not here to tell you there isn't a heaven, though it might be easy to imagine. No, I believe what the old creed says, "I believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting." I don't think I would even venture to tell you there is no hell, but I know a good joke about it that was told to me by a 90 year old Gideon, so it's been blessed for your hearing.
The pastor of a Unitarian Universalist congregation was studying away one morning when he became convinced that hell did not exist. He beat a hasty path to the sign in front of his church and changed the message to read, "THERE AIN'T NO HELL". Well, the pastor of the Baptist church down the street happened to be driving by while the sign was being changed. He hurried to his church and changed his sign to say, "THE HELL THERE AIN'T!"
We are in a season at the movie theaters where some of the conversation is about God, Jesus and even Heaven. For some the movies might even prove decent ammunition to win some argument about the existence of God. Let me, however, leap quickly to a point: offering a convincing apologetic, winning an argument, about the reality of heaven is a pointless victory if you fail to do anything about the hell your neighbors experience on earth.
Jesus didn't talk a lot about heaven, but he did teach about the kingdom. In one of his lessons he said,
"The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'there it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you" (Luke 17:20-21).
Which brings me back to our folk tale. Before we set off in pursuit of heaven, we have to seek the kingdom. We have to see the tremendous potential of paradise in the here and now even if that means being crucified with Christ for the sake of others.
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