LAUGH 'N LEARN

An Encouragement Ministry of Verde Valley Christian Church Of Cottonwood Arizona
http://vvchristianchurch.net

Issue # 373 May 9,  2010

LAUGH

[Jim's Note:   When I pasted the above, I thought it would read easier and look less intimidating if I broke it up into paragraphs; but then I realized, it was one continuous sentence! No wonder she was tired at the end of her day of spring cleaning; she never took a breath!]

LEARN

Jim's Manuscript

May 9, 2010

"Never Homeless"

2 Corinthians "True Comfort" Series (Part 5)

Text:  2 Corinthians 5

[I began this message with a rigged competition setting up tents.  The tent I used had all the poles already connected and part of the tent structure, and goes up in a minute or two.]

I've done a lot of camping over the years.  We have more tents than any one family should have.  Some for backpacking, and others for car camping.  Setting up and taking down these tents is not my favorite part about camping.  That is why this tent is one of my favorite tents.  It is the one shown on the screen this morning.  It is quite old now.  It is too big to be practical for backpacking trips but it sure was nice for car camping, or boat camping. 

Paul was a tentmaker.  He made them, repaired them, and thought a lot about them.  In the chapter we are about to study, he compares our bodies with tents.  He compares the death of a believer with the taking down of a tent, and moving into a permanent habitation. 

Focus:    It is true comfort to know that when we move from our "earthly tent" we will never be homeless.

Paul uses picturesque language.  In chapter 2, we are the fragrance of Christ to others.  In chapter 3, we saw the light of glory on Moses' face eclipsed by the light of GLORY in the face of Christ.  In chapter 4 we saw that this fragrance, and glory is contained in "earthen jars".  This week we look at tents and clothing.  Paul's mixes his metaphors here.  

In the section we are about to read he compares death, leaving our body, with leaving our tent.  He also compares death to undressing.  We step out of our earth suit, to be clothed eternally.  He shows our bodies to be temporary, as compared to the glorious resurrection bodies we will have.  All of this descriptions is part of the continued discussion about the "true comfort" God gives to us.

I.   Why We Don't Lose Heart (continued)

A.      What's The Worst Case Scenario?

I may be weird in this, but sometimes it helps me, and comforts me to think through worst case scenarios.  I know that for some people, thinking about worst case scenarios causes you to be stuck in fear.  But I remind myself in my worst case scenarios that God will only allow our ultimate good to be worked out.  Let me show you how Paul may be doing this also.  It seems like Paul is doing much like I find that I do.  I ask myself when something goes south, "what's the worst case scenario?".  A quick one to deal with is death.  We often think of death as the worst case scenario.  Paul starts at this common "worst case scenario" to take the sting out of death.  After all, he's been facing a lot of persecution.  He has thought it through.  He has shown how all that he has gone through doesn't even compare to the GLORY he looks forward to.  Let's remind ourselves with last week's thought.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV) ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Paul knows that his body might in fact be destroyed in the process.  He might die. 

To say one "might die" is really a funny way to put it because, think about it, the mortality rate is 100%.  We all will die.  Unless, Christ returns before we do.  When we talk about death as an unthinkable thing, that is a little silly.  How is it that something inevitable is something we call "unthinkable"?   If there is anything we should be doing some thinking about, we should be planning for the inevitable.  Don't you think?  So, don't be avoiding this subject.  Death by persecution is how Paul eventually died, but he probably was aware this would be the case eventually.  He had thought it through.  We see his thoughts here.

Let's also think about the inevitable. 

2 Corinthians 5:1-21 (NIV) ¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

1.       Death?  (5:1)

No, this is not the worst case scenario.  Paul says death is a bargain! But it is only a bargain for the believer.  For the unbeliever, death is a real threat.  It is the point beyond no return, it is the moment of truth.  Judgment follows, and consequences for failing to align oneself with God.  But for the believer death is described by Paul here as an upgrade!  Paul describes it as trading in our old tattered tent for an eternal building from God.  No.  Death is not a bad scenario.

2.       Groaning?  (5:2-4)

I picked the word "groan" here because that's the word Paul uses.  We usually associate the word with suffering.  Is this the worst case scenario?  No.  Actually, the groaning described here is positive.  (5:2, 4)

² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

Some interpreters will see the "meanwhile" as speaking of the intermediate state, between the time of our death, when we go to be with the Lord, and the time of the general resurrection when all things are fulfilled and we receive our immortal resurrection bodies, that during this time we will be longing for the final clothing, our glorified resurrection bodies.  I think the "meanwhile" and groanings are part of our experience before death.  Let's keep reading.  

³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

The "groaning" is repeated in 5:4, and it is "while we are in this tent" that we groan.  People groan, not wanting to die, i.e., not wanting to be being unclothed, and taking off this tent., and yet, longing for it at the same time, the permanent tent, and the eternal life clothing us, the eternal dwelling housing us!  This was Paul's experience.  He was groaning, but it was a positive thing.

Positive Groaning (Like A Pregnant Mom)

Perhaps it is because of where I have been coming from this week as a grandpa to be in waiting, that I can see how "groaning" is actually a positive anticipation.  A mother who is pregnant perhaps has some apprehensions about the pain of delivery.  However, as the time draws near, or in my daughter's case, is past due, the groaning is a sigh and sign of longing.  It is a groaning that can't wait to see the pain through to delivery!  The anxiety or apprehension gives way to longing.  So it often is for the believer, longing for what is to come. 

Confident That We Will Never Be Homeless

⁵ Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. ⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

The point of focus is not on all the questions and details about the intermediate state and so much as it is about the immediacy of being in the presence of the Lord.  To be absent from the body means to be immediately present with the Lord, and that's the point.  When read this way, the whole passage reads more simply to mean this.  When our old tent is taken down, we will not be homeless!  "We have" a home not made with human hands.  ¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

This passage is not attempting to answer the question about what life is like in the intermediate state, except to say that we will immediately be with the Lord in his presence, and we will immediately be at home with him.  When we read other passages of scripture about the timing of things, and when one receives his immortal, imperishable body it raises such questions.  I believe we are immediately given a home made without hands, even if it isn't our final resurrection bodies yet. 

We do read in Revelation 6 for example that the martyrs are still asking, "how long" Lord, with timing questions about he fulfillment of all things. 

This passage does teach us a number of things.  1) At death we as believers continue to be conscious.  2) The moment we leave our body, we are present with the Lord.  3) Heaven feels like HOME.  We will never be homeless.  4) Jesus who promised to never leave us or forsake us will be SEEN not just experienced by FAITH.  For now its FAITH not SIGHT, but then it will be SIGHT.

All this is very encouraging to the suffering apostle, who does not lose heart but keeps pressing forward in his ministry boldly  The persecution he experiences may mean death, but it will never mean anything dangerous.  He will be immediately "at home with the Lord."

⁹ So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

So, Death And Suffering ("groaning") Is NOT The Worst Case Scenario. 

This is all well and good, and brings "true comfort".  But Paul is not content to merely stop here with words of comfort.  He continues also with words of warning.  These words of warning are also motivating. These words help us also not to lose heart.  So even warning words are truly "fortifying" which the real meaning of the word comfort, means.  We are strengthened.  So let the next warning comfort.  Let the next warning strengthen you. 

The truly worst case scenario is not death or suffering, the truly worst case scenario is this...

3.       Judgment? (5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Judgment against us would be the worst case scenario!  I believe that when you are mindful of your mortality, you are mindful of your morality!  When you are mindful of your mortality, you realize that this life is but a vapor, but not that only, you also realize that this life is not the end.  When you become mindful of your own mortality, in these terms, you will definitely be mindful of your morality.  How often do you think about the judgment?  Do you only think in terms of heaven or hell and the separation of the sheep and the goats?  Paul would have us realize there is far more to the judgment than merely making it into heaven.  He has already taught the Corinthians this in 1 Corinthians 3.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV) ¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. ¹⁴ If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

The saved will be judged and rewarded for faithfulness.

For the Believer, Loss of Rewards is the worst case scenario!

B.  Fear of the Lord Brings True Comfort (5:11)

2 Corinthians 5:11 (NIV) Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

The Fear of the Lord, dispels all other fears (11).  We are controlled by what we fear most.  If you fear God most, then you have the beginning of wisdom.  All the other fears are but shadow fears, when we fear God first and live for him.

¹¹ Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. ¹² We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³ If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

C.      Christ's Love Compels Us (5:14-16)

¹⁴ For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. ¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

When you put "fear of the lord" together with how "love compels us" we have something that looks like a son or daughter who loves and respects (properly fears) their earthly father, loving him so much, they do not want to let him down. 

1.       We Make It Our Aim To Please Him (5:9)

2 Corinthians 5:9 (NIV) So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

Because of our Fear of the Lord, we aim to please him regardless of other lesser "fears" (9)  Because Christ's love compels us, we are not compelled by fear, but by love.  Perhaps fear is the motivator when we fall off the course of the love that compels. 

2.       We No Longer Live For Ourselves (5:15)

¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

D.      We Have The Best Case Scenario! (5:17)

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

II.       We've Been Given A Job To Do

A.      The Ministry of Reconciliation (5:18)

¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.

B.      We Are Christ's Ambassadors (5:20)

He's Given Us A Message (5:19) and He Makes His Appeal Through Us (5:20)

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

The Message?  "Be Reconciled To God"

We Are Ambassadors Who ...

• Explain How To Be Reconciled With God
• Explain What God Did

If you can explain this one sentence you are well on your way to explaining the Good News about how to be reconciled with God.  Here's the sentence, 5:21.

²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

• Explain How to be "In Jesus" by Entering INTO Covenant With Him
• Explain How to Receive His Life, and His Righteousness So That IN HIM we might BECOME Righteous

In a recent issue of Today's Christian, Carol Heath shared her moving testimony:

I hated everything about my life.

After twenty-three years in a loveless marriage with little respect, my divorce was now final. I had to leave my dream house in Anderson, South Carolina, and move to a dilapidated rental house on a dead-end street. Even worse, I matched that awful house. Staring at the dingy floor, I felt ugly, used up, and broken. So many years of my life gone. Wasted.

Dropping to my knees, I traced a huge split in the linoleum as I prayed, "God, help me. If you get me out of this, I'm yours. Whatever you want. I just need three things--a job, a new life, and to be loved."

With no college degree and little employment history, my options were limited. Then word of a job opportunity came through my previous mission work. I'd be managing My Sister's Place, a shelter [in northern Georgia] for homeless women and their children. The position would provide a place for me to live and a salary. I didn't think I had much left to offer, but at least I'd be needed and loved. It sounded too good to be true. ...

My Sister's Place took in addicts, alcoholics, mentally ill, single and divorced women with children, and some who never learned to manage money. ...

I didn't demand perfection, but somehow after I arrived, housekeeping dropped off. Chores were forgotten and duties half done. After a month I awoke to discover dirty dishes in the sink, ants crawling over the countertop, beds unmade, and cups covering the coffee table. God, you tricked me--put me in charge of bunch of women who act like spoiled teenagers.

"None of you appreciate me!" I slapped the dirty counter. "Can't you see how hard I'm trying?" My hands shook as I slung the Tupperware cups into the sink. "When are you going to grow up? I don't like being here, in case you didn't notice. If any of you don't want to help out, you know where the door is."

They scattered like rats. All except Gail. I stomped back to the bedrooms and ordered the rest of them to get busy making beds. That night for supper, I fixed turkey again from our collection. Some church had donated twelve.

After supper we went through our usual routine--Family Time, Devotional, and Prayer Circle. I offered no prayers. I didn't even hold hands.

After we finished, I peeled off down the street in my van, screaming out to God. "This is too hard. I can't do it." I found a used fast-food napkin under the seat to wipe my eyes. "I still hate my life," I sobbed. "I'm lonely no matter how many women you stick me with." God seemed far away and silent.

I drove until almost midnight and then U-turned my car back toward home. Stepping out into the dewy air, I stood in the damp, overgrown grass in the front yard and listened to laughter. I realized the ruckus was coming from behind the house. My tennis shoes squished as I trudged toward the voices. Peeking around the corner, I spotted the women. In the darkness their lighted cigarettes dotted the back porch like tiny red beacons. I inhaled, recalling the days when I'd smoked. Way back when.

"That Ms. Carol, something's riled her today."

"Yeah, I ain't getting in her way."

Then Gail piped up. "Y'all give her a break. She's one of us." She paused to take a drag from her cigarette. "She's got nowhere to go. We're her family now. We should treat her that way."

I didn't speak to any of them that night. I knew it was impossible--I could never be like them.

Early the next morning, I heard a faint knock on my bedroom door. Gail tiptoed in with a cup of coffee. "Here, Ms. Carol. Just the way you like it." She grinned and stuck her stubby hair behind her ears. "Sorry about yesterday. We're gonna do better."

"How come you smile all the time?" I grabbed the mug and moved over to give her room on my bed. Gail spent half her day in addiction classes, then went straight to Krystal's to flip burgers.

"I have so much," she said.

"Honey, look around. You don't have that much." I patted her skinny, tattooed arm.

"I have you," she said in her throaty voice. "I'm glad you're here. We need you. Bad." Smile lines formed at the edges of her 47-year-old blue eyes. Lines just like mine. Gail hugged me with all her might. In her arms, something angry inside me began to melt.

My sweet Lord, [I thought]. I understand way too much about abusive relationships. You've been preparing me for this job for years. I know how they feel. I've been there...I am them. ...

[Later that day], I drove to the co-op to pick up free food. As I shopped I prayed, "God, show me how to really love these women."

Filling up my bag with fruits and vegetables, I noticed something I'd never seen. Long-stem pink roses. They reminded me of my yard in South Carolina. The man behind the table said, "Take some. Every day, if you want. They'll just get thrown out."

Free roses! What woman doesn't love roses?

That night, we celebrated with store-bought hamburger meat--a rare treat. I took my time and made homemade spaghetti, and found a vase under the sink for the pink roses. Smiling, I arranged donated candles all over the table. This looks special. Something I'd love myself.

"Attention ladies," I said, tapping my tea glass with my fork. "We have a new tradition--our family's tradition. Every night we'll have fresh roses and candles on our table."

In the soft glow of candlelight, my precious family and I reached out and held hands as we said our blessing. Gail, my new sister and best friend, sat on my right side and squeezed my hand tightly. I squeezed back--hard.

Condensed from our sister publication Today's Christian, © 2008 Christianity Today International. For more articles like this, visit Todays-Christian.com

Carol Heath (as told to Julie West Garmon), "One of Us," Today's Christian (May/June 2008)

(C) Jim Hammond

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