“You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same — like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in!”
My wife and I recently purchased our
first home. The house we bought is a
project house, so there is a lot of construction going on at the moment. As a result, the past few months have been a
mixture of excitement, anxiety, stress and an overwhelming feeling of gratitude
for friends, family and our new debt.
Throughout all of the lows, however, the house has provided us with a
much needed sense of home, comfort and emerging stability.
There is something in us that deeply
desires a home. Vacations are great, but
we all want a familiar, comfortable place in which to laugh, cry, eat, sleep
and take refuge.
As the 8 year old Ryan would have asked
his parents (and anyone else who would listen):
“But why?” Why is it that this
desire is so deeply ingrained in the human race? Tim Keller has described this seemingly
unquenchable thirst as a longing for our true home. God created man to work on and enjoy the
earth and all that’s in it. When man
sinned, the “all that’s in it” became fallen, and man became sinful. Therefore, man was created to do something
that he cannot do in his current state, and that creates an immense amount of
restlessness. The Christian experiences
it, the Atheist experiences it.
“And not
only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies.”
Romans 8:23
The Christian response to this
restlessness and discomfort should be to praise God for His providence,
omnipotence and unending grace. The hope
that Christ has given the Christian is to restore him to his original purpose,
and to the restored earth. But we don’t,
and the beautifully frustrating thing about that is that we need Jesus to show
us how much we don’t praise him, and ultimately to show us how much we need
Jesus. One reason for this is that we do
not think, nor care, about heaven far enough.
It wasn’t until senior year in college,
after a discussion with a friend and RUF intern, that I started to seriously
think about heaven. The talks were
around N.T. Wright’s book, “Surprised By Hope”.
In it, Wright makes the case that heaven is not the end of the world as
we know it, but in a lot of ways the beginning of the world as we can’t even
imagine it. A restored earth, filled
with creation and worship. This changes
everything! The soil was not made to be
worked in pain, and then discarded when Christ returns. Good, true, worshipful art was not meant to
be temporary. Music was made to be
enjoyed forever. The end of The
Chronicles of Narnia finally makes sense!
We expect a bright tomorrow, all must be well.
And yet, every day I still struggle with
doubt. Doubt that there could ever be a
place as pleasant as my warm couch on a rainy day, as comforting as my wife when
I am anxious, or as familiar as the feeling of the rough texture of a fresh
canvas ready to be painted. Doubt that I
will always feel the pangs of hunger or thirst.
Doubt that my bad ankle will never be fully healed. Doubt, quite simply, that I will ever be
satisfied.
I suspect that I will never fully
understand why this is until He returns, and I will always struggle with doubts
until He eases my mind. Until then, this
is as far as I can comprehend:
Heaven will be like Bag End, and Heaven
will be like Rivendell.
To this day, I think that one of the
greatest literary gifts that the Lord has given me has been Tolkien’s
masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. It
has brought me closer to friends and a fondness unmatched by anything that I
have ever read.
Bag End, in many ways, is what most of us
want our homes to be - comfortable, cozy, full of food, drink, music, friends,
family and a sanctuary when we are feeling particularly curmudgeonly. A beautiful, yet incomplete, definition of
what we believe the restored earth will be.
Rivendell, much like Bag End, is a place
of refuge and rest. To the hobbits, it
was a place that they had heard of, but had never experienced. A destination. I could spend a lot of words trying to
explain it, but as always, Bilbo says it best when describing just one house
that is located in Rivendell:
“That house was, as Bilbo had long ago
reported, ‘a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or
singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them
all.’ Merely to be there was a cure for
weariness, fear, and sadness.”
Heaven, I think, will have all of the
joy, comfort and familiarity of Bag End, and the wonder, beauty, unseen glory,
persistency and safety of Rivendell.
That, friends, is a place worth hoping for, and a place worth longing
for.
We expect a bright tomorrow; All will be
well
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All is well
On our Father's love relying
Jesus every need supplying
Yes in living or in dying
All must be well
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