My opinion, for what it's worth, is that too many Christians think about Heaven and not as much time about doing right here on the earth. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against going to Heaven, I'm just like the song, "everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now." I am not drawn theologically to think much about Heaven. It'll take care of itself.
I do think a lot about what's going on in the world and about the varied responses of Christians to it all.
Richard Rohr in his book, Dancing Standing Still, addresses "three basic levels of social ministry," as comparable to a flood. At the first level, we rescue people from drowning, giving them food, lodging, clothing, funds for their rent. At the second level, we show people how not to fall into the river, providing education and support and healing. Therapy is one of those gifts. At the third level, we address the problems that prompted the flood in the first place by shoring up the dam, reforesting the landscape to avoid runoffs and the like. Advocacy and legislation fit here.
He says that these things could be analogies for doing good in the world. We all have different gifts, and our obligation is to do something for the world, at least in one if not more of those levels. Feed the poor, teach and heal the wounded, and develop policies that prevent such from happening.
All of this is laid alongside what Paul and Peter the Apostles have said about the second coming in 1 Thessalonians and 2 Peter. Perhaps put a different way, some of us remember singing the song, "There's a Great Day Coming," with its lyrics, "There's a great day coming, there's a great day coming by and by, when the saints and the sinners shall be parted right and left, are you ready for that day to come?" and then there's a bright day coming and a sad day coming, both with the question, "are you ready?"
Then, there is that wonderful song, "In That Great Gettin' Up Morning." You've heard it. Maybe by Mahalia Jackson? "Let me tell ya 'bout the comin' of judgment; (fare ye well, fare ye well); let me tell ya 'bout the comin' of judgment; (fare ye well, fare ye well), God goin' up and speak to Gabriel...." Mahalia was the best, but Jim Chester of Memphis Harding Academy also does a stirring rendition.
How to place all of this during this season of Advent is the question. The Christ child is coming, so how should I live? The Christ child is coming, so how shall it shape my engagement with the world?
Here at this house, we do social justice stuff. My Beloved cooks food and serves people. She loves her grandchildren with a grand sort of love. She sews masks, yes, those kinds of masks, to keep us safe and others safe in this pandemic. She sews fidget blankets for alzheimers patients and she sews fidget squares for restless children in elementary schools.
Here at this house, I write and I consult. The invitation to serve as "advisor" for the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Ag Coalition is important to the cause of justice and to my soul. Working alongside Shoun Hill as "co-producer" of "I'm Just a Layman in Search of Justice: Black Farmers Fight Against USDA" is a heart touching, soul shaking, and, hopefully, change making effort. Engaging with staff members of Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker around The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020 has been an amazing experience for a whole bunch of reasons. Serving on the board of BFAA is important to me. Collaborating with people like Jillian Hishaw of F.A.R.M.S. is important to me as well.
So, I'm not really worried about going to Heaven. I'm not really living my life because of Heaven. I'm living my life in a way that flows out of the gifts God has given me in a variety of efforts to serve people here in this life.
Heaven will take care of itself. It is earth and its people that I am concerned about. It is those people who have been kicked to the curb for centuries, whose stories go all the way back to the shores of Africa, it is farmers who can trace their ancestry back in clear, precise ways to slavery and then to freedom. Those are the people and that is the movement for which I pour out my life in this life.
I hope and pray that we all do the same. I know some folks who do: Spencer Wood, Gary Grant, Lawrence Lucas, Lloyd Wright, Marti Oakley, Michael Stovall, Richard Chowning, Basil McClure, and many, many others.
Yes, there's a better day a comin', and I want it to be in this life and in the life to come.
Jesus coming. He is coming soon. The stable is just over the horizon.
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