[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 10th of September, 2023, Homecoming Sunday at Pilgrim Reformed Church. A recording should be available on our YouTube streaming channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]
Family, today is homecoming at Pilgrim Church. Now I don’t know when our celebration of homecoming first began, but since the church first started gathering in 1753 and was officially founded in 1757, we could have enjoyed as many as 270 homecomings!
Each one is special, because it is our reminder that we truly are a family, and as a family we can gather together in fellowship and love. It’s a time when some of our brothers and sisters who’ve been away for a while come back to see us again. And it’s usually a time for some great food!
So welcome home, Family! It’s so good to see you all!
I think that many of us experience a number of homecomings in our lifetimes. There’s been a bunch of church homecomings, and for some of us many at a number of churches and not just Pilgrim. In high school we had a homecoming football game each year, where we crowned a homecoming king and queen. And a family reunion is like a homecoming in many ways. The main intent of each of these is to take us back to our roots, to reunite us with friends and family we may not have seen in a while, to bring us back home.
But what is home? Two old sayings come to mind. Home is where the heart is. In other words, what is dearest to our heart is home. And home is where I hang my hat, meaning I can make myself at home anywhere I am.
Some of us have lived in the same home for many, many years. Some of us have moved around quite a bit, making a new home fairly often. But none of this is the home we believers really look forward to.
Please follow along to what the Apostle Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, saved for us in chapter 4 verse 17 through chapter 5 verse 9, and I’ll be reading from The Living Bible version of our Holy Bible this morning…
4:17 These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever! 18 So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.5:1 For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down — when we die and leave these bodies — we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God Himself and not by human hands. 2 How weary we grow of our present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies that we shall put on like new clothes. 3 For we shall not be merely spirits without bodies. 4 These earthly bodies make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn’t like to think of dying and having no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will, as it were, be swallowed up by everlasting life. 5 This is what God has prepared for us, and as a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit.6 Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. 7 We know these things are true by believing, not by seeing. 8 And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So our aim is to please Him always in everything we do, whether we are here in this body or away from this body and with Him in heaven.
--2 Corinthians 4:17-5:9 (TLB)
Let us pray… Almighty God, Thank You for preparing our eternal homes in heaven, our new bodies that will last forever. Father, You know how tough this life can be for us. Jesus even warned us that in this life we will face trials and difficulties. But You promise that if we just get through this with our faith intact, we will be greatly rewarded beyond anything we can even dream. Thank You, Father, for giving us so much just for believing in Your Son and accepting Him as our Lord. Thank You for showing us such great, undeserved mercy. Sadly, Father, sometimes we take Your love and Your blessings for granted. Too often we let this life beat us down to the point where our spirits struggle and our faith begins to fail. We start to doubt we can hold on long enough to receive our reward. Forgive us these times, please Father. Help us hang on to our faith as we cling to Your promise. Keep reminding us that this life is only temporary, and that the next is forever. Please help us by shielding us from all those who serve Satan and carry out his wicked deeds here on earth. Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day. Renew our spirits and restore our confidence in Your word as we long for our heavenly home. This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Writer, filmmaker, and storyteller Phil Cousineau says this about Homer's great work, The Odyssey:
This story is about the awakening of a man who has not quite appreciated his wife, Penelope, and who has upset the gods who are wreaking havoc on his effort to get home again. After his time with Circe, Odysseus goes down into the underworld to find Tiresias, the sage, who tells him: “You can get home again but you will have to suffer. The gods will make it difficult for you to do this. You will have to curb your desires and the desires of the men in your crew. This is the psychological insight: It’s your desires that have kept you from getting home again.”
Cousineau then asks, “What does that mean for us today?” Getting through this life is tough, and we do have to suffer. But our God tells us to curb our desires, let go of our attachments to this life and to earthly things. This is what keeps us from going home: our desires, our love of what the world offers, rather than seeking only what God offers. We can make it home – it won’t be easy, but we can make it home if we just trust in God and keep our faith strong.
As I mentioned earlier, while we may call this building the house of God, we know that He has chosen us to be His home while we walk this earth. Our journey may seem long, because there are many hills to climb along the way, many rivers to cross, many pitfalls to avoid, may raging storms to weather. Just being born into this life is a traumatic experience, as evidenced by a baby’s very first cry. And some folks seem to leave this life in much the same way: kicking and screaming.
But I have to ask… If this life is so tough, why do we cling to it so desperately? Paul tells us that “every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus”. If we believe him, then why do we dread letting go? Is it because we’re afraid of what comes next? Do we worry that what we’ve been told might not really happen? Is there really anything after this life, or do we just cease to exist and that’s it?
My dear brothers and sisters, it may not seem like it some days, but this life is short. I think most of us, when we look back upon the path we’ve walked, are amazed at how quickly we got to where we are. I know for me the years are flying by. When I was in school or working at a boring job, it seemed like each second took forever, but now it was all just a blur.
This life is short. But the next will last forever. And yes, there will be a life after this one has ended. We know this without a doubt if we truly believe in God and trust in His word. Someday our tent will be folded up and it'll be time to go home; this body that we now inhabit will stop functioning.
But this tent, this body is just our temporary housing. God has a new body all ready for us, a wonderful new home, one that will last forever. The question is, where will we then live in that new body? Will we dwell forever in paradise with God and with Jesus, or will we suffer all eternity separated from God in the lake of fire? The choice truly is ours. If our choice is heaven, then we should aim to please God in everything we do.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews has a great message to add to this discussion. Please listen to what he writes in the 13th chapter, verses 8 through 16 of this letter to those Jewish converts...
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your spiritual strength comes as a gift from God, not from ceremonial rules about eating certain foods — a method which, by the way, hasn’t helped those who have tried it!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 13:8-16 (TLB)
This world is not our home. This life we are living right now is short and temporary. No matter how much we might wish for it to, this life won’t last. But Jesus does last, and will forever. He is the same yesterday, today, and every tomorrow to come. From Him we can take comfort and strength for the road ahead, the spiritual strength that comes as a gift from God.
Jesus was sacrificed on the cross so that we might have an eternal home with God in heaven. Our author tells us that Christ suffered and died outside the city walls, so we should go beyond the city to Him. And he explains that by this he means we should go beyond the interests of the world, not worrying about what the world thinks of us, being ready and willing to be despised for our faith and belief. For just as the world hated Jesus, it will hate us for following Him. But with our Lord’s help, we can remain strong during our walk through this life.
We know what we need to do, the job we’ve been given. Let’s keep spreading the Gospel and telling other folks all about Jesus. Let’s offer our sacrifice of praise to God with every word we utter, with every thought we think. And let’s not forget to do good and to share what we have with those in need. For such sacrifices are pleasing to our Father God.
Some sweet day our tent will be taken down and we’ll go to our true, permanent home. Let’s keep our faith strong and continue serving God. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who gave His all for us. Amen.
Let us pray… Almighty God, thank You for preparing our new body for our return home. You are so good to us and we thank You for Your many blessings in our lives. Most of all, we thank You for giving us the faith to believe in Jesus as Your Christ, Your Son. By our belief, we know that we will be with You in heaven forever. Forgive us those times, please Father, when we just become so weary from our journey that we begin to doubt Your word. Forgive us when we fail to carry out the work Jesus assigned us, when we hesitate to go out among the lost, telling them all about Your Son. Forgive us when we get too wrapped up with the things of the world and lose our focus on the things of heaven. Forgive us when we neglect the needs of others, when we shun others just because they are different, when we let hatred rule our hearts and overshadow our love. Please help us be more like Jesus. Show us those places where we can do good while we still walk this earth. And please, Father, shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith and tries to pull us away from You. Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live. And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, You allowed You own precious blood to be shed so that we could be washed clean of our sin. Your sacrifice provided for our atonement. Thank You, Jesus, for giving of Your all just for us. We carry Your name into the world, knowing the world will despise us, just so that others might see You in how we act and in what we do. Please forgive us when we fail to give of ourselves for others. Forgive us when we don’t carry out the job You gave us to the very best of our ability. We pray, Lord, that You stand at our side and help us reach out to others, giving us the right words to say, the right actions to take. And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and empty promises. Guide us around all traps and snares he lays in our path. Help us see though his temptations.
Lord Jesus, please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You. Please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another. Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer. This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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