Olam Haba

In my last blog I talked about the Hebrew words, "Olam Haba." This is translated as "a world to come." I also mentioned in my last blog that I want to live a life with the expectancy of "Olam Haba." Now, I hope none of you look at this and think I am even stranger than you thought. ;0) Let me explain what I mean.

I want to live as though heaven is coming down to earth. I believe that is how Jesus taught us to live through His example. I want to be so observant of the Holy Spirit at work that I sense when I am living and breathing in a heaven moment. Follow me with this thought...you know those moments where everything seems right? I'm talking about a deeper "right" than when you get an A+ on a test, discover a gas gift card in your wallet, and get asked out by the cute guy at church all on the same day. What I'm talking about is living in a moment where the world seems to stop, and you feel as though you are experiencing a sneak peak of what heaven will be like. Okay, I'm better with stories.

So as many of you know, I worked and lived in Philadelphia two summers ago as a City Host with a ministry called Center for Student Missions. Youth groups would come from all over the country to experience a week of life and service in the heart of urban America, West Philly. My job was to introduce students and their leaders to city life in regards to everything from ethnic restaurants to homeless ministry. One weekend I was feeling exhausted from the previous week's activities. Yes, I was physically exhausted, but I was emotionally and mentally exhausted as well. To my relief, sitting on my bed was a package from my mom. I opened it up and included with some goodies were the lyrics to one of my favorite hymns which is "Great is Thy Faithfulness." I soaked in the words and placed them on my nightstand. That weekend I read them probably a million times and asked God to reveal His faithfulness to me in the weeks ahead.

Sunday came and another youth group arrived at our front door. They were a great group of students and I was having a blast with them! I was pumped when I saw that our schedule was taking us to St. John's homeless shelter that week because it was my favorite place to serve in the city. We arrived at the shelter and the Volunteer Coordinator gave us very specific instructions on how to serve the noon meal. You see, this place fed over 300 people in 1 hour, and they only had 60 seats in their dining room. People would line up, get food, eat, and leave all in a matter of minutes. That day the men were impatient. Two men got in a fight and the tension was high. You might be thinking, "How is this an Olam Haba moment?" Well, one of the staff members reached over to the youth pastor and asked him if he knew any songs on the piano. The staff person thought that live music might lighten the mood. The youth pastor timidly sat at the old piano in the corner of the dining room and said that he only knew one song, but he would play it. Soon I heard a soft familiar melody. He was playing "Great is Thy Faithfulness." Coincidence? I think not!

To my surprise, one of the men who was eating stopped, got up, and walked over to the piano. He gently put his hand on the youth pastor's shoulder and began to belt out the lyrics to the song. Some people looked up from their trays and cranked their necks to see who was singing. Then, two or three of the youth stopped what they were doing and hurried over to the piano to join. I was standing on the other side of the dining room with forks in my hand gazing on at the sight, my mouth hanging open in amazement. I began to hear voices around me hum along to the song and a few men in line even began to sing. I took a step back and looked around. Each time I had been to St. John's it was always fast paced. No one stopped to look at one another, let alone sing!

Soon, the entire place was echoing with the sound of voices. Each person was singing and if they didn't know the words they were intently listening. Some were kneeling, some were standing, others were sitting, but all were worshiping. The sound of praise grew louder and louder and tears were running down many faces. At least two dozen men and youth were gathered around this tiny, old piano with hands on each other's shoulders and singing as one body of believers. The world just stopped. Everyone was focused on a single thing...worshiping God. Before me I saw short men, tall men, white, black, and Hispanic men. I saw transvestites and men in wheel chairs and suburban students standing next to urban thugs. Two words...

Olam Haba.

Heaven had come to earth and I was standing in the midst of it. As the song played over and over my heart swelled with an unexplainable joy. I was no longer in a room filled with tension. No one was casting judgment or blame. I wasn't concerned with matters of time. For a moment I didn't see differences, but saw unity. There was unity in a crowd of very diverse people. So beyond cool.

The song faded and stillness came over the room. Then, as quickly as it came, the moment passed and the fast paced environment picked up once more. But I couldn't shake that moment. I didn't want to shake it. I wanted to live in it forever.

I want to be so observant of the Holy Spirit at work that I sense when I am living and breathing in a heaven moment. I want to live a life with the expectancy of "Olam Haba."


Great is Thy Faithfulness. Listen and be encouraged.