On Sunday, I shared how the idea of heaven evolved over time in the histories of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Up until about 160 years before the birth of Jesus, there is no indication that the main characters of the Old Testament (Abraham & Sarah, Moses & Miriam, the great prophets…) prescribed to a belief in the afterlife. The word heaven (or “the heavens”) is mentioned a lot, but most likely referred to the skies above us. In the opening verse of Genesis, “God created the heavens and the earth,” the first hearers of those words naturally understood them to mean, “God made the skies and the land.”

About 160 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Daniel wrote about a time when God’s people would be delivered and all who died would come back to life. Some will awaken from their “sleep” to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt. Daniel was most likely the last of the Old Testament books to be written.

By the time Jesus was born, a lot of Jewish people (but not all!) believe in an afterlife. We know that Jesus believed in an afterlife. We also know that he talked a lot about the “Kingdom of Heaven.” However, his focus here was not on what happens to people after they die, but what can happen here on earth if we choose to recognize the value in all people and show compassion to them.

For Jesus, heaven was not a distant place where God lived—far away from the earth. Jesus taught that God lives right here among us—in our uncertainty, painful and messy world—and God loves the world, a love which includes all people and extends to all of creation. Therefore, God is not loving us from a distant place called heaven; God is loving us right here among us.

May we recognize God’s loving presence everywhere, and may we love all that God loves—all people and all of creation!