Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the thoughts that I’d like to share with you this morning came to me at a rather unusual moment. Thursday night, I had been working late at church and was on my way home. Driving down Sunset Road and down Devon, I stopped at that little parking area that overlooks Montgomery Park. It was the night of the eclipse. It was marvelous! I looked up in the sky and the moon was reddish, one little crescent of light still visible. What a sight, to watch it go from light to shadow to light again!

During this season of our life together, it would seem to me that there are many of our folks who are missing loved ones and who are grieving right now. And haven’t all our lives been touched that way at some point? Today I’d like to share some personal thoughts about the afterlife. These thoughts are from Scripture, but also, in Methodist tradition, they are from reason, and the tradition of the church, and also our common experience together.

So, for your comfort, for your hope, for your faith, I’d like to share some thoughts about the afterlife.

There are three theories, three thought patterns, I’d like to discuss with you this morning. One I’d like to call the Zero Faith theory; second, the Christian Promise; and third, the Affirmation of Natural Religion.

First of all, when we think of the afterlife, there’s maybe a part of us that doubts. And that’s okay; God understands that. But you don’t need any faith at all to buy into the Zero Faith theory. The Zero Faith theory simply says eternal rest, eternal sleep, as it were. Well now, is that so bad? I tell you, sometimes I go home at night and fall face down on my pillow with my contact lenses still in and I don’t wake up for several hours. Sleep isn’t so bad. This theory requires no faith at all. But there is even promise here, for there is no pain, no anxiety, no pressures, and no deadlines. Just eternal sleep – that’s the Zero Faith theory.

Now, if that’s the worst possible scenario, that’s not that bad. Sometimes I toy with different things I’d like to put on my own tombstone. One of them has to do with instructions to singers. I’d like to say something about taking a deep breath and opening wide and forcing your eyes to look ahead – but that’s another sermon. But one of the epitaphs I’ve considered is "Peace at Last!" How about you? So that’s one theory, and if that’s the worst of all, it’s not so bad.

But, what if those who, like St. Thomas, doubt are in for a big surprise? What if, on the other side of that shadow, is light again? What if, on the other side of that transition that we call death, there is consciousness? Oh, what a surprise for those people who hold the Zero Faith theory -- but no surprise to those who hold to the Christian Promise! What if the people who report to us about the ‘near death experience’ are right? There’s an enormous amount of documentation about their testimonies, that on the other side of this life, which we call conscious life, there’s an afterlife. What about it? Wouldn’t it be just like God to do it that way? That’s what I call the Christian Promise theory. And hasn’t God been good to you in the past? Can’t we trust him for all that lies ahead?

Now, I’d like to clear out one other thing about the afterlife. Some people would say to me, isn’t there also a hell? To that question I’d give a conditional "yes." I believe in hell – on earth. How about you? I believe we construct it carefully for ourselves, and for each other. And I believe we experience it right here. But I also believe in heaven on earth, and I also believe we accept that and we share it with each other. It is a glimpse of the glory divine. The hell on earth is the fruit of choice, and the heaven on earth is the gift of grace. It is the gift of God.

But the promise of heaven, the promise of the afterlife, is not why I am a Christian. I am a Christian because I love God, and I love Jesus Christ. I’ve been in the pulpit 22 years – friends, that a long sermon! And the older I get and the more I preach, the more I love him, and the more he fascinates me. His insights, his mind, and his heart fascinate me. That’s why I’m a Christian. And I also trust that he takes care of me. I just put my life in his hands.

So what about the negative afterlife thing? I’ll tell you why I don’t accept it. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that there have been a couple of people over the years who have injured you deeply. Let’s just say that, for argument’s sake. And let’s say that it was pretty profound. And let’s say that God did a very unusual thing; let’s say he came to me and said, "Anthony, I’m going to give you a unique opportunity. For these two people, I’m going to let you determine their afterlife. What’s it going to be? Heaven or hell?" I could tell you in an eye blink what my answer would be: Heaven. Give them heaven. Why not? Why should I take any satisfaction in withholding heaven? But I must tell you, I also take comfort in the words of Jesus, when he says, "In my father’s house there are many mansions." Lord, heaven for them, but separate mansions, please.

Here’s the point: If I, as a very weak, flawed, frail mortal being, can make a decision like that, how much better is our heavenly father? How much more understanding must he be?

I know some of you are asking, "But Pastor, what about Hitler? What about Mussolini?" I don’t know about them. I didn’t know them. But I know about the people who touched my life. So, the rest I just leave to God. Talking about those people, though, do you recognize the name Slobodan Milosevic, ruler of Albania? Do you know how his parents died? They both committed suicide when he was a little boy. Now, I’m not exonerating him and I’m not making excuses for him, but I say it’s a consideration. And I say, God knows, and I leave it to God.

So, I believe that the heavenly father is our heavenly parent, and he blesses us, and he does things in a way that is typical of God’s way. That’s the Christian Promise.

May I share with you just a few thoughts about what I think happens over there? Number one, I think we see God clearly. We have a perception of God that is unlike any other. Number two; I believe there is joy unspeakable, complete, total joy. Third, I think there is total, complete love. We feel love like we never did before. Fourth, I believe there are many happy reunions, where we are reunited with those we’ve missed for so long. Five, I believe we are given wisdom, and we find answers to questions to answers we’ve always had. We get the completeness of those insights.

Six, I believe we are given something to do. I can’t describe that, but I perceive it. It’s something like becoming an angel. I believe that there is a created order of angels, but I believe that people who pass over also function as angels, and also function in ways that my language cannot describe but God knows. We are given something to do. And last, we continue to grow. I believe that the afterlife is not stagnant but full of insight and learning and growing. And I believe that’s all part of the Christian Promise. Jesus said, "In my father’s house there are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you also may be." St. Paul said, "The eye has not seen nor the ear heard nor the mind of man or woman conceived that which God has laid up for those who love him." And that’s the Christian Promise. What if there’s that big surprise? I believe it in my heart.

And finally, I’d like to leave you with this thought, for your comfort and assurance. God has built into nature and into the fabric of our world hints about the afterlife. [Pastor Tony gestures toward the window.] It’s snowing right now; snow and ice cover the earth. There are no leaves on those trees. And yet, I bet there isn’t a person here who doubts the fact that spring is on the way. Winter’s laboring pain gives birth to spring again. The earth will bloom green; leaves will appear on the trees; and where there is frozen ground, the roses will grow again.

The Scottish people have beautiful expression called the gloaming. Have you ever heard that word? The gloaming is that twilight time, that wonderful time between afternoon and evening. It is the time that photographers and artists call the time of golden light. It’s a beautiful, marvelous time. Many poems have been written about it. But there would be no hope and no enthusiasm about the gloaming if deep in our hearts we didn’t know that dawn would come again. It’s a happy time, because we know that after night, the sun rises once more. And that’s the Affirmation of Natural Religion. That’s what God has built in to the fabric of the earth and the fabric of our lives. We’re not afraid when we go to sleep. God wakes us in the morning.

And so, dear friends, take that with you, won’t you? Know that your loved ones and we are all safe, because he’s got us all, everybody, in his hands. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. They that believe in me, though they die, yet shall they live. And those that live, if they believe in me, shall never die." What an adventure!

God loves you. I do, too. God bless you, everyone. Amen.

Pastor Godlefski included a postscript to this sermon on January 30, 2000.