WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.480 Well, good morning. We are continuing this week looking at some themes that we started looking 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:19.400 at last week, and these are themes that concern suffering and how we deal with suffering. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:26.359 You guys let me know, is that me or you? We don't know. It's me. 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:34.480 All right, well, I'm going to do the best I can here. Just let me know if I need to use a handheld. 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:42.019 But we're going to continue some themes that we started last week looking at suffering and how we 00:00:42.019 --> 00:00:49.920 deal with suffering. In our culture, you know, different cultures are influenced by different 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.519 forces, and that kind of shapes how we deal with things like suffering. And in our culture, our 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:00.000 approach to suffering has been shaped a lot by the Enlightenment in a couple of different ways. 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:08.540 On the one hand, the Enlightenment has given us as a society tremendous scientific and technological 00:01:08.540 --> 00:01:16.500 and economic and political resources that mean we have been able to alleviate a great deal of 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:23.359 suffering. Stephen Pinker at Harvard has written a book called Enlightenment Now, and he says based on 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:30.819 his research just based on the numbers alone, by almost every metric of human well-being, the world 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:38.039 is getting better at a significant rate. So things like war and violence and poverty are declining, 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:43.420 believe it or not. It doesn't feel like that at the moment. Health, wealth, happiness, and equality 00:01:43.420 --> 00:01:49.539 are all improving globally. So he says, you know, since the Enlightenment, we've had this profound 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:55.820 development. Lots of suffering has been alleviated. So on the one hand, we've gained that. But on the 00:01:55.820 --> 00:02:03.140 other hand, the Enlightenment paved the way for a modern secular worldview that says the material world 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:12.819 is all there is, and that life is about getting as much happiness as we can while we can. And this 00:02:12.819 --> 00:02:21.340 worldview has absolutely nothing to offer people who are suffering. It has absolutely nothing to say to 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:28.159 people who are suffering. It offers no explanation for suffering, no deeper meaning to suffering. It 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:34.419 offers very little guidance on how to deal with suffering. In fact, sociologists and anthropologists 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:41.859 have looked at various cultures, both ancient and modern, and compared how they prepare their members to 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:48.400 face and deal with suffering. And many have concluded that our late modern Western society is one of the 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:56.600 worst at preparing people to face suffering. So to put all of this another way, in our culture, 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:04.060 we have gained tremendous scientific, technological, and economic resources to deal with suffering, 00:03:04.660 --> 00:03:11.280 but we have lost our spiritual resources for dealing with suffering. And those are far, 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:18.979 far, far more important. And so what you find is that a secular person in our society has to look 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:26.360 elsewhere for resources. And there is no better place to look than the Christian gospel. And so that's 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:32.319 what we're doing in this series, and that's what we're going to do this morning. We're going to look at 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:40.340 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16 through chapter 5 verse 10 to see how Paul faced suffering in his own 00:03:40.340 --> 00:03:47.120 life. And what we see Paul doing here is drawing on the resources of the gospel. The gospel offers us all of 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:53.900 these things, and Paul is drawing from the gospel, and that is shaping and changing how he interacts with 00:03:53.900 --> 00:04:00.920 adversity in his life. So the question this morning, how does the gospel give us true courage to face and endure 00:04:00.920 --> 00:04:07.920 suffering? It offers us three things. It offers us first realism, the capacity for realism. It then offers us two 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:13.799 promises, the promise of resurrection and the promise of homecoming. So let's pray, and then we will open 00:04:13.799 --> 00:04:22.039 God's Word. Lord, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for your Son. We thank you for his death 00:04:22.039 --> 00:04:28.579 and resurrection, that you're a living God. We thank you for the Holy Spirit who is with us now. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:30.019 And we thank you for the Holy Spirit. We thank you for your Son. We thank you for your Son. We thank you 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:38.159 that through your Spirit, these words can breathe and come alive and become flesh, and that in the 00:04:38.159 --> 00:04:44.439 power of your Spirit, we might encounter your Son this morning. And Lord, it is in that hope and in his 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:53.860 name that we pray this prayer. Amen. So first of all, the gospel gives us the capacity for realism. 00:04:53.860 --> 00:05:00.540 Ernest Becker was a cultural anthropologist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his book, The Denial of Death. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.259 I've referenced this from time to time if you've been a long-time member of Advent. This was back in 00:05:05.259 --> 00:05:11.639 the 1970s, and in it he basically makes the case that many, if not all, of our psychological issues and 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:20.560 our societal ills stem from our inability to accept the reality of death and dying. That as a society, 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:27.740 we have a deep death anxiety, and that causes all kinds of issues. So this is why he would say, 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:34.259 for example, our culture that we live in today idealizes youth. We love anything and everything 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:42.060 that reminds us of youth, of vitality, of flourishing, and as we age, which like it or not, some of us are 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:47.699 aging. In fact, all of us are aging as much as we don't like to think about it. And as we start to show 00:05:47.699 --> 00:05:54.060 signs of aging, we do a lot to try to cover up the signs that we're aging because we idealize youth. 00:05:54.379 --> 00:05:59.560 We're not a culture that wants lots of wrinkles and gray hair because that conveys our wisdom 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:05.259 and our life experience because we don't value those things in our culture. We value people who look 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:13.419 young, smooth skin, luminous, right, as though they just were born last week. This is what we, 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:20.379 this is what we like to see. And so the anti-aging industry is a 58.5 billion dollar market. 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:28.140 Anti-aging, as though such a thing were possible. But Paul brings a strong dose of realism in this 00:06:28.140 --> 00:06:38.780 passage. Chapter 4, verse 16, he says, our outer self is wasting away. Anti-aging market or not, 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:49.779 here's the truth. We are wasting away. Second law of thermodynamics, entropy, all things are breaking 00:06:49.779 --> 00:06:59.219 down, spending more energy than they can replenish. Our bodies are wearing down. Your heart has a finite 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:10.620 number of beats before it stops. Our outer self is wasting away. Chapter 5, verse 1, our bodies are like tents. 00:07:11.820 --> 00:07:17.640 Now let's not make the mistake of thinking in Gnostic terms that Paul means our true self is inside the 00:07:17.640 --> 00:07:23.660 tent and the body is just a tent. The emphasis here, based on the context, is on the fragility, 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:32.520 the impermanence of this body. Tents are not made to last years and years and years. A tent lasts a 00:07:32.520 --> 00:07:37.420 little while, but a strong storm comes and it can destroy the tent. And that's what Paul is trying 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:45.940 to convey here. Your body is not a fortress, right? It's not a castle that you live in. It's not even a 00:07:45.940 --> 00:07:51.700 building. Your body is a tent. It's here today, gone tomorrow. A strong breeze could blow it over. 00:07:51.699 --> 00:08:00.620 Tents are fragile and weak. No amount of organic, non-GMO, grass-fed food can change the fact that 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:06.039 one day this body is going to be destroyed, right? It might delay it a little longer. There are other 00:08:06.039 --> 00:08:12.360 great reasons for that kind of diet, but eventually this body, Paul says, is going to be destroyed. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:21.180 Verse 2, in this tent we groan. Now suffering is not an exception to the norm. In our culture, 00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:25.920 we think it is. If you suffer, it's an aberration. We need to escape suffering immediately. It means 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:33.000 something has gone wrong. But Paul says, no, groaning is life. Life is groaning. Groaning is the norm. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:38.620 It's a core part of living in tent bodies. No offense to you, but your body is a tent body. 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:45.019 And you groan a lot in a tent body. Tent bodies are vulnerable to pain and fatigue and illness and 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:50.899 pandemics. Depression and mental illness and anxiety and grief and loneliness. 00:08:52.659 --> 00:08:58.779 You know, we have such an aversion to these things in our culture, right? Something stirs 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:04.539 negative emotions and we say, that's triggering me. I've got to get away. I was with a therapist a 00:09:04.539 --> 00:09:09.720 couple of weeks ago and she said, you know, all being triggered means is something is forcing you 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:16.759 to feel bad feelings that you don't want to feel. That's being triggered. And I thought that was an 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:21.320 interesting thing for a woman who spends a lot of her time working with people who are recovering 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:32.340 from trauma to say, right? Paul says, life triggers us constantly. We groan. We feel bad 00:09:32.340 --> 00:09:40.139 much of the time. And what we need to understand with this first point is real courage is not gained 00:09:40.139 --> 00:09:45.920 by denying or minimizing the truth of suffering. That's not where real courage comes from. That 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:52.139 kind of pie in the sky, escapist optimism, that is not a seedbed for courage. That's denial. 00:09:53.740 --> 00:09:59.940 Right? Those are defense mechanisms. The first thing that we need to do is accept the truth of the 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:05.200 world that we live in and the bodies that we inhabit and to try to begin to see things as they really 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:12.120 are, as Paul did. The gospel is very honest about this. You know, the gospel says because we've sinned 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:18.040 and rebelled against God, the world is broken. Our bodies are broken. Everything is breaking down. 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:24.560 And, you know, we know that even as Christians, we have a tendency to kind of avoid these things and 00:10:24.560 --> 00:10:28.360 we don't want to think about them. And so actually in the Christian calendar, we have some measures 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:36.419 that force us to go against that tendency to think about happy thoughts rather than facing 00:10:36.419 --> 00:10:40.399 some of these painful realities. So we have an entire service called Ash Wednesday, 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:47.039 the entire point of which is simply to focus on our mortality. Right? We had this not too long ago. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:53.200 You come up and a priest puts ashes on your forehead and says, from dust you have come and to dust you 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:58.800 shall return. You know, not long after I was ordained, I led my first Ash Wednesday service 00:10:58.800 --> 00:11:05.460 and I had the opportunity to do that for my own children. It was actually one of the most powerful 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:12.560 experiences in my pastoral ministry was putting ashes on my kids' foreheads and saying, to dust you 00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:20.680 shall return. Mortality. We have a season, Lent. We're in it right now. One of the points of Lent is to 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:26.539 focus on our finitude, our creatureliness, our mortality. We're doing that right now. Also, 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:34.159 as of this year, we have a funeral pre-planning form that is available for you to fill out 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:41.679 and file with the church office. This is so that you can make your preferences and wishes known 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:48.219 regarding your funeral service so that when you return to dust, your friends and family and pastors 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:54.139 and other people who are trying to plan your funeral will know what you would prefer in terms of hymns and 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:59.420 texts and all of that stuff. So we have that available. We would love for all of our members 00:11:59.420 --> 00:12:06.920 to fill it out. Guess how many people filled it out so far? One. And it wasn't me. 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:15.659 These are not things that we like to think about. But we have to. We have to be realistic. 00:12:16.779 --> 00:12:23.439 So this is the first thing. Realism. But that's not where we stay because then there are two great 00:12:23.439 --> 00:12:31.139 promises given to us in this text that come from the gospel that anchor us in the midst of this reality, 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:36.899 as hard as it might be to bear. The first of these great promises is the promise of resurrection. 00:12:36.899 --> 00:12:42.919 One of the reasons that we have such a hard time accepting death is because there is a part in 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:51.319 each of us that longs, that knows, that believes deep down that we were made for something more. 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:57.139 It's in all of us. You say, religious people? No, everybody. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:04.120 Virtually all civilizations in human history have shared this longing for the eternal. 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:10.019 Randy Alcorn wrote a great book on this called Simply Heaven. He says, Australian Aborigines 00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:16.419 pictured heaven as a distant island in the west. The early Finns thought it was a distant island 00:13:16.419 --> 00:13:23.240 to the east. The Mexicans, Peruvians, and Polynesians believe that we go to the sun or the moon 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:28.340 after death. Native Americans believe that in the afterlife their spirits would hunt the spirits of 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:35.759 buffalo. The Babylonian Gilgamesh epic refers to a resting place for heroes and it hints at the 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:43.500 possibility of a tree of life. In the pyramids of Egypt, the embalmed bodies are given maps which are 00:13:43.500 --> 00:13:51.420 placed beside them to guide them in the future world. The Romans believed that the righteous would picnic 00:13:51.419 --> 00:14:01.979 in the Elysian fields as their horses grazed nearby. While the details differ, there is a unifying testimony in the 00:14:01.979 --> 00:14:12.539 human heart. The unifying testimony of the human heart that we were made for something more. That there is life 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:19.959 after death. We carry a primordial memory of eternity in our hearts. 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:25.399 And we know it deep down. We know it. We know it. 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:29.360 And the Christian gospel says, in a sense, you're right. 00:14:30.219 --> 00:14:35.799 There's a reason why you feel that way. There's a reason why at funerals we are angry. 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:44.839 Even if you're, you're the person who passed away is your great grandmother who's, you know, 110 years old. 00:14:44.939 --> 00:14:50.859 At no point do we get to a place where we say, I'm so glad that person died. We may be, might be glad that 00:14:50.859 --> 00:14:56.500 they, the suffering has ended. We might be thinking, you know, it's, it's time. But that's not the same thing as 00:14:56.500 --> 00:15:02.259 saying this is good. There's something in our, in our soul that says, why can't we go on living? Why can't this 00:15:02.259 --> 00:15:09.279 continue? Why do we have to all waste away? The Christian gospel says, you're right. 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:13.819 Although it would say the truth is far better than any of these traditions 00:15:13.819 --> 00:15:21.679 could have imagined. As Paul says in verses 1 through 4 of chapter 5, even though this body is a tent and 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:28.319 will one day be destroyed, one day God will raise us from death and give us new bodies. These will not be 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:33.640 tent bodies. These will be buildings. These will be, in other words, bodies that are built to last, 00:15:33.760 --> 00:15:39.740 built to last for eternity. These new bodies will not be subject to decay. They will not get sick. 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:45.740 They will not have chronic issues. They will not be so depressed that they can't get out of bed in the 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:52.820 morning. These will be physical bodies without the physical limitations that we experience now. 00:15:52.820 --> 00:16:00.840 And Paul says that he longs for this body so that he will not be found naked. Being naked means 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:07.760 bodiless. And what this is saying is human beings are not meant to be bodiless. We're not meant to 00:16:07.760 --> 00:16:15.760 exist in a disembodied state. Now this is extremely important. This is extremely important. You know, I 00:16:15.760 --> 00:16:21.760 preached on the resurrection of the body not too long ago at a funeral and a woman came up to me afterwards 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.679 and said, I really enjoyed that. I've grown up going to church my whole life. I've been a Christian 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:30.179 as long as I can remember, but I've never heard that. And I said, what have you never heard? And 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:34.299 she said, well, all the funerals I've ever been to, they talk a lot about heaven, but I've never heard 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:41.519 anybody talk about our bodies being raised. You know, there's a strong strain of thinking in 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:47.700 Christianity that focuses on heaven. There are movies where people claim to have seen and experienced 00:16:47.700 --> 00:16:53.180 heaven. Now I'm not saying there's no such a thing as heaven, but what I am saying is that 00:16:53.180 --> 00:16:58.820 the Bible doesn't say a whole lot about heaven. There seems to be some intermediate state that we 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:06.100 enter into upon our death, what Paul would refer to as being naked, being disembodied, but that is only 00:17:06.100 --> 00:17:14.279 a result of the fall. God's intent from the beginning is that we would be embodied. We are our bodies, 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:20.000 and one day we will have new bodies, building bodies, eternal bodies. That's all of the hope 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:29.559 of Scripture. The promise of resurrection is a tremendous resource to help us endure all kinds 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:37.160 of suffering. There was a fantastic article in The New Yorker back in December 2020 by a guy named 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:43.299 Vincent Cunningham, and I have to give a nod to Abraham Cho for pointing me toward this article. 00:17:43.299 --> 00:17:51.200 It's called What Thomas Jefferson Could Never Understand About Jesus. Most of us know about 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:56.779 the Jefferson Bible, where Thomas Jefferson took the Bible, and he famously took scissors, and he cut 00:17:56.779 --> 00:18:04.059 out all of the parts of the Bible that were supernatural, and he wanted to distill and preserve only the pure 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:12.799 teachings of Jesus, the kind of pure philosophy of Jesus. He essentially wanted to recreate 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:22.619 Jesus in his own image. He wanted to recreate Jesus as a kind of enlightenment era intellectual 00:18:22.619 --> 00:18:31.119 who would be more palatable to modern audiences. But in the article, Cunningham says that as a result 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:39.200 of this, Jefferson's Jesus had very little to offer people like Frederick Douglass or Howard Thurman 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.759 or Martin Luther King Jr. Here's what he says. He says, 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:52.680 Douglas's Jesus is not Socrates. He is, as Douglas wrote, the redeemer, friend, and savior of those who 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:59.559 diligently seek him. Douglas did not wish to remove Christ from the Gospels or to separate the New Testament 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:07.599 from the Old. Jefferson's Jesus is an admirable sage, fit bedtime reading for seekers of wisdom. 00:19:08.379 --> 00:19:14.259 But those who were weak or suffering or in urgent trouble would have to look elsewhere. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:22.379 Jefferson's Bible ends before the resurrection with Jesus crucified by the Roman occupiers as the Gospels tell us 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:28.340 he was. Jefferson's, as he was, Jefferson's austere editing turns the killing almost into an afterthought. 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:37.160 For Thurman, and we might add King and Douglas, the crucifixion meant that Christ had radically identified 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:46.540 himself with the worst off. These societal castoffs who could never get a break now had a savior, a champion. 00:19:46.539 --> 00:19:58.500 Where death for Jefferson's Jesus is an ending for Thurman's Jesus, it is a necessary precondition, just a start. 00:20:00.139 --> 00:20:06.500 In the face of suffering and death, Jefferson's Jesus can only offer platitudes. 00:20:06.500 --> 00:20:22.779 The risen Jesus makes a promise in the face of death that one day death will be no more, that one day death will die, 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:31.960 that the sting of death has already been removed, and one day we will live again with him in building bodies 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:41.240 built for eternity. And so the Gospel gives us this courage to face suffering because not only does it ground us 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:46.160 in realism, we're wasting away, but then it says, but good news! 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:52.880 The sting of death has been removed, it's no longer something to fear, one day you will live again. 00:20:53.600 --> 00:20:59.620 And then finally, and arguably most important, the Gospel promises, the second great promise in this text, 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:03.759 it promises a great homecoming for all of God's people. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:10.299 Pat Bailey tells the story of keeping her grandkids, 00:21:11.199 --> 00:21:14.919 these young boys, so that their mom and dad could go away on a trip. 00:21:15.439 --> 00:21:19.139 So mom and dad leave, they spend the first day together, it's kind of a rainy Saturday, 00:21:19.459 --> 00:21:24.839 and then that evening mom and dad call, and some of you who have kids know exactly what I'm going to say. 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:29.819 Mom and dad call, you get away from your kids, and then all you do is talk about your kids. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:34.359 And they call, and they want to connect with their kids, but what this actually produces, 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:38.759 after a long, rainy, boring Saturday, is inconsolable crying. 00:21:39.639 --> 00:21:42.919 These kids just want their mom and dad back. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:44.779 They're crying inconsolably. 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:49.279 And she says that they hang up the phone, and she's trying to help them feel better, 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:54.920 and one of the kids says, Grandma, I'm homesick, but I am home. 00:21:55.480 --> 00:21:56.839 How is that possible? 00:21:59.220 --> 00:22:00.680 The same is true of us. 00:22:02.460 --> 00:22:06.660 How can we be homesick even when we are home? 00:22:06.660 --> 00:22:11.380 The thing that we need to realize is, even if we get to the point in our society 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:16.220 where we're able to cure all disease, eradicate all injustice and inequality, 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:20.640 eliminate all poverty, even if we're able to one day upload our consciousness 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:26.040 into computers to escape physical death, which people are working on right now, 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:30.000 even if we can do all of that, there will always be suffering. 00:22:30.560 --> 00:22:32.320 There will always be suffering. 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:33.620 Why? 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:38.259 Because there will always be the kind of suffering that exiles feel. 00:22:39.639 --> 00:22:42.359 Because they're forced to live in a place that is not their home. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:44.979 The suffering of being in exile. 00:22:46.459 --> 00:22:49.359 That's what the Bible says this world is. 00:22:49.979 --> 00:22:52.619 It is a great world, but it is not our home. 00:22:53.019 --> 00:22:56.359 One day it will be our home, but until that day comes, 00:22:56.419 --> 00:22:59.019 until Jesus brings the new heavens and the new earth, 00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:00.519 this world is not our home. 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:01.959 We are living in exile. 00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:08.519 This is what C.S. Lewis says in The Weight of Glory. 00:23:09.619 --> 00:23:15.479 Even when we are home, he says, we feel a deep longing for some other greater home. 00:23:15.659 --> 00:23:18.859 And he calls this the inconsolable longing. 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:25.359 And we mistakenly think that we can satisfy this longing in the right job, 00:23:25.459 --> 00:23:31.879 or the right lover, or spouse, or going back to nostalgic memories, 00:23:32.119 --> 00:23:35.619 the kind of golden past that some of us idealize, 00:23:35.959 --> 00:23:40.139 or our idealist utopian visions of the future, 00:23:40.139 --> 00:23:44.039 that we think in different ways we can somehow get there. 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:47.259 We mistakenly identify this longing with things in our lives. 00:23:47.259 --> 00:23:50.539 I think this is what drives people to move to different cities, 00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:54.759 and to change jobs, and to leave their spouses, 00:23:55.379 --> 00:23:58.879 and to have affairs, and to leave churches. 00:23:59.339 --> 00:24:04.220 And I think a lot of those decisions that people make are partly driven by the sense 00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:08.240 that maybe I can satisfy this thing if I just make this change. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.420 Not so, Lewis would say. 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:13.339 Nothing can satisfy it. 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:17.839 He says, what we are doing is we're longing for the scent of a flower that we've not found. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.559 We're longing for the echo of a tune that we have not heard. 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:25.680 We're longing for news from a country that we've never yet visited. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:32.039 And the gospel says the reason that we have this longing is because this world is not our home. 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:35.619 It never will be until Jesus comes again. 00:24:35.940 --> 00:24:40.500 And this is extremely important for determining how we endure suffering. 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:46.159 Because so much of our endurance of suffering depends on the expectations that we have. 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:50.059 If you believe, as we said at the very beginning, 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:53.639 if you believe that this world is all there is, 00:24:53.639 --> 00:24:58.599 and that our goal should be to get as much happiness out of life as we can, while we can, 00:24:58.599 --> 00:25:00.359 when real life hits you, 00:25:01.199 --> 00:25:06.559 when you begin to realize how much suffering there is in life, 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:09.559 and how no matter what, you will never be fully satisfied, 00:25:09.719 --> 00:25:11.079 when that begins to sink in, 00:25:11.699 --> 00:25:13.619 your life is not going to make any sense. 00:25:14.439 --> 00:25:15.859 And what's so hard is, 00:25:15.959 --> 00:25:19.579 we all think that we are suffering worse than other people. 00:25:20.019 --> 00:25:21.539 And that makes us feel so bad. 00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:22.419 You look over and you're like, 00:25:22.659 --> 00:25:24.179 this person has everything that I want. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:25.219 They have the life that I want. 00:25:25.259 --> 00:25:27.240 And why am I living this life and not that life? 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:29.759 If only we knew. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:31.440 If only we knew. 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:33.599 The reality. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.099 The pervasiveness of suffering. 00:25:38.740 --> 00:25:40.000 We wouldn't be as envious. 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:43.720 The reality of life is, 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:45.420 there's an extraordinary amount of suffering. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:46.599 And if you expect, 00:25:46.940 --> 00:25:48.120 this is the only life I have, 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:49.460 I've got to be as happy as I can be, 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:50.339 then when suffering comes, 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:51.680 it's going to all fall apart. 00:25:51.960 --> 00:25:53.500 You're going to feel like you're failing in life. 00:25:53.539 --> 00:25:54.759 This is my one shot at happiness, 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:55.759 and I'm screwing it up. 00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:00.900 It's no wonder we spend so much time and energy 00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:02.259 self-medicating ourselves 00:26:02.259 --> 00:26:05.460 and numbing ourselves to avoid having to deal with this. 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:07.740 But the gospel says, 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:11.180 we should never expect to be fully satisfied in this life. 00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:12.359 The gospel says, 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.140 home is not a place, 00:26:14.180 --> 00:26:14.960 it's a person. 00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:16.940 It's Jesus Christ. 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:18.220 Paul says in verse 8, 00:26:18.220 --> 00:26:20.099 his yearning to be at home with Christ 00:26:20.099 --> 00:26:21.120 is so strong 00:26:21.120 --> 00:26:23.519 that he would be willing to forgo having a body 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:24.920 if only he could be with Christ. 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:25.560 He's like, 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:27.060 I'll give my body up. 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:28.240 Can I just be with Jesus? 00:26:29.080 --> 00:26:30.620 That's how much he longs for it. 00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:31.259 And yet, 00:26:32.300 --> 00:26:33.340 in verses 9 and 10, 00:26:33.380 --> 00:26:33.640 he says, 00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:34.019 nevertheless, 00:26:35.060 --> 00:26:35.580 essentially, 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:36.740 he says in context, 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.720 our calling is to serve him faithfully 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:40.000 while we're here. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:41.660 And in context, 00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:42.740 if you go back to chapter 4, 00:26:42.820 --> 00:26:43.860 what Paul is talking about 00:26:43.860 --> 00:26:45.200 is the proclamation of the gospel. 00:26:46.320 --> 00:26:46.720 He says, 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:48.060 the reason that I can't be with Jesus, 00:26:48.180 --> 00:26:49.279 the reason that I'm living in exile 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:50.360 is because I have a purpose 00:26:50.360 --> 00:26:51.779 in this broken world, 00:26:51.860 --> 00:26:52.940 and that is to preach the gospel. 00:26:52.940 --> 00:26:54.820 And I'm going to do that faithfully 00:26:54.820 --> 00:26:56.720 until Jesus brings me home. 00:26:58.320 --> 00:26:59.620 And what this tells us 00:26:59.620 --> 00:27:00.720 is very, very important 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:01.539 when it comes to suffering. 00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:02.500 The purpose of life 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:03.880 is not the pursuit of happiness. 00:27:05.820 --> 00:27:07.080 Thank God when we're happy. 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:08.180 Thank God when there's joy. 00:27:08.340 --> 00:27:09.820 Thank God when we can feast and celebrate. 00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:11.320 The purpose of life 00:27:11.320 --> 00:27:12.340 is not to seek happiness. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:15.000 The purpose of life 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:15.920 is to pursue 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:18.480 the purposes that Jesus Christ 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:19.400 has given us 00:27:19.400 --> 00:27:21.059 to fulfill in the world, 00:27:21.059 --> 00:27:23.240 to pursue our vocation, 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:24.859 the reason that we are here. 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:26.480 And the Bible says, 00:27:26.740 --> 00:27:28.240 you don't need to seek satisfaction. 00:27:28.419 --> 00:27:29.659 One day you're going to get it. 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:31.440 That's the promise. 00:27:32.139 --> 00:27:32.940 It's secure. 00:27:33.099 --> 00:27:33.599 It's there. 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:34.240 It's in heaven. 00:27:34.379 --> 00:27:35.740 It's in the new earth. 00:27:35.819 --> 00:27:36.720 It's waiting for you. 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:40.379 But the purpose of this life 00:27:40.379 --> 00:27:41.539 is to serve Jesus. 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:42.819 And if you know 00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:44.240 that this world is not your home, 00:27:44.259 --> 00:27:45.179 and you know that you're here 00:27:45.179 --> 00:27:46.379 to serve the purpose 00:27:46.379 --> 00:27:47.859 that Jesus has given you, 00:27:47.859 --> 00:27:49.659 then you're going to experience 00:27:49.659 --> 00:27:51.279 some suffering along the way. 00:27:51.379 --> 00:27:51.559 You know, 00:27:51.779 --> 00:27:55.339 we were on sabbatical, 00:27:55.879 --> 00:27:57.579 and we were traveling a lot 00:27:57.579 --> 00:27:58.359 for sabbatical, 00:27:58.519 --> 00:28:02.279 and we had young kids, 00:28:02.359 --> 00:28:03.559 including one child 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:04.119 who couldn't, 00:28:04.199 --> 00:28:04.699 when we left, 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:06.359 walk yet. 00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:08.539 And so traveling in Europe 00:28:08.539 --> 00:28:09.179 with young kids 00:28:09.179 --> 00:28:09.919 is really challenging. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:11.119 And so we kept thinking, 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:12.359 this is supposed to be restful 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:13.459 and relaxing, 00:28:13.659 --> 00:28:15.059 and yet this is absolutely, 00:28:15.259 --> 00:28:15.919 incredibly, 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:16.799 insanely difficult. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:18.460 And we were trying to be thankful 00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:19.319 for the experience, 00:28:19.419 --> 00:28:20.639 and yet it was just so hard. 00:28:21.399 --> 00:28:23.299 And then we sort of had this, 00:28:23.460 --> 00:28:23.720 we said, 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:23.960 you know, 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.099 we need to reframe this. 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:26.259 This is not a vacation. 00:28:26.639 --> 00:28:27.599 This is not rest. 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:28.740 This is not relaxation. 00:28:29.659 --> 00:28:31.319 This is a family adventure. 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:33.599 And when we reframed it, 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:34.240 I'm not even kidding, 00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:35.319 when we reframed it, 00:28:35.339 --> 00:28:36.440 a family adventure, 00:28:36.899 --> 00:28:38.579 our whole attitude changed. 00:28:38.599 --> 00:28:40.119 Because in an adventure, 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:42.720 you're expecting lots of adversity. 00:28:42.879 --> 00:28:44.399 That's part of what an adventure is. 00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:45.279 If you don't have adversity, 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:46.480 it's kind of a boring adventure. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:48.619 And so we reframed it, 00:28:48.659 --> 00:28:50.200 and we started really having a great time, 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:50.879 because you know what? 00:28:50.980 --> 00:28:51.859 This is an adventure. 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:53.059 You know, 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:55.299 my child puking in the middle 00:28:55.299 --> 00:28:56.159 of the Munich airport 00:28:56.159 --> 00:28:57.359 when we're 10 minutes late 00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:57.940 to our flight, 00:28:58.039 --> 00:29:00.379 and having to run like bandits 00:29:00.379 --> 00:29:02.819 away from the puke, 00:29:02.899 --> 00:29:03.039 you know, 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:03.339 that's, 00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:03.799 no, 00:29:03.919 --> 00:29:04.379 that's not, 00:29:04.460 --> 00:29:05.279 we're not happy, 00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:06.399 but that's the kind of thing 00:29:06.399 --> 00:29:07.519 that happens on an adventure. 00:29:07.859 --> 00:29:08.079 Right? 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:10.980 And in the same way, 00:29:11.460 --> 00:29:13.039 if we think of this life 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:13.679 not as, 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:14.799 I need to get as much happiness 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:16.159 as I can, 00:29:16.659 --> 00:29:17.919 because we're always going to be disappointed, 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:19.339 but if we think of this as, 00:29:19.460 --> 00:29:20.240 a mission, 00:29:20.939 --> 00:29:23.500 I'm here on mission. 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:25.759 If you're a Christian living in a place 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:26.579 like Washington, D.C., 00:29:26.579 --> 00:29:28.819 you're a cross-cultural missionary, 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:29.720 full stop. 00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:30.779 I am here, 00:29:31.299 --> 00:29:32.839 serving the purposes of Jesus 00:29:32.839 --> 00:29:34.019 in my generation. 00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:37.059 At some point, 00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:38.100 I'll be home with him. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:40.100 But until then, 00:29:40.839 --> 00:29:41.940 I'm on mission. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:43.019 And what that means is, 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:44.240 you're going to experience, 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:44.839 yeah, 00:29:45.120 --> 00:29:45.839 lots of challenges, 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:46.579 lots of suffering, 00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:47.339 lots of adversity. 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:49.960 That's a part of what this mission entails. 00:29:50.600 --> 00:29:51.920 But there's also going to be joy, 00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:53.500 there's also going to be celebration, 00:29:53.839 --> 00:29:54.880 there's also going to be goodness. 00:29:55.100 --> 00:29:57.000 It's all going to begin to make sense. 00:29:57.420 --> 00:29:59.259 And as Paul says in verse 17, 00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:02.360 when we begin to focus more on home 00:30:02.360 --> 00:30:03.920 as a future promise, 00:30:04.220 --> 00:30:06.200 rather than something that we're trying to build 00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:07.000 here and now, 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:09.640 the weight of our suffering 00:30:09.640 --> 00:30:10.779 begins to be lifted. 00:30:11.100 --> 00:30:11.839 And all of a sudden, 00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:13.720 this suffering that felt so oppressive 00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:14.779 and burdensome, 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:17.160 because we were trying to build heaven 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:19.140 right here and now in our own lives, 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.059 will get lighter and lighter and lighter. 00:30:22.140 --> 00:30:22.720 And he says it will, 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:24.299 it will in some ways seem like 00:30:24.299 --> 00:30:25.839 a light momentary affliction 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:27.720 compared to the eternal glory 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:29.960 that awaits when we are home. 00:30:31.539 --> 00:30:33.900 So this is how the gospel gives us courage 00:30:33.900 --> 00:30:35.660 to endure suffering, 00:30:35.779 --> 00:30:36.720 pull all of it together. 00:30:36.900 --> 00:30:38.440 It grounds us in realism, 00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:41.160 but then it promises resurrection 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:42.400 for our bodies, 00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:44.220 and it promises that one day 00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:46.120 we're finally going to come home 00:30:46.120 --> 00:30:48.299 and our longings will be satisfied 00:30:48.299 --> 00:30:49.700 in Christ. 00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:51.259 And for those who, 00:30:51.400 --> 00:30:52.940 the last bit of good news for you, 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:55.319 for those who have put their faith in Jesus 00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:56.799 and been baptized in his name, 00:30:57.779 --> 00:30:58.299 Paul says, 00:30:58.399 --> 00:31:00.700 even though all of that home 00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:02.079 and glory is in the future, 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:04.139 it's not simply an idea. 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:06.099 We actually get a preview of it. 00:31:06.619 --> 00:31:08.279 We get a foretaste of it. 00:31:08.919 --> 00:31:09.740 In verse 5, 00:31:09.819 --> 00:31:11.200 we have a foretaste of home 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:12.619 in the Holy Spirit. 00:31:13.960 --> 00:31:15.480 There are moments when, 00:31:15.679 --> 00:31:16.659 in my life, 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:18.000 I can just say this, 00:31:18.039 --> 00:31:19.200 but I think this is true of everybody. 00:31:19.339 --> 00:31:20.159 There are moments, 00:31:20.419 --> 00:31:20.939 and for me, 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:21.960 it's in particular sometimes 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:23.460 when we're all gathered here, 00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:27.039 maybe at the Easter vigil, 00:31:27.840 --> 00:31:30.259 or maybe just a particularly powerful Sunday, 00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:33.299 and when we're gathered 00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:34.319 and everybody's singing, 00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:35.120 and I look around, 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:36.660 and we're all just kind of caught up 00:31:36.660 --> 00:31:37.559 in worship. 00:31:37.940 --> 00:31:39.039 There are these moments 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:40.779 where I feel like I'm glimpsing 00:31:40.779 --> 00:31:42.740 what that future reality will be like. 00:31:44.100 --> 00:31:45.920 And I think the Spirit gives us 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:47.039 these previews. 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:49.299 It allows us to experience 00:31:49.299 --> 00:31:50.559 a little bit of healing now 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:51.740 so that we'll know what a world 00:31:51.740 --> 00:31:52.839 where all suffering 00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:54.220 has been eradicated will be like. 00:31:54.879 --> 00:31:56.000 It allows us to experience 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:57.740 a little bit of community and love now 00:31:57.740 --> 00:31:58.700 so that one day we'll know 00:31:58.700 --> 00:32:00.059 what it's like to be enfolded 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:01.460 by love incarnate. 00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:04.359 It gives us these little tastes 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:05.359 and previews. 00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:07.419 And the good news is this. 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:08.259 Scripture says that 00:32:08.259 --> 00:32:10.319 even the greatest of these experiences 00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:12.740 are merely shadows 00:32:12.740 --> 00:32:14.619 of things to come. 00:32:15.899 --> 00:32:16.500 Let's pray. 00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:19.220 Lord, we thank you 00:32:19.220 --> 00:32:21.619 for these promises. 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:28.460 Lord, I know there's so many people 00:32:28.460 --> 00:32:29.480 who are struggling right now 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:30.599 in so many ways. 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:33.680 And I'm sorry. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:37.480 And I wish we could make 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:40.119 this pain go away. 00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:46.239 Lord, I pray that in your Holy Spirit 00:32:46.239 --> 00:32:49.539 you would do what words cannot do, 00:32:49.639 --> 00:32:50.859 what ideas cannot do, 00:32:51.919 --> 00:32:54.019 that you would comfort the afflicted, 00:32:54.979 --> 00:32:55.959 comfort those who struggle, 00:32:56.859 --> 00:32:58.719 especially those who struggle alone 00:32:58.719 --> 00:32:59.639 or in secret. 00:33:00.719 --> 00:33:02.500 And I pray that in these great promises, 00:33:02.859 --> 00:33:05.279 Lord, as we continue in our prayer 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:05.799 and singing 00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:07.000 and as we come to the table, 00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:10.000 that we would have a foretaste of home. 00:33:10.579 --> 00:33:13.500 A foretaste of being fully in your presence. 00:33:14.279 --> 00:33:16.479 A foretaste of the new heavens 00:33:16.479 --> 00:33:17.099 and the new earth. 00:33:18.399 --> 00:33:19.399 Lord, and I pray this, 00:33:19.679 --> 00:33:20.839 that we would be people of hope 00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:22.559 to be salt and light 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:23.759 in a world of decay and darkness. 00:33:23.919 --> 00:33:25.319 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:25.719 Amen.