Keeping It Real

During Lent the last couple years I’ve had the 8th graders watch the movie, “Heaven Is for Real,” based on the book by Todd Burpo. A lot of thought-provoking issues come from that movie.

One is a line from Todd, responding to Colton’s question, regarding heaven: “What are people afraid of?”

Todd answers, “Some are afraid there is no heaven. Or they’re afraid there is.” I think he’s right. Twice.

In this corner, we have some believers don’t believe in their believing. They want it to be true, they wish it were true, but in moments of genuine contemplation they don’t think it is true. This is the inevitable conundrum when you trust in your trusting, rather than in the external, eternal Source of truth.

Because you and I are reasonable, rationale creatures (sometimes…some of us…), we reshape faith into a series of logical conclusions that must withstand empirical grounds of observation. We have to see it to believe it. Then it’s no longer faith. We’ve confounded faith with knowledge. On this side of eternity, we fully believe, even if we only know in part. Hope that is seen is not hope, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24-25).

Take Thomas, he of the Doubting fame. He would not believe the reality of Christ’s resurrection until he saw Jesus live. [Irrelevant Sidebar: I have zero interest in seeing Taylor Swift live, even when the Chiefs are playing at Lambeau.] When Jesus shows up again, risen for real, NOW Thomas believes. Because he sees. Because he knows it’s real.

Jesus tells Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29). John then explains that the Gospel he has been called to write is purposed by God to inspire belief in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, “and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Such spiritual knowledge – as opposed to empirical – is thus acquired by spiritual means, or as we like to call it, the Means of Grace. In Ephesians 1:18-19, Paul prays that the “eyes of your heart may be enlightened” to know the hope, the blessings, the power of the real Jesus, resurrected and present with us personally every single day.

In the other corner are those who fear that heaven is for real, because that means hell is for real, God is for real, and sin is for real. People who’ve built a worldview that begins at their eyes and ends at their outstretched fingertips have nocroom for the spiritual dimension that is inevitably and indelibly imprinted in all of us. In their world, good and evil are relative from sensate being to sensate being, so who are you to judge?

The chief priests and Pharisees could not handle the reality of God Incarnate, let alone the reality of Resurrection. That would mean acknowledging that everything Jesus said was true, and we can’t have that, now can we? To this day, Judaism has virtually no focus on heaven – having given up waiting for Messiah to show – and even less inkling toward hell.

In our corner of the Kingdom, the reality of Jesus would necessitate not only a changing of the mind, but a changing of the life. God calls that repentance. But people grow comfortable with the stage props they’ve built, so any reordering of that scenery stops the show. They must stay on script, with no ad libs. It’s not real life, but it’s the only one they’ve got.

When Jesus opens eyes and ears, hearts and minds, He makes sure the patient knows who the Doctor is, and that He has no intention of botching the procedure, nor of deserting them in the rehab process. He has an awesome bedside manner.

Jesus not only makes His grace and power real, He keeps it real. He’s not a distant god we have to climb up to. He’s an always-present God that steps in and stays in. When two of His disciples were walking along the road to Emmaus, thoroughly distraught by the Crucifixion and perplexed by the alleged Resurrection, Jesus catches up to them and talks them through it. He turns their uncertainty into genuine joy as His Words reach into their doubt and fear. He then reveals His ultimate Reality to them at the Breaking of Bread – now where did we hear THAT before?

That’s why the Sacrament is so special, and so needed. Jesus puts His Word to work at His Table, serving up real substance rather than pictures in a menu. He doesn’t do empty words or empty ceremony. When He holds up a piece of bread and says, “IS,” He means IS. Take it, eat it, believe it: forgiveness made real by the Real Jesus. With real forgiveness comes real life and real salvation. That’s life changing.

And Jesus keeps it that way. Jesus keeps it real.

​He gave Thomas peace and told him, “Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27). The only way to do that is with enlightened eyes that consider the Source: the Real Jesus.