When We All Get to Heaven

Wednesday, June 10, 2026
written by Rev. Dr. Mike Hegeman

There is an old spiritual that goes like this: 

I got a crown, you got a crown, 
All God’s children got a crown. 
When I get heaven, gonna put on my crown, 
And dance all over God’s heaven.

There are many verses to this song which replace “a crown” with a robe, shoes, wings, a harp, a song and a prayer, and as the song progresses, we get a more vivid image of what heaven will be like. What do you imagine heaven will be like? There are plenty of images in the Bible that talk about heaven: filled with angels and the saints praising God eternally. There are even some folks who’ve had near-death experiences who are able to describe what they experienced on the other side. For most of us though, it’s a mystery. 

A few weeks ago, I preached on Jesus’ prayer that his disciples might be one. During this sermon, I quoted both John Lennon's song “Imagine” and N. T. Wright’s views on the focus of Christian life. John Lennon sings,

Imagine there's no heaven.
It's easy if you try.
No hell below us;
Above us, only sky.
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today.
I hope someday you'll join us,
And the world will be as one.

And from N.T. Wright we heard, “The singular focus on how the soul gets to heaven for Christians is misguided. We should be praying and working for God’s kingdom to happen here on earth.” [paraphrased]

These two gentlemen, though both British, come from different worlds, one a pop musician, and the other a Christian theologian. Both, however, do seem to prompt us to ask, “Is there a heaven, and if so, what’s it good for?”

I wanted to make sure, after quoting these two in that sermon, that I had the chance to say that I actually do believe in heaven. I have since I was young, and I haven’t really wavered in that belief. I certainly don’t know what heaven will be like, though I hold all the biblical images of heaven together in a great collage in my mind. 

I think that my perception of heaven has also been shaped by people’s near-death accounts of heaven: a place of welcoming and infinite light, where one’s loved ones and relatives greet you; a place where cosmic-ethereal music surrounds you; and a place to meet with Jesus and be at peace.

And even though I do trust in heaven, I also believe that my focus in this life is not “how do I get there?” but “how do I live in such a way that I reflect in this life what is most true about eternity?”  I think of heaven breaking into this material realm, in small and big ways, most importantly in acts of loving kindness.

There is an old adage that goes, “As above so below,” which is reflected in biblical language, “Thy kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven.” How am I to mirror the goodness of what I perceive heaven to be here on the earthly plain?

Some days I am overwhelmed by what I see in the media: violence around the world, corrupt politicians running countries, ecological crises, people imprisoned without due process of law, held under harsh, life-threatening conditions, and rampant infidelities against the public trust. Life is hard. 

And when I get too discouraged, it’s tempting to say, “Well, it’ll all be better in heaven.” The truth is, what matters most is how I mirror the love of God, that pours forth from the heavenly realms, here in my everyday life. 

I pray. 
I sing. 
I love. 

Maybe the book of my life should be called, not Eat, Pray, Love, but Sing, Pray, Love. And in so doing, perhaps the walls that divide will come tumbling down.