I’m supposed to be doing my Microeconomics homework. Or looking through International Officer candidates for an election in our honors society tomorrow. But, instead of being Martha, I’m trying to be Mary, which is why I’m writing this post.
Like everyone else, my family and I have been doing church a little differently these last few weeks. I am always grateful for our elders and deacons and the way they lead our church, but over the last month, I’ve gotten to develop an even deeper appreciation to them and to God for giving them to us as they work to make sure everyone in our church is taken care of, included, and fed physically and spiritually.
Today is Resurrection Sunday. He is risen, He is risen indeed.
Our pastor-teacher preached such a timely and fitting sermon this morning that I’ve decided to take some time to meditate on it as well as share it with you.
Mr. Senn preached on II Corinthians 4:14-5:8, which, if you know our church, is quite the chunk of Scripture for us to take on. But as always, Mr. Senn did an amazing job with the gifts God has given him. I’m putting the outline below just so you have a sense of where he was going, and then I want to just reflect on some of the specific things God made stand out to me.
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Staring Down Death—II Corinthians 4:14-5:8
I. We Know What Past Redemption has Provided (4:14-15)
A. The certainty of resurrection
B. The hope of presentation
II. We Know What Present Affliction is Producing (4:16-18)
A. Current physical decay and groaning
B. Current spiritual renewal
III. We Know what Future Glory is Promised (5:1-8)
A. Death cannot ultimately harm us (1-3)
B. Death cannot ultimately hold us (4-5)
C. Death will ultimately usher us home! (6-8)
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II Corinthians 4:18 says, “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.”
I hadn’t thought about it until this sermon (point I B specifically), but when we get to heaven, we will finally see. There will be no more of this “things unseen,” because we won’t be hindered by this sinful, physical, temporary world any longer.
And in point IIB, I realized that even as our bodies and our world break and die and pass away, our souls are, in fact, growing and flourishing. I also learned I’ve had the wrong view on suffering and affliction. It isn’t just to make me “better” as a Christian or a person, it is, actually, to make me more beautiful. Suffering and affliction scrape away and reveal ugly sin-stains that I still cling to despite knowing the truth. I viewed suffering as a way to get more “points” or to be more perfect (which is a mindset I’ve been struggling with for a long time). That view is dead wrong and unbiblical. In reality, suffering, trials, and affliction, will help me overcome sins I would have stayed comfortable with otherwise. When we finally realize that we have no control over our world, panic and anger rise up in us. But God. But God doesn’t leave us scared and angry. Part of the purpose of suffering is to strip away our excuses for our sins and face them head-on. Especially in a situation like our present one, where I have time to sit and think and evaluate myself, God brings me face-to-face with sins I haven’t wanted to look at. My fear, my demand for control, my panic, all of these sinful thoughts are at the forefront of my mind right now. I have had once again seen the ugliness of my own pride and self-trust.
Since this whole school-and-work-from-home started a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been able to find time to take a walk every day and do some other exercises. I’ve been very, very sore if I do a good day’s work, and the Lord brought that to mind this morning during the sermon. Suffering, trials, and affliction are like exercise for my soul. I’ve actually been pleased and excited by my physical soreness. It’s a vivid reminder that I was weak, but I’m growing stronger and pushing my body to move. When trials bring on struggles, and emotional, mental, and spiritual soreness arrive, what a time to praise God! The effort of working with the Holy Spirit to bring my sinful thoughts to the throne of God and control my feelings and actions leaves me tired and sometimes discouraged. But I should be grateful for this soreness! It means I am exercising the new person God has made me into. I am building up spiritual muscle, burning the spiritual fat of fear, anxiety, distrust, and anger. Now, am I the spiritual equivalent of Gal Gadot? Um, no. Just like with my physical body, spiritual fitness will be a life-long challenge. But I have the best personal trainer in the Holy Spirit, the best accountability partners in my spiritual family, and I’ve already been given the prize.
II Corinthians 5:6-8 says, “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.” Our pastor pointed out that the Greek word “home” in this passage translates literally as “to be with your own people.”
I am getting a small taste of that during this self-quarantine. I haven’t been home this much since I started college three years ago, and having been homeschooled my whole life, not being with my family 24/7 was a shock. Between work and school this semester, I’ve only been home for a couple of hours in the evening before bed, then off in the morning by 7. But now, I’m home all day, every day. I am with my own people.
In a broader sense, I get a taste of “home” with my spiritual family. Going to visit our friends in Texas is just as much coming home to me as returning to my house after a trip or a day of school and work. They are my own people. We have a history together, a love-bond through Christ, and that hasn’t changed even with their move five years ago.
Of course, I also have my church family. Even though we haven’t seen each other in person for several weeks, getting email updates from my Sunday School class, seeing peeks into lives through social media, and Zooming with a Care Group all remind me that Christianity is not a lone-ranger religion. We need each other. As our pastor walks us through I Corinthians and we get into the spiritual gifts, I’m reminded just what a blessing it is that God has set up His family as He has.
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I don’t know that I really fear death. Jesus has saved me, as I’ve been meditating on this weekend, and I know I’ll be truly home, with even more of my own people, when I leave my physical body behind. I do, however, fear suffering.
Mr. Senn’s message this morning helped temper that. God used it to remind me of the true purpose of suffering, the undeserved salvation I’ve received, and that: “…this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (II Corinthians 4:18).
What a promise that is. Affliction and trials, no matter how awful they are, pale in comparison to the gift of salvation and the promise of heaven and eternity with God. When I feel crushed under the weight of uncertainty and danger, let me remember that this weight is like a paperclip on a scale against a semi-truck.
The exceeding weight of eternal glory.
Christ has made it possible. His life, sacrificial death, and resurrection have made every trial something to rejoice in, removed the fear from death, and made life a spiritual staircase to Heaven. Instead of going “over the hill” at 40 or 50, I am constantly moving upward. No matter how long I live, it will never be a downhill journey.
When we all get to Heaven, all the pain will vanish from thought in the face of our God.
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus
Sing his mercy and his grace
In the mansions bright and blessed
He’ll prepare for us a place
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory
While we walk the pilgrim pathway
Clouds will overspread the sky
But when travlin’ days are over
Not a shadow, not a sigh
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory
Onward to the prize before us
Soon his beauty we’ll behold
Soon the pearly gates will open
We shall tread the streets of gold
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory
Songwriters: Don Wyrtzen / Emily D. Wilson / E.E. Hewitt
Sarah Standard Version 