Acts 6:1-7/ 1 Peter 2:4-9/ John 14:1-12
It is not that often that we hear the topic of hell being preached.
Yes, we would like to hear some fire-and-brimstone preaching but listening to preaching about hell is not that exciting.
Anyway, more or less we know what hell is like. From what Jesus said, it is a place where “the worms never die and the fire never goes out.” (Mark 9:48)
That would give us an idea of what hell is like.
But others may have other descriptions of hell. For those who love good music, then hell is full of amateur musicians.
And going by the rising number of places in Singapore where smoking is not allowed, the only place left for smoking seems to be in hell. (might as well quit smoking)
Enough of hell. We are supposed to know more about heaven. So what is heaven like?
Going by what we see from religious art, heaven seems to be like a place of light, many angels stand on what look like clouds, and people with halos. At least, that is the picture we get from cartoons.
But what did Jesus say that heaven is like?
From today’s gospel, He has this to say: There are many rooms in my Father’s house.
So the picture that we get is that heaven is a place that has many, many rooms.
And from what Jesus said, it seems that each of us has a special room prepared for us.
That is quite a nice thought, especially for those of us who don’t have a place to call our own here on earth.
We will certainly look forward to going to heaven and there we can finally rest in this special room of ours, and it will be forever and ever.
That is what Jesus promised us and He even urged us to trust in God and trust in Him.
Yes, we have to trust in Jesus and His promise to us, because we can so easily lose grip of that promise.
And Jesus warns us about that when He said: Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trouble is a dangerous word, and it becomes more dangerous when it creeps into our hearts.
In the 1st reading, we heard how trouble crept into the early Church community.
At the time when the disciples were increasing, the Hellenists (the Greek-speaking disciples) made a complaint against the Hebrews, because in the daily distribution, their own widows were being overlooked.
There was unfairness, and there was unhappiness over it. Complaints were made and trouble was brewing.
Relationships were strained and the community was in danger of breaking up.
The promises of Jesus seemed to have been forgotten and faded off because of this trouble.
But we must realize that this trouble was self-created. And the Apostles realized that and they had recourse to prayer to find a way out of this trouble.
And if the early Church could be afflicted with troubles, so too can be the present Church.
And if the disciples could let trouble creep in and make them complain against each other, we too can end up complaining.
But we must realize what the trouble is with us. We must realize what the problem is with us.
Essentially, the problem with us is that we create our own troubles.
When our hearts are troubled, we resort to complaining and we lose hold of the promises of Jesus.
There is a story of a man who got tired of his wife and wanted a divorce.
However, he was afraid that his young 5 year old daughter would be traumatized by it, so he told his daughter:
Mummy is getting old and not pretty anymore. So let daddy get a new and pretty mummy for you, ok?
The little girl thought for a while and then she replied: No, I don’t want. Grandma is very old, but you didn’t go and get a new grandma.
The little girl was happy with what she had, whereas her daddy was asking for trouble with what he was unhappy about.
We may wish that our marriage is made in heaven. But thunder and lightning also happens in heaven.
Similarly, Jesus said that we are made for heaven. But it doesn’t mean that there will be no thunder or lightning or other troubles in our lives.
But even with the thunder and lightning and troubles, let us stay close to Jesus.
He is the Way, we must follow Him; He is the Truth, we must believe in Him.
And in His heart, He has a special place for each of us.
To stay in His heart and remain there, that is what heaven is all about. That is what our life is all about.