How to Get to Heaven … (03/30/13)
What better theme for Easter weekend than “attaining Salvation” — a blessing traditionally limited (at least for Christians) by one’s beliefs about God & Jesus, as well as by the ways we choose to worship them (or not).
Of course, it wouldn’t be very Kind towards my non-Christian Friends to address this important theme in a traditionally Christian manner … and it certainly wouldn’t be very Kind towards my Christians Friends to comment on Heaven at all without mentioning Jesus.
Soooooooo, I’m going to be Kind to EVERYONE and do a bit of neither … 😉
For starters, I am going to set aside the Apostle Paul’s quite conservative opinions related to what qualifies for one’s entrance into Heaven, and examine instead what Jesus has to say on the matter in the Gospels. And I’ll do so in this particular post by focusing on Jesus’ most important (and most frequently mentioned) Commandment, the one that essentially reads as follows:
“[To enter the Kingdom of Heaven],
Love your Neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus borrowed this verse from the Hebrew Bible of his day (Leviticus 19:18), and it has been traditionally defined to mean: “To enter eternal Heaven after you die, be just as nice to your friends & family members as you would want them to be to you.” Indeed, such a definition harmonizes quite nicely with the tit-for-tat “golden rule” of conventional Christian ethics. So far, so good …
AND YET, to experience the deeper power of this verse, we need to look at it more closely by doing something a bit unusual; namely, we need to EXAMINE HOW JESUS HIMSELF DEFINED ITS TERMS … And he does so as follows:
*”The Kingdom of Heaven” … Jesus’ only specific reference to Heaven in the New Testament is found in Luke 17:20-21, where he notes that Salvation is not to be found “elsewhere” or at any time in the future at all. Rather, “it is already among you” – with the Greek word translated as “among” actually meaning simultaneously “within” & “all around”! … Thus, according to Jesus, the Kingdom of God is always right here, right now.
*”LOVE” … Jesus’ entire ministry repeatedly evidenced the concept that LOVE was neither an emotional possession nor a mental state of mind, but was rather reflected by our selfless actions (“If you understand these things, blessed are you while you Do them.” ~ John 13:17 … see also John 13:15, John 13:34 & John 14:22). Thus, according to Jesus, it is not enough for us to engage others with compassionate emotions, kind thoughts or even friendly words … The pure bliss of Inner Peace is only known in those moments when our LOVE is grounded in active service for others.
*”Neighbor” … Conventionally defined as “friend” or “tribesman”, Jesus again specifically defined this term on only one occasion in the Bible, and he did so using the Parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:29-37) … Note in this tale that the hero of the tale — the parable’s “neighbor” — is “the one who showed mercy” (something done only to another who has wronged us). Also realize that the “neighbor” in the parable was a Samaritan – at that time the most bitter cultural enemy of the Jews! … Thus, according to Jesus, a phrase that appears to encourage us to simply be kind to our friends, is actually telling us to exhibit compassion for those treating us most unfairly.
“An eye for an eye and the whole world would be blind.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
*”yourSelf” … As opposed to being a reference to one’s own separate identity and its independent desires, Jesus makes it repeatedly clear that the “Self” to which he refers is the conscience — or “the Advocate within”; that facet of Divinity residing within each & every one of us (“I am in the Father, and the Father in Me, and I in You.” ~ Jesus in John 14:20… see also John 10:34, John 14:26 & Acts 17:28) … Thus, according to Jesus, we are not to treat others like we wish to be treated. Rather, we are to treat others with the same Kindness & Reverence we would extend to GOD Himself!
So, once these re-definitions from Jesus are inserted into the original,
our verse takes on the following deeper, much more Divine meaning:
“To feel Joy-full Peace in any moment,
actively Care for your enemies
as though they were Divine.”
HEAVEN is open to all who LOVE humbly & courageously.
So … got HEAVEN?
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