When We All Get to Heaven

When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!

Certainly a nice sentiment, and it's a hymn that just feels good to sing. The casual flirtation with universalism is a nice contrast to its contemporary hymnody and the blood imagery that seems so common to the revival tent.

And yet, it isn't necessarily good theology. There is a real danger in treating Heaven, the kingdom of God, as a literal place- a destination where all of our problems are solved and sure provision attends us all our days. The idea of Heaven as described in this hymn reduces life to an audition- a test one must pass to have a properly stamped passport. And what then of the poor? Of the oppressed? Of the historically disenfranchised? Why, aren't they lucky to be free of the temptations of greed and gluttony? It's a veritable TSA pre-check line in the airport to God's kingdom!

Maybe I'm being too cynical, but Christian action isn't defined by a desire to have a punched ticket. We work toward justice, reconciliation, and love for our neighbor because we recognize the inherent value in all of God's children. The kingdom of God is the fulfillment of God's will for us on Earth, not our retirement plan after life. We work toward Heaven because it is the world we wish for our children; we do not receive it as a gift for a life well lived.

But the good news is, the hymn still stands; we just have to change our understanding of what we're celebrating. God's kingdom on Earth is coming! A time when all bellies are filled, all children are safe and loved, an era of longer tables and not higher fences. What a day of rejoicing that will be!

Onward to the prize before us!

Soon His beauty we'll behold;

Soon the pearly gates will open–

We shall tread the streets of gold.

When we all get to heaven,

what a day of rejoicing that will be!

When we all see Jesus,

we'll sing and shout the victory!