“Our Life at Work”

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

This is the third in our series of messages on following the ways of Jesus Christ, with our initial, and every day work being the setting of the world’s ways aside. Jesus calls us to a new and unique life in him, and for many, that turns out to be a stumbling block. We aren’t always familiar or comfortable with the Lord’s ways, and some actually try to blend the world’s standards with those of our Christian faith. Our life in the Lord must always stand far above the life that we once knew, and this new standard for our lives will, unfortunately, be constantly under attack.

While this life pales in comparison to the one that is coming, it is also a time of preparation for eternity. And that other life, the one that focuses on the world’s ways, may look so wonderful and satisfying, but can only lead us into a life that will be anything but glory!

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-3

The Corinthians, as you may remember, were experiencing the infusion of worldliness into their faith. Many in the church were relegating the Lord’s call to righteous living to a secondary and lower position, and were allowing secular thought to rise up to a place that it didn’t deserve. And I am also sure that we can understand that dilemma. Paul writes about those two things – the ones that are seen, and those that are unseen.

The ones that we can see are both the ones of God and the ones of the world. We see the Lord at work in our lives, as well as the lives of our friends and family. The problem, though, is that we don’t always recognize them – usually because those other things we see, the things of earth, cloud our vision.
We understand these other things very well. They are the things of earthly pleasures, of earthly relationships and responsibilities, of dealing with our earthly conflicts and resolutions, of gaining earthly sustenance, of achieving earthly riches, and we feel that we just can’t set them aside. This life shouldn’t be so much about what we can see and understand, as it is about that which we learn from Jesus. Clouded vision obscures his truth and teaching!

And Paul talks about the dichotomy between our “earthly tent” and the “eternal house” that awaits us. Earlier in this book (2 Corinthians 4:1-2), he says that we don’t lose heart while in this “tent”, because we have a “house” waiting for us on the other side. The difference is that our tent was erected by human hands, while the heavenly house was created by divine will. Unfortunately, we don’t always appreciate the difference between the two. We know what a tent is, and how a house is a far better place to live, but this eternal house? How big a house is it? What is it made of – wood, brick, or some exotic material that makes it very valuable? Is it like a single family, a duplex, a condo? Or maybe an apartment complex in which we all live together! What is this “house” like?

All too often, we try to put a worldly twist on understanding heaven, like streets of gold, or mansions, or a throne! And it just doesn’t work that way. Even Paul’s comparison between being clothed and being naked is offered in a spiritual sense, and not a physical one. But it’s a good comparison, just the same. Think about the issues surrounding human nakedness versus being clothed. And perhaps we’ll leave that image right where it is – but that contrast is still right on point. The world’s ways are the nakedness of faith – hollow, empty, fruitless, improper, rejected.
And Paul says that “we groan, longing to be clothed”, or at least we should. But again, this is spiritual clothing that Paul is talking about. In Galatians 3:27-29, we are told that by faith, we will be “clothed” with Christ, and in Colossians 3:9-11, we are told that this Christ clothing brings a newness into our lives. The world can only offer us nakedness and finality, but the Lord’s clothing makes us new for eternity.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:4-7

And now we read that being clothed with Christ not only destroys our naked and half-hearted spirituality, but it completely absorbs, completely destroys our mortality. In this instance, though, the apostle isn’t telling us that we will never experience physical death, but rather that, in Christ, it’s our condemnation that will die once and for all, and life will begin anew in the Lord.

We have been created for this very purpose – that while we live in this mortal frame - our earthly tent if you will - we are in a waiting period. Remember that the disciples had to wait for the Holy Spirit to come after Christ ascended to his heavenly home, and they didn’t exactly understand what that would mean for them. But while they waited, how did they live? They stayed together, and prayed - constantly (Acts 1:12-14)! And after the Spirit arrived? They followed the Spirit’s leading, and began spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world! That is the kind of life that we should be living – staying together, praying together, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with others!

That is our purpose in this life, and that is the purpose of the Holy Spirit of God. To lead us and guide us, to enable us in ministry, to remind us of all that Jesus taught and did, to work together, and to live a life that brings honor to our Lord and Savior. But “at home in the body”? From his previous writings, you would think that he is lamenting the fact that he has to continue to live in this mortal form. But the truth is that he is “confident” as he spends his days in this life, even though he knows that he is “away from the Lord”. This life is an opportunity to serve and honor God, just as our death must also be to his honor.

But honoring Jesus means that we will be living a life that reflects him – not by our own interpretation, not by our own understanding, not by our own desires, but by the teachings and example of Christ - the hallmarks of the Christian life.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:8-10

In Philippians 1:20-26, Paul expresses this same sentiment, but in a little more detail. He writes “.. to live is Christ and to die is gain.”, and later in that passage, he explains why he believes this – that his great desire and hope is to leave this place and go home to be with the Lord, but he knows that as long as he continues to live here, he will be living in God’s Will and participating in the ministry that Jesus created for him. Either way, he is living in the Lord’s will and way, and his preference doesn’t matter a bit.

This is one of the problems in the world today – for many, it’s all about what they want, what they think, what moral and ethical values they are willing to follow, and never mind what God’s way is. The “ME” generation that we are all very familiar with, for some reason, thinks that their understanding and their life is far more important than those that God has created us to live, and Jesus has taught us to live, and the Spirit is calling us to live. And they become irate when they are called to task for their self-centered “nakedness”. We have been told that the better way is to be a servant instead of a master (Matthew 23:11-12), and whether we accept a humble and repentant heart in this life, instead of waiting until we are humbled by Jesus at the Judgment, because it will happen one way or another.

Are we living this life “with the Lord”, or are we living it with and for ourselves? Do we have our sights fixed on the things of glory, or are we more concerned with pleasing the forces of this world? We’re in a predicament – do we focus on the things we see on earth, or on the unseen promises of heaven?

The Judgment, quite honestly, has nothing to do with perfection or an accounting of all the good we have done, all of which may be outweighed by our failures. In truth, it is based solely on whether we have surrendered the things of earth during this lifetime in favor of a life in Christ, or whether we have decided that this life is too difficult and restrictive, and have chosen to take a shortcut in faith. Of course, there is no such thing, but that doesn’t mean that many haven’t tried.

The life we need to live is plainly explained in both Matthew 28:18-20, and Matthew 25:34-36. We are to follow in his way, serving others as he did, loving others as he did, sharing the word of God as he did. We need to live this life as Jesus did. Faithfully, with a servant’s heart, to the glory of God, and to the benefit of others. There is no other way.