Scars

There is a song that came out recently from a group I enjoy -- Casting Crowns. The song is Scars in Heaven. Now, before I start, let me say (again) that it's a group I enjoy. Further, it's a song I enjoy. This discussion is not about the song; it's about us. The song is only a launching point.

The song is about someone who had hardship in life and went to be with the Lord. The last line in the chorus says,

And the thought that makes me smile now even as the tears fall down
Is that the only scars in heaven are on the hands that hold you now.

You get it, right? The "hands that hold you now" are the hands of Jesus who died so that He could hold you now. The hands of Jesus that He offered to Thomas to prove His identity (John 20:27). It is the universal symbol of His sacrifice on our behalf. Beautiful. I'm fine with the song. It is poetry and conveys a beautiful image. The "only scars in heaven" are His because we are fully healed. No more tears. Good stuff.

I suspect, however, that we are mistaken in our understanding. We know that Jesus retained His scars after death because He showed them to Thomas. If He retained His scars, why wouldn't we? "Because," you will probably tell me, "there are no more tears in heaven. We have new bodies." Okay, true, but why lose "scars"? (I put it in quotes because there are physical scars and there are emotional scars, etc.) Scars are not wounds; scars are healed wounds. Scars point to wounds in the past. Like they did in Jesus's hands and side. I think our human perspective is those are things we want to lose. I suspect that we have a poor grasp of the value of wounds.

Scripture says that God uses suffering to produce a better you (Rom 5:3-5; James 1:2-4). For believers, certainly, suffering is never accidental, unplanned, or uncontrolled. Pain is not inflicted on us; it is granted to us (Php 1:29). It's a gift. When this was explained to Paul in the midst of his pain, he replied, "I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Cor 12:7-9). He concluded, "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:10)

So, we have two stories running here. On one hand we have the world and the flesh urging us to run. Get away from any and all suffering. If it is there, it is bad. For many (most?), if it is there it is an injustice on God's part. Something is wrong. On the other hand we have the biblical claim that suffering is unpleasant, to be sure, but is ultimately for our good. As such, we can rejoice.

I'm fine with the Casting Crowns song. It is comforting to know that His scarred hands hold us, that because He took our sin, we can be with Him. But when I get to heaven, I'm thinking that I will no longer be looking through a glass darkly; I'm thinking I'll see it more clearly. I want to point to those wounds that He allowed/gave and healed, and I want to use them as marks of honor of what God did in me in this life to make me better than I would have been. I want to rejoice now in suffering knowing that He rejoiced in His suffering even while He suffered. He endured the cross and despised the shame because He looked to the joy that was set before Him (Heb 12:2). That's what I want to do now. And when I get to heaven, I want to point to His work mapped out in my scars -- my healed wounds. Maybe they're right; maybe there will be no scars in heaven. But I don't want to devalue the suffering; I want to appreciate it as a gift from the hands of a loving Father.