"God Will Replace Our Temporal Earthly Tent
with His Eternal Heavenly Dwelling"
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
"Life eternal! Heav'n rejoices:
Jesus lives who once was dead.
Shout with joy, O deathless voices!
Child of God, lift up your head!
Life eternal! Oh, what wonders
Crowd on faith; what joy unknown,
When, amid earth's closing thunders,
Saints shall stand before the throne!"
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
671:3)
Epistle Reading.......................... 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 [11-17] (esp.
1)
1We know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have
a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Prologue: Happy Father's Day, fathers! As we fathers observe "our special
day" it's important to remember that the main responsibility God has given
fathers regarding their children is to "bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord." (Eph 6:4 ESV) At the same time it's also very
important for us to provide safe and secure shelter for them when they're
still dependent children living under our care.
Pastor Boettcher referred to that second item in his sermon last
weekend when he mentioned that, although some may enjoy occasional campouts
in a temporary tent, a solidly-constructed house is much more preferred as a
permanent dwelling place. In that context Saint Paul's message in today's
Epistle Reading is that "Our earthly, mortal body will be laid into the
grave, to become a prey of worms, but the body which we shall receive at the
hands of God, the body of the resurrection, will partake of the immortality
of Christ Himself." (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular Commentary of the Bible:
The New Testament, Volume II. Copyright © Unknown, Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Page 189.) In other words, .
"God Will Replace Our Temporal Earthly Tent
with His Eternal Heavenly Dwelling."
As we consider that wonderful truth, let's first of all realize
that ...
I. Our Temporal Earthly Tent Is Full of Burdens. (2-5)
2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if
indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For 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. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given
us the Spirit as a guarantee.
What burden causes you to groan . to sigh deeply? Is it emotional
stress, physical illness or injury, mental troubles, relational
difficulties, financial problems . or something else? Could it be a
combination or all of those?
It's interesting that the Greek verb that's translated as "groan"
in this passage can also be rendered as "sigh." In addition, it occurs only
six times in the New Testament . and two of those six are in today's Epistle
Reading. It communicates a deep feeling of heavy, even overwhelming
(perhaps stifling) burden. In fact, it's somewhat similar to the German
verb "Stöhnen" that some of you may recognize.
Three of those other four occurrences are especially noteworthy.
First, Saint Mark recorded that some people brought to Jesus a man "who was
deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on
him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, [Jesus] put his fingers
into [the man's] ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking
up to heaven, [Jesus] sighed [there's that verb!] and said to him,
'Ephphatha,' that is, 'Be opened.' And [the man's] ears were opened, his
tongue was released, and he spoke plainly." (Mark 7:32-35 ESV)
Second, Saint Paul wrote in his Letter to the Romans that "we
ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan [there's that verb
again!] inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of
our bodies." (Rom 8:23 ESV)
And third, the anonymous author of the Letter to the Hebrews
wrote, "Obey your [spiritual] leaders and submit to them, for they are
keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no
advantage to you." (Heb 13:17 ESV)
Of course, the greater question is, "What lies at the heart and
center of things that cause us to groan, to sigh deeply?" Sin-incited
suffering is the answer. Our rebellious thoughts, words, and actions that
transgress God Holy Law result in the brokenness of His holy creation.
Because of that we deserve His temporal wrath here on earth and eternal
punishment in the fires of hell.
That brokenness shows itself in the suffering that plagues us in
this temporal earthly life. In the face of such, however, we joyfully
recall and thank God that "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous
for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18 ESV) and
that "after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has
called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm,
strengthen, and establish you." (1 Peter 5:10 ESV)
Jesus Himself illustrated that divine restoration, confirmation,
strength, and establishment in today's Gospel Reading when He said, "With
what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the
smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and
becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so
that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." (St. Mark 4:30-32
ESV)
So, as we struggle with the burdens that plague us, let's always .
II. Strive to Please God by Courageously Walking by Faith, Not by Sight.
(6-10)
6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the
body we are away from the Lord, 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes,
we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at
home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim
to please him. 10For 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.
Courage! Bold confidence! That's what the lion in The Wizard of
Oz seemed to lack. Ironically, however, he really did have it and
demonstrated it when Dorothy's welfare was threatened.
Courage! Bold confidence! That's what we children of God often
seem to lack when confronted by the evils, threats, and temptations of the
devil, the world, and our own sinful selves. And yet, we really do possess
it. The Holy Spirit gave it to us in our Baptism. That same Holy Spirit
renews it in us through the reading and hearing of God's Holy Word, the
comforting and securing declaration of Holy Absolution in response to our
confession of sins, and the faith-strengthening proper partaking of Christ's
real body and blood in Holy Communion.
Courage! Bold confidence! After all, the writer of the Letter to
the Hebrews encourages us to "be content with such things as you have. For
He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may
boldly say: 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'"
(Heb 13:5-6 NKJV)
In the Lord's Prayer "we ask our Father in heaven to rescue us
from the devil and all evil which has come into the world because of sin."
(Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986/2008 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 198.) We do so with the certain
assurance that "[Yahweh] will keep you from all evil; he will keep your
life. [Yahweh] will keep your going out and your coming in from this time
forth and forevermore." (Ps 121:7-8 ESV)
Further, "In a world ruined by sin, the Lord keeps us from harm
and helps us to endure the troubles that He allows to come into our lives."
(Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. Page 199.) Saint Paul himself
personally experienced that truth when, in response to his urgent plea for
God to remove that "thorn in the flesh" that was irritating him, Jesus told
him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness." (2 Cor 12:9 ESV)
Of course, the final deliverance from evil for which we longingly
yearn is simply that "We want our Father in heaven to keep us faithful to
Him and when we die to take us from this sorrowful world to Himself in
heaven." (Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. Page 199.) Today's
Collect emphasized that desire when we prayed, "Blessed Lord, since You have
caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may
so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that we may
embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life." With that
always in mind we confidently recall the Triune God's sincere invitation and
promise to "call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you,"
followed by our Spirit-guided response, "and you shall glorify me." (Ps
50:15 ESV) Our loving Savior Himself repeated that invitation and promise
when He said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." (Matt 11:28 ESV)
The very Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, endured and
overcame the severest of onslaughts by Satan and his evil allies . for us.
He did so when He Himself bore in His holy body the painful punishment and
crucifixion death on Calvary's cross to wash away with His holy blood the
sins of all people of all time . for us. He Himself then arose back to life
from death's dark dungeon thereby defeating sin, death, and the devil to
gain forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life . for us. Prior to
His work of atonement He gave us His personal example of humble submission
when He fervently prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Father, if you are
willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be
done." (Luke 22:42 ESV)
We joyfully respond to almighty God's great goodness with today's
Gradual that proclaimed, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and
his greatness is unsearchable. On your wondrous works, I will meditate, and
I will declare your greatness." (Ps 145:3, 5b, 6b) We do so not only with
words but also with lives that are generously laced with good works. Those
holy deeds are "everything a child of God does, speaks, or thinks in faith
according to the Ten Commandments, for the glory of god, and for the benefit
of his or her neighbor." (Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation. Page
154.) We don't do them to gain God's good pleasure-something we could never
do since each and every one of us is by nature "spiritually blind, dead, and
an enemy of God, as the Scriptures teach." (Ibid. Page 150.) Rather, we do
them because "we are [God's] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:10
ESV) and with them we give God the thanks, praise, honor, and glory that He
rightly deserves.
In conclusion, therefore, King David confidently declared, "I
sought [Yahweh], and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and [Yahweh] heard him and saved him out of all his
troubles. The angel of [Yahweh] encamps around those who fear him, and
delivers them." (Ps 34:4-7 ESV)
A recent Lutheran Women's Missionary League Mustard Seed Devotion
entitled "God Can Make It Better" was based on a portion of that
declaration. It said, "At times life can be so overwhelming that we feel as
if we have fallen into a deep well. We make a few steps of progress, but
then we fall down and have to try again. We wonder, 'How did this happen to
me? This isn't what I bargained for in life.' We wish our Father in heaven
would come down with a quick fix, changing life to the way we want it to be.
"The Lord can make it better, but His plan isn't always our plan.
Jesus may not remove the difficulty we face or change the situation that
troubles us, but He will show us how to get through it. He will show us a
way out of the well of despair we are in. The Spirit knows something we don't;
He knows what is in our future. He knows what is best for us even when we
don't. He knows how to deliver us from our fears." ("Mustard Seed: Comfort
from the Psalms." Authors: Marcia Gomulka & Myrna Lou Meyer. 30/30
Copyright © 2009 Lutheran Women's Missionary League, P.O. Box 411993, St.
Louis, MO 63141.)
Of course, we know with Spirit-given firm faith that God is always
with us and will finally fix all our life-dilemmas. That final glorious fix
will occur when .
"God Will Replace Our Temporal Earthly Tent
with His Eternal Heavenly Dwelling."
Today's Introit provided an appropriate response of gratitude and
honor to God by telling us that "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to
sing praises to your name, O Most High; The righteous flourish like the palm
tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the
Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old
age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is
upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him." (Ps 92:1 &
91:12-15 ESV)
In fact, today's Old Testament Reading echoed that message
somewhat with God's words that Ezekiel recorded . words informing us that
God will humble the proud, lift up the lowly, and everyone will acknowledge
Jesus as Lord when we all stand before Him on judgment day. Those words
from God Himself tell us that "all the trees of the field shall know that I
am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up
the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have
spoken, and I will do it." (Ezek 17:24 ESV)
So, as we struggle with the troublesome reality that .
I. Our Temporal Earthly Tent Is Full of Burdens. (2-5)
let's follow Saint Peter's compassionate encouragement to "Cast all your
anxiety on [God] because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)
At the same time let's continually ...
II. Strive to Please God by Courageously Walking by Faith, Not by Sight.
(6-10)
knowing full well that "The Christian life is not a matter of rules and
regulations. It is rather a joyful response to the gospel that frees and
gives life, a response that says, 'Lord, I'm available. Use me, in life and
in death, in such a way that Jesus is praised." (David J. Valleskey in
People's Bible Commentary: 2 Corinthians. Copyright © 1992 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 79.)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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