A sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on June 14, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV and based on II Corinthians 5:1-10.
Recently I spoke with a woman who had lost her daughter in a sudden, tragic accident. She was beside herself with grief, totally preoccupied with thoughts about what she might have or could have done to prevent the death - even though she was no where near her daughter when the accident occurred. She was in shock, unable to grasp the reality that her daughter was gone. And she was also afraid because while she was basically sure of her daughter’s character and knew that she had made a personal confession of faith, the young woman hadn’t gone to church very regularly. In addition, there were a couple of other things that caused the mother worry that her daughter might not make it to heaven because of gaps in her Christian ‘resume’. She was distraught over the destruction over her daughter’s ‘earthly house’ and fearful over the status of her ‘heavenly dwelling” as Paul might have phrased it.
In the midst of her confused feelings, she was actually right to be concerned. As we read in our passage from 2 Corinthians, we are creatures of two dwellings: 1) the earthly tent, our physical body, and 2) our heavenly dwelling, a building made by God, our resurrection body( I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 21:1-22:5) The first is flimsy, subject to corruption and death. The second is eternal, solid, a “building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
In the earthly tent we are conscious that there is more to be had, and so we groan and long for the day when we are ‘further clothed’ with the heavenly existence so that we may not be found naked – a likely reference to the so-called intermediate state between death and the believer’s resurrection in which we live as disembodied spirits while we await resurrection. We groan for the mortal to be “swallowed up by life”. Yet we are also very much this-world centered and it’s really difficult at times to imagine what it would be like to be ‘absent from the body and present with the Lord’. Nevertheless, for thousands of years, Christians have thought of themselves as ‘Pilgrims’(Hebrews 11:13), strangers or exiles on a journey through this life, whose citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).
Joan Chittister has a wonderful description of this kind of pilgrim mentality. She describes pilgrim people as those who have a ‘Barefooted Soul’, who walk through this life awake, alert, Grateful, and only partially at home.
The folk song “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” also comes to mind. The plaintive lyrics speak of passing through a world of trouble on the way to see one’s parents and find a place of release from suffering.
I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling through this world below
But there's no sickness, toil or danger
In that brith world to which I go.
I'm going threre to see my father
I'm going there no more to roam
I"m just a goin' over Jordan
I'm just a goin' over home.
Now, I grant you that the thinking expressed in this song is almost entirely negative. Life is hard, full of trials, deprecations and self-denial. There is a palpable sense of longing to be released from the struggle. I’m guessing that most of us don’t see life that way. Our culture has created such material comforts for us that our basic outlook about life is that it is Good. If we have trouble along the way, this is an aberration. In our culture, people write books about ‘why bad things happen to good people’, and spend hours debating why God allows evil things to happen in the world. If we fail, we expect someone to bail us out. We just can’t allow life to be Hard.
But as we can see – and feel – through the Wayfaring Stranger song, there is another more somber way of approaching life – one that understands that life is basically difficult and hard – and that suffering in this life is no surprise. This approach does not shake the fist at God, wondering why He allows hardship. Rather it looks forward to going ‘over Jordan’ and being released from suffering and death.
Now you might say, “That seems like an awfully negative way to view life – especially in view of all the good things there are to enjoy in life.” And you’re right. You and I live lives that the kings and nobility of the past couldn’t even imagine. We have so much material comfort that we often can’t relate to an outlook that sees life as hard or full of toil – something to be released from – a world we are traveling through on the way to somewhere else.
As Christians, I think we have a basic conflict within ourselves. How do we live here in this world, while we are traveling to another world? How do we take care of, and work for real change in this world, when ‘it’s all going to burn’ someday? Isn’t it all just futile?
And the answer is, “No, it’s not futile.” And that’s because there is a connection between this life and the next. What we do here really matters. The Kingdom of God is in our midst and God really does care for this world. Our eventual destination is not just “Heaven”, but Heaven on Earth – a New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven in which we live in resurrection bodies just the same as Jesus has (Rev. 212:2). This current world will eventually be recreated, but it has also been ‘invaded’ by God, and His Kingdom exists here and now.
Author Gustave Aulen refers to this as the “eschatological present” – life that happens between the first coming of Christ and his eventual return, life that sees the future in the now, and calls things that are not as if they already are (Romans 4:17) - life lived as a ‘caretaking Pilgrim’ if you will – someone who’s just passing through, but makes the world better as he goes.
So, that’s all pretty abstract. How does it relate to my daily life?
I’d like to suggest four directions for us out of this passage:
1) Have Faith
2) Please God
3) Remember Judgment
4) Expect a Crown
Let’s take them one by one and consider some ways we might apply these points.
Have Faith.
Paul tells us that we ‘walk by faith, not sight’ (v.7). Hebrews 11:1 says that … “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. Faith is Certainty in another reality that causes us to do things that don’t make sense to the world – such as spending your whole life building an ark when there’s not a rain cloud in sight, or refusing to bow down to an Emperor and dying because of it.
The important thing to remember about faith is that we don’t just endorse a set of ideas, or place our confidence in our faith itself, but that we Know Someone personally. As a result of this personal knowledge of Jesus Christ, we do certain things.
We don’t just passively possess faith, we actively exercise it. We are told to be courageous in the face of difficulties, to act and to be comforted and built up by the deposit of the Holy Spirit within us. We must believe God when he tells us that this world is not our ultimate home and that if we leave this body, we will be with Him. We are to have or exercise Faith.
Please God
Next, we are to Please God. What is it that pleases Him?
James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” In other words, care for those who cannot care for themselves and live a pure lifestyle. Micah 6:8 says it this way: “He has shown thee O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee, but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.”
We are to be just and merciful in our dealings with others – to treat everyone as if they were Jesus – and to be humble in our relationship with God. That means that we seek him through an attitude of listening prayer and ‘do whatever he tells us’ (John 2:5) – even if it seems contrary to what we think we want. After all, just think about the number of times your own parents wanted you to do something that you didn’t like, but which later turned out to be good for you. Those who serve the Lord in humility please him. Those who pursue their own way do not.
Remember Judgment
We must all appear before the judgment seat, or ‘bēma’ (Grk) of Christ. The bema was the tribunal bench in the Roman courtroom, where the governor sat while delivering his judgments. If you were to go to the Corinthian forum today, you could actually see the remains of such a bēma, which still exist. Like a Roman judge, Christ sits on the seat of Judgement,and when we die we stand before Him “so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (v. 10). Everything we do matters. Every act has consequences for good or ill – and we are responsible to Christ for all of it.
It is important to remember however, that believers face a different sort of judgement than non-believers. When the Christian is judged, he pleads the blood of Christ as His righteousness; he comes before Christ as a brother, already accepted by virtue of the finished work of Christ on the cross. The Christian’s works may be found to be ‘wood, hay, stubble, or precious jewels, gold and silver (1 Cor. 3:12-15). Our reward depends upon how faithfully we have built upon the foundation of Christ. Works that glorify our Lord receive a reward; works built on self are burned up as if going through a fire (v. 15). The believer is saved, but his works may perish.
Expect a Crown
Revelation 4:10 describes how the saints cast their crowns before the Lord. Here are five different types of crowns that that we might receive based on our works:
(1) The Crown of Righteousness
2 Tim. 4:8: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. This crown is for those who are living "soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Tit. 2:12).
(2) The Incorruptible Crown or "Victor's Crown"
1 Cor. 9:25: And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”
(3) The Crown of Rejoicing or "Soul Winner's Crown"
1 Thess. 2:19, 20: For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.
Phil. 4:1: Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
(4) The Crown of Life or "Martyr's Crown" (Js. 1:12; Rev. 2:10).
For those who suffer and give their lives for the gospel:
James 1:12: 12: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Revelation 2:10: 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
(5) The Crown of Glory or "Pastor's Crown" (1 Pet. 5:2-4).
There’s even a crown for pastors, or ‘under-shpeherds’:
1 Peter 5:2-4: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. …So – expect a crown.
Again, the four directives are:
Have Faith
Please God
Remember Judgment
Expect a Crown
In wrapping up, I’d like to go back to the grieving mother I mentioned at the beginning. During a time of healing prayer the Lord showed her a picture of her daughter walking off with Jesus, and then turning back towards her mother and smiling. In this very brief visual image, she apprehended the essential truth that her daughter had left her earthly tent and was headed off with Jesus towards her heavenly dwelling. At that point, the mother was able to let go of her confused struggle and find peace by letting go and allowing her daughter to be cared for by Jesus.
Each one of us is headed for our heavenly dwelling as well. May God grant us the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit as we live with one foot in each world, awaiting his Glorious coming, and groaning to be clothed with Resurrection Life. AMEN.
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