Heavenly Minded
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“You’re shinin’ your light, and shine it you should, but you’re so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good”- Johnny Cash
My Grandpa liked Johnny Cash but he really loved old hymns. I can still hear him loudly singing, slightly off-key and missing the high notes; “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” Most of us have experienced the tension of longing for our forever home with Christ, while experiencing the present reality of life in this broken world. How then, can we be heavenly minded and still of earthly good?
In Revelation, the Apostle John records the vision he was given by God “to show His servants what must soon take place”. In this vision, Jesus Himself gives John a word for seven of His churches and allows him a glimpse into the throne room of heaven before revealing eschatological (future) events that will transpire. Often considered one of the most challenging books of the Bible to understand, John’s revelation is rich with symbolism and imagery found in apocalyptic literature and should be read with this in mind.*
In the introduction Jesus is described as the one “who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.” While the Gospels record for us what Jesus was like when he lived on earth; what he said, did, and taught, and how he related to people, Revelation will unveil for us our Savior as He is now; risen, ascended, and reigning supreme over all, now and forevermore.
From Jesus’ words to the seven churches, we will begin to grasp how intimately he knows them. Over and over, he says it. “I know your works”. “I know your afflictions.” Good or bad, their lives proclaimed a message to Jesus about their hearts. For better or worse, their actions declared a message to the world about their Jesus.
And so do ours.
As Pastor Steven will unpack on Sunday, Revelation teaches us how to live with one eye on heaven and one eye on earth. When we are faced with violence in our schools, rising levels of poverty, political division, racism, classism, disease, and suffering, we don’t have to shrink back in fear or turn a blind eye.
Johnny Cash finished his song with this exhortation: “If you're holding heaven, then spread it around. There's hungry hands reaching up here from the ground.” There are hungry hands and hurting hearts who need hope for this life and the one to come. Because of Jesus and compelled by His love for the world, may we be a church that's so heavenly minded we can’t help but do earthly good!
Natalie
*For more insight into how to read and interpret Revelation for yourself, check out the following resources.
7 Tips for Understanding Revelation: https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/how-read-revelation
Book of Revelation Summary: https://youtu.be/5nvVVcYD-0w?si=v0SWk0Lw2MeHUBt0
Revelation Study Guide Ebook (with an explanation of four eschatological viewpoints): https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/product/revelation-study-guide-ebook/