Ticket to Heaven

The word “apocalyptic” probably conjures up in our minds all kinds of negative images: wars, famines, natural disasters. Sometimes we use the word as a synonym for things that are catastrophic, cataclysmic, world-ending.

Interestingly, though, the Bible shows something different. At the end of time, after the wars and plagues and everything else, something else – something good – will be unveiled as the final reality of all things. Today’s second reading tells us what it is: the New Jerusalem. We hear it described in symbolic terms: golden streets, jeweled walls, twelve pearled gates, and no lamp except the light of the glory of God, coming forth from the Lamb. It is with the unveiling of this glorious city that the Bible ends, with God dwelling in the midst of his chosen People finally, for all time. Far from an apocalypse of doom, the New Jerusalem shows us what heaven will be like.

The Celestial City and the River of Bliss (1841) by John Martin

But how do we reach it? That’s the million-dollar question, because the Bible also says that not everyone will be found worthy to inhabit the New Jerusalem. In fact, the Book of Revelation describes the various trials by which the true members of Israel, the people of God, will be identified and confirmed to be worthy to dwell with God in his city. This notion turns on its head the traditional understanding of what it meant to be part of Israel. In ancient Jewish law, it was very clear who was part of the people of God: only those who had received circumcision, or for women, those who were part of their families. This created something of a problem for the early believers in Jesus, as they began to distinguish their Christian identity from their Jewish roots. Was it necessary to be circumcised in order to be saved? Did one have to be ritually Jewish in order to believe in Jesus and hope to dwell in the New Jerusalem?

The answer that the apostles gave, as we heard in today’s first reading, was “No” – one did not have to follow Jewish ritual laws in order to be a Christian. Instead, the early Church came to believe that the people of God could be distinguished in another way – not with a physical mark but a spiritual one. To be a member of God’s people, they decided, it wasn’t necessary to be circumcised in the body but it *was* necessary to be circumcised in the heart, in the soul. In fact, Saint Paul and others use this language in reference to what God had said he would do in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy: that he would purify their hearts so they would love him, follow his commands, and so live.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the same thing: love, discipleship, and eternal life are all intertwined. To get to heaven, we must love God, and we show that we love God by following his commands. It’s for this reason that Jesus promises to send help to his disciples – not just help, but a Helper, an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” This Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and the Son, literally dwells within the souls of believers. So – it is by the very presence of God that we are circumcised in the heart, purified and made ready for the heavenly kingdom. In fact, it was because they discerned this divine presence of the Holy Spirit in Gentile believers, non-Jews, that the apostles made the decision that they did: that it was not necessary to be circumcised in order to be a Christian.

So, how do we get to the city where God dwells? By allowing God to make his dwelling within us now. It’s the presence of the Holy Spirit that is the true dividing line between those who will and won’t get to share in the heavenly Jerusalem, and Jesus is very clear that that presence comes only to those who share in his life, who participate in his love, and who follow his commands. The Christian religion is often criticized, and Catholicism, particularly, for placing lots of demands on its adherents – for requiring us to believe certain ideas, and abide by certain principles, and perhaps most difficult, *not* to do certain things that we may want to, or which worldly culture tells us is okay. However, these requirements are not arbitrary – there is a purpose for them, and that is to guide us in the truth. To live by God’s commandments, to follow the teachings of our faith – that’s the path to the New Jerusalem, Jesus says. And for those who do so, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit within us to guide us, to console us in difficult moments, and to be in the end, the very ticket to get us into the pearly gates.

Friends, Jesus promises peace to his disciples – to us. Let’s invoke that peace today, in whatever struggle we are facing, in whatever truth of our faith or teaching of our Church might be giving us some difficulty, in whatever area of healing we need. Perhaps that challenge, whatever it is, will be the very thing that will get us one day to the New Jerusalem – if we endure, and stay faithful, and find our peace in the way that the Lord gives it to us, not as the world does. May the presence of the Holy Spirit be renewed within each of us this day, to purify our hearts and guide our steps unto the heavenly kingdom.