2 Cor 5:1-10--- The time in between: a groaning for home

In a mess

Christmas sits just 7 days before our new year

Its been a extremely difficult year for many

The world has faced a pandemic, the US has had evil and anarchy for months, we cant seem to have confidence in elections, and thats just the stuff out there

Covid has created more issue than poor health- business will never open again, mental health issues are soaring, many have lost family members due to Covid and was never able to see their family member, many never had Covid but due to restrictions they couldnt get in to be with family members, many never went to get help they needed due to hospital restrictions

Its a mess

Our optimism is for 2021 to be better but there isnt a miracle found in just changing year numbers

Im not raining on the parade, I am trying to put in perspective the world we live in and what we find is broken

As I thought and prayed about this sermon, I believe this one is timely for us

How do handle the time in between the first and second Advent? Between our birth and death? From year to year, day to day?

Lets look at 2 Cor 5:1-10 today for what I believe gives us the answer

Rest in the fact that this isnt home

2 Corinthians 5:1 ESV

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.

Its tough picking up in the middle of chapters without the proper backdrop of book to this point

So will recap the previous chapter for you

Paul says the Gospel has been entrusted to jars of clay- men who have been redeemed- and we are in a mess but we are not a mess

We are afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down , but we are not crushed, in despair, forsaken or destroyed

No matter where we carry the life and death of Christ in us

We know he is coming again and we will get all of his people

So, no matter what situation Paul faced, he could sympathise with the Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 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.

The body just doesnt keep like it was created to do but by Gods grace he sent Jesus to give us eternal life and therefore the inner man, our soul that can never die, is being made like Jesus with each passing day and circumstance

Vs 17- cant nothing that comes our way, no matter the forces of evil that could be waged against you or me, doesnt even hold a candle to what lie ahead of every believer in the glory of heaven

Beloved, list them- Evils- murder, rape, incest, human trafficking, abortion, hate crimes, slander, anger, jealousy, pride

Cancer, MS, Alzheimer's, Dementia, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Emphesema- and the list goes

Nothing that the curse and evil can muster- doesnt even glimmer in comparison to what lies ahead for the faithful follower of Christ

I was talking to my kids the other day about some health issue of mine- It may be gone today or tomorrow, but one day it will be gone forever

So Paul says to do this, you got to set your mind to eternal things- this world is passing- but eternity is certain

Vs1- Paul uses the comparison between a tent and a building as comparison of our physical body to our eternal body

Paul was a tent maker and this point was clear to him but more so I think this has tabernacle/temple reference

Tabernacle was replaced by something more permanent but even it needed repair

Mark 14:58 ESV

“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ”

Thats exactly what Jesus was saying- Hope is not in your ritual but in me in

2. Our bodies may fail but God promises never will

2 Corinthians 5:2–4 ESV

For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 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.

the ole saying, “everybody wants to go to heaven but they dont wanna go now”.. very true

But Paul, Paul was special… Paul wasnt like me, Paul was man of courage that had his eyes on a better land much like the saints in Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11:15–16 ESV

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Vs 3- Paul says we wont be found at loss or belittled once that day approaches

Vs 4- But everyday we have breath we are reminded of our struggle

-Every struggle should nudge us evermore closer toward home

Beloved our days our numbered and unbeliever so is yours

As our bodies break down- we are reminded more and more of that reality and just how fragile we are

But beyond that, I think Paul is saying- hey dont you want something better?

Everything we have in life breaks down

Gold loses its luster, cars lose its shine, electronics are phased out, and society keeps doing what is right in its own eyes

Paul just says- this isnt living- life is what is awaiting

Vs5- It is God himself who has prepared this for us

Even Jesus calms the disciples hearts John 14:2-3

John 14:2–3 ESV

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

I made you something better

Not only that he gave us a guarantee of his promise

I like a guarantee- I feel a whole lot better when I buy something with a guarantee

Most things we buy today have limited warranties- every now and again you will find something that has a lifetime warranty- as long as you own it

But Paul says God has prepared for us a place beyond all compare and has promised to every one of his children that it awaits them because he guaranteed it with the HS

The HS is sign, seal, and guarantee we apart of the family of God

3. Live courageously

Paul follows that up with this

2 Corinthians 5:6 ESV

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

So we are always of good courage---- courageous maybe your translation

Paul was a cheerful optimist

No one can deny his struggles as a servant of Christ

Just a few weeks back on Homecoming we looked at Acts 16- were Paul and Silas praised God while in the stocks in the bottom of a prison and that became a change agent in the life of a Philippian jailer

He is not speaking from the other side of the fence without first being over there himself

If I am alive in this physical body, then I am away from the Lord

2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV

for we walk by faith, not by sight.

What he means is that those realities he has spoken of are not yet completely tangible yet

Until that day, he and we walk by faith- faith with a guarantee

2 Corinthians 5:8 ESV

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

So we hold fast, live courageously, and begin to long for home

It requires a eye exam

In that when you sit in the optometrist office, he moves different lenses in front of your eyes until things become clear

Initially things are out of focus- until he put the corrects lenses in front of your eyes

Beloved, we need must put the lens Christ and his word before us to see this way

This isnt natural- its supernatural- its born from above

So whatever comes our way- we take courage in Christ and set our eyes there

Knowing what was once blurry and far off is ever closer and clearer with each passing day

4. Focus our eyes on pleasing God

2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

you may ask, how should we live?

Paul is glad you asked, whether in we alive on earth or in heaven with Go- we make it our aim to please God

I have said it before, Can God sign his name to the end of your day?

Would your thoughts and actions be pleasing in his sight?

Colossians 1:10 ESV

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

I often miss this one- “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”

I let things creep in so easily at times, and instead of putting them down and not entertaining that thought, it starts to work on me

Paul says set you target to be pleasing Christ

Beloved we are going to slip up and fall- but our life should be perpetual stumbling forward not wallowing in sin

Scripture tells us that Word of God isnt a burden- its a joy

David say I delight in your law- Its for our benefit not our torment

All those time my parents told me no, wasnt because they hated me or wanted to make me miserable- its because they knew the danger that awaited

So it is with God and his word

5. Realize the judgement seat of Christ await us all, so live accordingly

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV

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.

Paul make this point ever clear- We all must appear before Christ

We are not getting out of that

For the believer its reward, for the unbeliever its judgement

Jesus has already said, you will know a tree by its fruit- no one is just getting in to heaven by chance or by living a life of disobedience to His word

The fruit tells you what it is- enjoyed some fruit this week and clearly can tell the difference between a pear and an apple- especially in taste

It gives clear evidence

Paul isnt teaching a works based salvation here- do more good works and get this

The reward is Jesus and eternity in heaven, if there is more reward than that- than just count it is overflow

But there is no amount of good works you can do to obtain this- its a gift

Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

But without that gift of Christ- We will be judged by Christ

Jesus says it this way in regards to living a life above reproach

Mark 9:42–48 ESV

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

Jesus isnt suggesting to poke out your eyes because of lust because lust starts in your heart- you still wont fix the problem

but he is showing us the severity of unchecked sin in life and what it probably is saying

Lets bring it back full circle here

2020 has been a mess- Paul and Jesus both have been privy to those as well

How should live in light of 2021 that sits ahead of us and the rest of our lives, if the Lord so wills it?

Rest in the fact this isnt home

Our bodies will fail us but Gods promises never will

Live courageously

Focus our lives on pleasing God

Realize the judgement seat of Christ await us all, so live accordingly