The Pilgrim Path---Second Corinthians 5: 1 – 9

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. 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. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the LORD, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the LORD. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

…SWALLOWED UP BY LIFE

It is remarkable the people you remember. The way memories crystalize over time. My Aunt Mildred stands out from my upbringing. She was married to my Uncle Elton (that is always funny to me: Elton Shelton). Well, she was married to Elton. I go back in my mind’s eye to a home they had around the bend from a hollow in which the Crooked Creek Baptist Church was nestled (just outside Jefferson, Georgia). That was the “sticks” to city folks. Her parents lived in close by. That church is where she heard and believed the Good News of Jesus Christ and was born the second time by the Spirit of God. When I got to know her better, the family lived on the street behind ours (separated by a creek with great hills and many places to play). Mildred had several children from a first marriage (Joyce, Phyliss, an older son---whose name I cannot remember). She and my uncle had: Regina, Janie Lee, and Ray (my buddy growing up). My Aunt would always tell us that, “you are here to love and serve Jesus.” And somewhere along the line she would throw in, “you will be happiest living life this way---only this way.” Well, she really sought to walk with the Savior. She worked nights at the Chicopee Mill. Minding machines that produced cloth. A lot of standing (for her---some time to mind her machine---and pray for people). Early in the 9th grade, she complained of the most, “terrible itching around her back.” She grew pale and tired. She went to the doctor. A series of tests revealed a devastating diagnosis: pancreatic cancer. This was maybe the first time I paid close attention to how awful an assault “disease” can mount upon someone’s body. She declined rapidly. Right before she died, I was allowed into her hospital room to briefly visit with her. It was a very bright day---and there was still a brightness within her---as weak as she was. She was calm in Jesus. We knew we would not be together in “this” world again. That was alright. The Gospel of the Living Christ assured us we would be rejoined in the absolute best of circumstances. She was barely lingering in a worn tent (that is how Paul refers to our frail bodies). As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “God’s dwelling was ready for her.” She was in Glory in a few days. Thanks be to God!

We live here knowing that the Judgment Seat of Christ is ahead. The shadows will give way to The Light of the World. The real world of the Scriptures will replace the false schemes and philosophies of man. We are here, “to love and serve Jesus”---in every area of human endeavor.

From Thomas Manton: It is the property of faith to be moved by such things that are not open to sense. When things are seen and known, there is no room for faith. Faith gives over its work when its object is seen. If we were in a dungeon, we might believe the sun was up when someone told us, but if we are out in it, it cannot be properly said we believe we feel and know it. Faith and sense are opposed (II Cor. 5: 7). Now, heaven and the glory of God are not matters of sight, but faith…

From Saint Jerome: …in our departure we’ll be attended by an escort of angels and welcomed by Christ Himself! Therefore, our only grief should be that we have to remain any longer in this death-doomed bodily dwelling. You see, “while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the LORD” (II Cor. 5: 6).

From John Duncan: Friends, God hath provided an eternal heaven for us in his own Lamb. He is Heaven’s heaven.

HYMN

Jesus lives, and by his grace, victory o’er my passion giving,

I will cleanse my heart and ways, ever to his glory living.

Me he raises from the dust: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives! I know full well naught from him my heart can sever,

Life nor death nor powers of hell, joy nor grief, henceforth forever.

None of all his saints is lost: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives and death is now but my entrance into glory.

Courage, then, my soul, for thou, hast a crown of life before thee;

Thou shalt find thy hopes were just: Jesus is the Christian’s trust.

Christian F. Gellert, 1757 / Translated by J. D. Lang, 1826

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason