Our Earthly Home

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 13th of June, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Family, we’ve all heard the expression and we believers pretty much agree that “this earth is not our home”.  We were meant for heaven, our final destination is heaven.  Heaven is our true home, the home we all long for.

Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions…  I go to prepare a place for you.”  Our home, waiting in our heavenly Father’s house, was prepared for us by Jesus.  And some day, we believers will go home.  But for now, we must live here on earth, in earthly houses and homes.

Oh, and I’m not only referring to these structures of wood or steel or brick and mortar.  I’m also talking about these structures of flesh and bone.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, from chapter 4 verse 16 through chapter 5 verse 10, and I’ll be reading this from the English Standard Version of our Holy Bible…

4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened — not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

--2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10 (ESV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for adopting us into Your family and saving a place for us in Your beautiful home.  As we wander through this life, in a frail structure that wears out and falls apart and experiences all manner of pain and discomfort, we long for the new, indestructible, incorruptible body You have ready for us.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much.  Please help us obey and serve You in all things.  Help us reach out the hand of love to others.  Help us remain faithful and true to You and to Your only begotten Son Jesus.  And Father, please protect us from all of Satan’s attacks, and from those who do his evil work.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these extraordinary times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Tell us of our home in heaven even as we serve from our earthly home.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus, your Son, who suffered for us all.   Amen.

Sometime long ago, an American tourist visited the Polish rabbi, Hofetz Chaim.  The visitor was astonished to see that the rabbi's home was only a simple room filled with books, with nothing else but a table and a bench.  This led the tourist to ask, "Rabbi, where is your furniture?"

"Where is yours?", replied the rabbi.

"Mine?" asked the puzzled American.  "But I'm a visitor here.  I'm only passing through."

"So am I," said Hofetz Chaim.

We have furniture in our homes so that we can be comfortable there.  Chairs to sit on, beds to sleep on, tables to dine on and pile up our stuff.  We find these things useful in our day to day lives.  So much so, that even when we travel, we expect to see them everywhere we go, we expect to have them provided for our use when we stop somewhere.  Even though we are only passing through.

Some sweet day, none of these will matter.  We’ll be made new with no more discomfort, no more need of things, no more aches and pains.  But for now, let’s just remember that we’re only visitors here, we’re only passing through.

I believe that the Apostle Paul reinforces this concept in our scripture reading.  He compares two distinct time periods each of us believers will experience:  our life now, and our eternal life yet to come.  And he does so in terms we should be able to easily understand: our houses, our homes.  Of course, it takes very little insight to realize he is referring to our bodies and our souls when he says that our outer self is wasting away while our inner self is renewing constantly.

I love that he used a tent to refer to our current body, our earthly home.  Most of us consider a tent to be a very temporary shelter, not even comparable to a real house.  This is how our current body compares to our eternal body that will be given to us, our eternal home crafted by God.  Right now we’re in a tent, just something to keep the rain off, something to keep us from being seen as naked, as Paul puts it.  But we long for something more, we groan just thinking about the home that awaits us, the home Jesus prepared for us.  That knowledge, that hope, that promise gives us the courage to stay in this tent one more day.

Did you notice that at the end of that passage, in chapter 5 verse 10, Paul actually gives us a word of warning?  We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  All of us – good and bad, believers and non-believers.  We will all be judged and we will all receive what is due us for what we have done, or not done, while in this earthly home, this body.  Whether we’re done good or evil, we will be judged.

I think it would behoove us to do good, if we truly follow Jesus.  He did good, while in an earthly body.  He even fulfilled the Law of Moses, as handed down by God.  Listen as the author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us of what Jesus did while on this earth, and what we should to in obedience to Him.  This comes from Hebrews chapter 13, verses 10 through 16…

10 We have an altar — the cross where Christ was sacrificed — where those who continue to seek salvation by obeying Jewish laws can never be helped. 11 Under the system of Jewish laws, the high priest brought the blood of the slain animals into the sanctuary as a sacrifice for sin, and then the bodies of the animals were burned outside the city. 12 That is why Jesus suffered and died outside the city, where His blood washed our sins away.

13 So let us go out to Him beyond the city walls (that is, outside the interests of this world, being willing to be despised) to suffer with Him there, bearing His shame. 14 For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven.

15 With Jesus’ help we will continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by telling others of the glory of His name. 16 Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have with those in need, for such sacrifices are very pleasing to Him.

--Hebrews 13:10-16 (TLB)

In every way, Jesus fulfilled the law, even to the point of how His blood was shed outside the city walls, the blood that washed our sins away.  So in that manner, we need to go to Him outside the city walls.  And the author makes it clear that he means beyond the interests of this world, outside the influence of this earthly life, even if we are despised for doing so.  There we must be willing to suffer for His name, as He suffered for us, taking the risk of being shamed for our belief and faith.

And here we have it, the crux of this message: for this world is not our home.  This world is not our home so we should not allow it to chain us here in this existence.  We should not let it influence our actions and deeds and thoughts to the detriment of our eternal souls.

This structure we sit in this morning, built by human hands, is not the house of God.  This earthly body we inhabit is not our eternal home.  We just have to live in it temporarily, this tent of ours.  It will continue to be tough, walking through this land as a visitor.  But Jesus will help us if we only ask, so that we can continually offer our own sacrifice of praise to God through our service to Him.

So let us tell others all about Jesus and what He’s done for us, and what He can do for them.  And let’s not forget to do good and to share what we have with those in need.  For all this is pleasing to God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for having a new home all prepared for us, a new body to inhabit in paradise.  Thank You for the wonderful promise You made with us.  And thank You for Jesus, who is the foundation of our hope.  Please help us uphold our part by obeying Your word and loving others in our daily walk.  Sometimes, Father, we let the world hold us too tightly, forgetting that this is only our temporary residence, that we are only visitors here.  Please, Father, help us remember that we are just passing through, on our way to a far greater life.  Help us remain ever faithful and obedient to You.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You set the example as to how we should live this life when You took on an earthly body.  And then You sacrificed all so that we could be freed from the chains of this world, washed of our sins, and set free to live forever in paradise.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving of Yourself for us.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us let go of this world.  Strengthen our will to do what God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in this, our earthly home, where hatred and distrust seem to abound.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.