no talking in heaven

Last week, while I was sharing a Bible story with our preschoolers, I mentioned something about people talking to one another in heaven. I no longer remember exactly what I was talking about or the point I was trying to make. But while I was talking, one little girl said, “Pastor Bart, there’s no talking in heaven.” She said it with an air of authority, but this was something I had never heard before.

So, I said, “No talking in heaven? Why not?”

She looked at me with exasperation on her face and said, “Because they are all dead!” It cracked me up, and I’ve been telling this story to anyone who will listen ever since. Apparently, I was absent from my Systematic Theology class when they discussed the no talking in heaven rule.

I’m not sure if I agree with her theology, but her statement got me thinking. How will we communicate in heaven? Will we speak words in English? Will everyone in heaven be able to understand each other in their own language, like they did in the 2nd chapter of Acts? Will we have to learn a universal language? Or will we be able to understand each other without using language, like reading one another’s minds?

I’m not sure about how we will communicate, but I do believe that we will NOT be dead. And I believe that whatever heaven might be, it will be different.

This incident reminds me of a conversation Jesus had with the Sadducees in Mark 12. They spoke of a woman who was married seven times and asked whose wife she would be in the resurrection. Jesus replied that there would be no marriage in heaven.

That doesn’t mean that we will not know our spouses in eternity, or that we will not love them. But I think what Jesus means is that our relationships will be different. Wonderful? Yes! Marvelous? Absolutely! Will we get there and want to turn back? Not a chance! But everything will be different.

I look forward to having the opportunity to experience the heavenly realm. I just need to remember that there is no talking.