Dear Christian friends:

Last Tuesday Rev. Herbert J. Miller, Pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis was found dead in his study room at the church. He was not sick before and was only thirty-nine years old. He had been second pastor at Mount Olive for three years. Two months ago he became 1st pastor and the old pastor Rev. Schroeder, stepped down to 2nd place. All the people were thinking, "Now we have a nice young pastor who will lead our church for many years while the old pastor quietly retires and fades away." But God had other ideas. He in his wisdom and mercy decided to take the young pastor home to heaven first.

We never know when when God will let us die and go to heaven. Last Tuesday morning Mrs. Miller never thought that here husband would die in church and probably he didn't expect that either.

God wants us to be ready always to die and go home to heaven. Not only that but He wants us to wait anxiously for heaven and hope to go there. Heaven should be a Christians chief goal in life.

Our eyes, hearts and souls should hope and aim for heavenly joy and glory. But often we forget this and become too busy and too eager for worldly goals. Young people eagerly hope for marriage and establishing a nice home and often let that become their chief desire and don't care about heavenly hope. In their eagerness to find a wife or husband they often despise church and God's will and do many careless and sinful things. Older people perhaps do not anymore hope about marriage they already have married and do not think much about that. But they hope for better home or better job or nice comfortable retirement. People work hard to get their worldly goals. Some have two jobs. Often both husband and wife work. Children are neglected and home life fails. Often they ruin their health or steal and cheat to arrive at these worldly goals.

True, we must have goals. We must think and hope for marriage. We must study and plan for our life work. We must plan and save for a house or car and other things and we must plan for our retirement. But we make a big mistake if we let these worldly goals and hopes become chief hopes and goals and don't care about the hope for heaven. Always heaven should be our chief goal and hope. All other things must be kept second and third and last.

That is why God in many lessons of the Bible explains about the great joy and glory of heaven. He does here in our text. That is also why He lets us Christians have much sorrow and trouble in marriage in our homes and work and life. In mercy He wants to teach us, "Don't love the world or hope in those goals. Be tired and fed up of that and turn to Me and Hope for Heaven.

In our text He shows that heavenly joy and glory is much better than anything we have here on earth. He says, "See, I create new heavens and new earth: and the former (old earth) you shall not remember, nor think of." (verse 17)

God in wisdom has made a very wonderful world here now. But because of sin our world and bodies are under God's curse. So we have sickness and death in our bodies and we also see that in the trees and animals. Everything gets sick or old and dies here. True when young all is often beautiful, but then sickness and death happens to all.

So God has decided to finally destroy this here world and make a new and better world for us which we call heaven. He says that new world will be much more beautiful than this world. He says we will not remember this old world or even think of it any more. Our minds and eyes will be so very surprised and full of wonder, we will only see the new and the perfect beauty of our new world and so much enjoy it that we can't remember this here old world and all the pain and sorrow joined with it.

Now often we think that we have beautiful lakes and parks her in Minnesota, but compared with the new lakes and parks of heaven these here will be like mud puddles and weed patches. Sometimes we think that we have nice perfect homes here, but compared with the mansions above these houses will be like shacks. Jesus says, "In my Father's house are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2)

Also our bodies will be new and perfectly healthy and beautiful. Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 15, "That our bodies are buried as earthly bodies but will rise spiritual bodies. Buried in weakness, rise in power; buried in shame rise in glory.

You young people may now be proud of your strong beautiful bodies, but they are clumsy and ugly compared with your new heavenly body. Now we must eat and drink. Our new body will be strong and fast, not limited by the laws of nature space and gravity.

We shall see God face to face. He who loved us and showed mercy to us and died for us. This seeing God will give us life and strength and joy. Full joy and pleasures forever more. (Read verses 18-19)

Now this wonderful new world God has prepared for those who love Him. We cannot earn this by our good works or by our self-righteousness or by excusing or hiding our sins. Only by humbly confessing our sins before Him and confessing what we are unworthy and deserve His curse sickness and death can we obtain mercy. God has given His Son Jesus to live and die for us.

Believe in Him. Excuse yourself in Jesus. Argue yourself right by Jesus' blood. Then heaven is yours. Yes in Jesus and because of Jesus heaven is now open for all.

So let us not doubt, but believe Jesus our Savior and then with joy hope for heaven and serve our good God on earth. With joy and thanks gladly do the things here that He wants us to do. Suffer persecution, mockery and shame if necessary for His sake, always hoping for that new heaven and new earth above!

Amen