|
I'm not at home in
this world. Only a true follower of Jesus Christ will fully understand
what I mean by that.
I must admit that I
often complain to the Lord about some circumstance or another in my life.
Maybe the weather is too hot. Or the night is too noisy. Or the music is
too loud in a place of business. Maybe my clothes don't fit right, or my
car is too old, or the TV has nothing at all worth watching, no matter how
many channels I pay for.
I often look at the
land around me and think of how dry and brown it looks. I was born and
raised in a very green and well-watered place. I hated the humidity there
and the oppressive heat. I like the climate where I am now. But the
hills and prairies never seem to get green enough. They are almost always
a dry tawny color, year round. If not for evergreen trees and private
lawns, the whole landscape would be brown all the time.
We use a filter to get
rid of the chlorine taste and smell of our city water. Because the air is
dry, our skin is also dry all year. The phone company charges too much
for basic service. The Internet costs a lot more than it's ever worth.
Our taxes would not be so high if the government would not waste so much
money. Groceries cost so much that it's just plain ridiculous. My
glasses are never where I need them to be. I hate washing dishes. I wish
I didn't have to shave every single morning just to look decent. I might
not mind shaving so much if I actually looked decent afterwards. My hair
is never doing what I try so hard to make it do. I need to be more
physically active, but I hate exercise that makes me feel like a squirrel
in a wheel.
Have I mentioned red
lights? I really hate red lights that always seem to be waiting just for
me. And when I finally do get past a red light, I discover that the
person in front of me has absolutely no idea where they want to go or why
they're even in their car or on the road. They’re happy just to drift
along about 10 mph below the limit. And so on.
When Jesus was
suffering on the cross for the sins of the whole world, everyone around
Him mocked Him. The people who believed in Him were powerless to protect
Him. They could only stand at a distance and watch and pray. I'm sure
that all of them prayed that God would stop this evil from being carried
out. Some of them surely hoped that Elijah would appear and rescue Jesus.
But what actually
happened that day was that cruel and evil men had their way. Satan had
his way. Sin had its way. The evil of the world was allowed to simply do
all that it chose to do. And God seemed not to do anything at all. I
cannot imagine anything more demoralizing for those who loved Jesus than
the events that unfolded that dark and horrible day.
Even the two criminals
who were being crucified with Jesus mocked Him. But after a while one of
them stopped mocking. Maybe he had been raised by parents who feared
God. Somehow and somewhere the truth of God's righteousness had been
planted in his heart, even though he’d since fallen into a criminal
lifestyle. As death became certain, he sobered up and began to realize
that God was rightly and fairly judging him for his sins.
The Gospel of Luke
records this:
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed
Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." But the
other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing
you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive
the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."
Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your
kingdom."
No doubt anyone
standing close enough to hear this might have thought the man was already
delirious from suffocation. Jesus was dying on a cross. How and where
was He going to enter into His kingdom?
But Jesus heard the
criminal's words, and He did not seem to think the man was out of his mind
at all. He simply answered the man just as He always speaks -- truthfully
and clearly.
Scripture says:
And Jesus said to him,
"Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me
in Paradise."
Much has been said
about this little exchange of words. Much has been written about Paradise
and heaven, about where the dead are, and where they used to be in the
times before Jesus redeemed us, and so on. But the thing that stands out
to me is that Jesus said, "Today."
Jesus had already
suffered a lot, and He continued to suffer on the cross until He died,
dismissing His spirit — to the astonishment of all who saw it happen.
Jesus was in mortal agony for sins when the thief next to Him asked to be
remembered. But even then, in that hour of His greatest suffering, He
knew where He was going, and why, and what would happen after that. He
was able to promise a repentant criminal hanging on a Roman cross that
they would be together in Paradise that very day.
You will no doubt
remember from the Gospel accounts that Jesus had tried, repeatedly, to
tell His disciples about His death and resurrection. Do you remember also
the exchange He had with Pilate in the 18th chapter of John?
Scripture says:
Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called to
Jesus, and asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"
Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking
for yourself about this, or did others tell you this about Me?"
Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and
the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?"
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of
this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so
that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is
not from here."
Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"
Jesus answered, "You say correctly that
I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come
into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is
of the truth hears My voice."
And do you recall the
prayer Jesus gave the disciples as an example? Remember the phrase,
"Thy kingdom come…"?
When Jesus was walking
this earth as a man, He wasn’t driven by the ambitions common to mortal
men. He did not spend a lot of time buying up good land and building a
fine house. He did not seem to worry about where He might sleep every
night, or what He might have to eat. He did not bother trying to make
this life as good and as comfortable and as long as He could. When He
became popular (or unpopular) in one place, He simply went on to the next
place.
Early in Mark's
Gospel, we find Peter and the others looking for Jesus:
When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is
looking for you."
He answered, "Let's go
on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the word there also;
because that's what I came to do." And He
went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the word in their synagogues and
casting out demons.
Jesus always knew
where His home was. He never got confused about where He was or why He
was here. But way too often we Christians do get confused, trying to make
our place and experience in this world as perfect as possible.
And old hymn reminds
us:
This world is not my home,
I'm just a passing through.
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me
From heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore…
More recently (1970s)
Larry Norman released a Christian-rock album called Only Visiting This
Planet. Part of a song ("The Great American Novel") says:
and your money says
in God we trust
but it's against the law
to pray in school
you say
we beat the russians to the moon
and i say
you starved your children to do it
you say all men are equal,
all men are brothers
then why are the rich
more equal than others
don't ask me for the answers
i've only got one
that a man leaves his darkness
when he follows the Son
another song,
"Reader's Digest" says:
you think it's such a sad thing
when you see a fallen king,
then you find out
they're only princes to begin with.
and everybody has to choose
whether they will win or lose
follow God or sing the blues
and who they're gonna sin with,
what a mess the world is in
i wonder who began it,
don't ask me
i'm only visiting this planet…
this world is not my home...
i'm just passing through...
My point in all of
this?
The kingdom of God
already exists. Right now. And that kingdom is our only real home, if we
know and love Jesus Christ. Jesus did not tell the dying thief that
someday, somewhere, somehow, maybe things would be better. He said
"Today you will be with Me in Paradise." For
a little while longer that criminal hung there suffering, until a soldier
broke his legs, causing him to suffocate and die. Then he found himself
with Jesus. He was in paradise.
Where is Paradise?
Where is heaven? It's where Jesus is.
And yes, I know that
He’s right here with everyone who trusts in Him. But there is a specific
place where His literal body is. And that place is not a grave or a
secret hole in the ground. In that place, everyone can see Jesus. And
everyone in that place with Jesus is alive — forever.
Wherever Jesus is,
that’s heaven and that’s Paradise for everyone who loves Him.
We who know the Lord
are not at home on this planet. Our real home right now is in heaven,
with Jesus. We’re here in this world as ministers, as emissaries,
missionaries, ambassadors, sent by the Lord into a dark world to share His
eternal light and life. “As the Father sent Me, so
I send you.” (John 20:21)
We have a mission, a
work to do. And when we’re finished, we’ll leave this place and go home,
where we belong. Wherever Jesus is, that’s where we will be. That’s
home. “I will come again and take you to be with
Me; so that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3)
Paul had a lot to say
about this:
“So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away,
our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary
affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all
measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be
seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is
eternal.
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in 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 be clothed with our
heavenly dwelling -- if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be
found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our
burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to 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 confident; even though 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 do have confidence, 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.” (2 Cor 4:16-5:9)
Let's be patient,
then, and not confused about where we are, or why we're here. While we do
need to use common sense from day to day, in order not to suffer
needlessly beyond what God has called us to endure, we should never forget
that this world is not our home. We have a home in the heavens, a place
with Christ in God. And we're already there in one sense (Colossians
3:3). But for a little while we need to be here, sharing Jesus Christ
with others. But even while we're here, our real home is there.
We're not here on
earth to get rich. We're not here to spend all we have on being
comfortable and fat and happy. We're not here to labor day and night for
fine cars, fine homes, fine clothes, and so on. We're here because people
on this planet live in darkness, separated from God, just as we once did.
And the people (the men and women, the teens and the little children) need
to know who Jesus is. We’re here for a little while to tell them, to show
them, to be a glimmer of light, to be a witness for the truth.
As Jesus was here to
point everyone to faith in God, and to dies for the sins of the world, so
are we here to point the people all around us to faith in Jesus Christ,
and to live & die to keep the light on, to make sure a true light keeps
shining in the dark. We are not the light, but we’re here to point
everyone to that light.
We're not yet where we
hope to be. We have a little ways to go before we see the front porch,
the warm glow of a fireplace shining through the open door, before we can
hear the singing of the whole family of God, and hear them sharing war
stories and victories, of salvation when all was lost, of the Lord's
rescuing hand when we ourselves had given up all hope.
We still have a little
ways to go before we see Jesus face to face, and hear our Father telling
us, "Welcome home! Welcome home, children! Welcome Home!" What a day
that will be.
That’s our home.
That’s our bright hope and expectation as children of God.
Home is where all the
promises are fulfilled, all the questions are finally answered. And when
we get there, we’ll all agree that whatever momentary struggles and pains
and confusion we had down here, well, they really were nothing at all.
Not even a quickly fading memory in that bright place, as we sit around
the fire and share in the family and in the joys of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Like the old song
says:
"It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race 'til we see Christ."
Jim |