Pie in the Sky By and By

I'm going to give you some lyrics and you name that tune:

When we've been there
Ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days
To sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.

Easy, right? Amazing Grace. It's interesting to me, however, how many hymns have that same theme in their final verse. It's an anticipation of heaven, that final place of peace and joy where we'll all sit on clouds and play harps ...

We used to have songs about "heaven is a wonderful place." We all knew what "the Pearly Gates" referred to and dreamed of "streets of gold". It seems as if heaven has lost its luster, even for many Christians. We don't hear much about it these days.

For awhile Christianity was ridiculed as a "pie in the sky by and by" religion. You know, something somewhat good someday, but not now and, honestly, not that good when it came. When John Newton wrote of the 10,000 year beginning to an eternity, he was thinking it was grand. Today many think, "Boring!" "What are we gonna do all day? Sit on clouds and play harps?" And if there is a sin of the day, it might just be the sin of being boring. There's nothing worse than being boring. We crave excitement, thrills, entertainment, distraction, amusement ... now and all the time. So, John, what's so good about your heaven?

Obviously we've missed the point. Even Christians, I suspect. We think of heaven as a place of escape, perhaps, where we'll have no more pain and no more tears, a relief from the miseries of this current world. A kind of suicide, I suppose, to get out of this sad place we're in now and "go to a better place." It's true that there will be no more tears, but is that the point of heaven? Is that the wonderful reason for a mere 10,000 year start? Others like to think about the end of sin. That's noble enough. Some of us are sick and tired of sinning -- of violating God's glory -- and we long for the day when we cannot sin anymore. All we can do is glorify God. That sounds good. Good enough for an eternity? I would argue that, in our minds, it's not, given the decline of the allure of heaven for so many Christians. That "pie in the sky by and by" is too remote and too elusive and too bland to really hold our attention.

We are, of course, missing the point. We're looking at the fringe benefits and missing the whole point. Yes, there will be no more weeping in heaven. Yes, there will be peace. Yes, we will be no longer able to sin. Yes, we'll be there for an eternity. A long, long, long time. But why? Why no tears, no unhappiness, no pain, no sin? It's because we'll be with Jesus. It's because we'll be like Jesus (1 John 3:2). We will be the loving, sanctified Bride and He the Eternal, Glorious Bridegroom and that Union had better last an eternity because it is the most perfect union ever. We sing gladly of His "love so amazing"; this will be an eternity of bathing in that "love of Christ that surpasses knowledge" (Eph 3:19).

So here's what it boils down to. Heaven isn't about us. It is, like everything else, about Him. However, He is so magnificent in all His glory and so infinite in all His attributes that an eternity won't be sufficient to enjoy all of Him. And that won't be boring. Now, maybe you still wonder if it will be boring. Maybe you're still thinking, "I don't know; still doesn't sound that wonderful to me." If so, the real question is not about how marvelous heaven will be. The question is whether or not you know Him. I would suggest you should check into that before the question gets answered for you.