15 July 2024
In
the New Testament, there are three distinctive pictures for heaven. The first
is the house or as St. John famously describes it in the Authorised Version of
his Gospel, ‘In my Father’s house are
many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you.’
Inside
the house we discover the second image for heaven - the meal, the marriage
feast of the Lamb. It has been such a strong image that we talk about the
Sacrament as a foretaste of heaven or this heavenly banquet. It is celebrated
in St. John’s Revelation. Those who are called to it are described as blessed.
The
third image of heaven is the song. It has been a distinctive part of our
worship for two millennia. Through the song, we give thanks to God. At the end of the Last Supper, Jesus and his
friends sing a hymn before going out to the Mount of Olives.
The
Sacrament is sometimes called ‘The Eucharist’ which is Greek for ‘thanksgiving’. It is primarily a means of
giving thanks to God for all that he has done for us especially in the ministry
of Christ, that Word made flesh, who sacrificed his life for the love of us
all, celebrated in the song that is
forever new:
Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain
to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength
and honour and
glory and blessing.’
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