We tend to think that ordinary pleasures are distractions at best and evils at worst. The Gnostics thought our human body and the physical world were obstacles to divine life. But Irenaeus and the early church pushed back. That’s why he said something close to “The glory of God is a man fully alive”.

Let’s picture two death bed scenes.

The first person smiles and says, “I’m so ready to leave this broken world and broken body behind. None of this really matters now–heaven is my true home.

The second one isn’t miserable exactly, but they are also not exactly happy. It’s bittersweet. You can tell that she doesn’t really want to go. With tears in her eyes, she scratches out her concern, “I’m going to miss out on picking my blueberries this summer.”

Now be honest, you’re at the bedside of each of these people, does one of them sound more Christian to you? Does one sound less so?

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I think at first glance we might be prone to think that the second one might be a little too attached to this world. The first one we may assume is ready to meet Jesus. What if I told you, I think there might be cause for both hope or concern in BOTH the statements.

Let’s actually begin with our second person. Now it’s very possible that ol’ Miss Jenkins is a little too attached to her blueberries. She may very well be saying, “I’d rather pick blueberries than walk the streets of heaven with Jesus.” If that’s what she’s saying…well, that’s obviously problematic.

But she might just really like picking blueberries. And she might very well be glorifying God through her love of this. In the early church there was a dude named Irenaeus who was doing battle with some goobers that were teaching that “real” life is disembodied, spiritual, and detached from the material world.

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