“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet...” Matthew 22:1
Getting ready for the sermon this Sunday I was reminded of a story about a person, who in the afterlife, was given a tour of heaven and hell. First, the person was taken to a beautiful banquet room where a sumptuous feast awaited diners. The aroma of the food made the person’s mouth water. There were linen tablecloths, china, and crystal.
The person said to the guide, “This must be heaven!”
“No,” said the guide, “this is hell.”
Then the person noticed that each setting just had one utensil, an unusually long fork, several feet long. When people took their places they found it difficult to eat. Sitting so close to each other they couldn’t get the food to their mouths without the other end of the fork bumping someone or something causing the food to fall back onto the plate. The hungrier they got, the more impatient they became. Trying to shuffle their seats so as to give enough room to eat with these strange forks they began to push those around them. Pretty soon a shoving match started with people turned their attention from their food to fighting each other.
The person said, “Get me out of here, I want to see heaven.”
So the guide leads the celestial tourist to another room. This was one looked just the same. Same sumptuous food. Same beautiful setting. And the same forks.
“This must be a mistake. We are back in the same dining room.”
“Just wait,” said the guide.
People took their seats, but instead of using the forks to feed themselves, they fed each other, and everyone was satisfied.
You’ve probably heard that story before. The point is bigger than just “heaven (or hell) is what we make of it.” Heaven is meant to be a condition of satisfaction and hell is the opposite. Both realities are determined by the choices we make. And none of us go from this world to the next alone. Yes, Jesus shows us the way to heaven, but if all we are concerned about is getting our individual tickets, we may be surprised where we end up.