Fourth Sunday after Pentecost June 15-16, 2024
“Miserable Sounds” II Corinthians 5:1-10
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Sometimes we just tire of life. We’ve had it. We’re tired. I’m not necessarily talking about depression here – we’re just physically worn out. Paul expresses the miserable sounds that come from deep inside of us, “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. But while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” (II Corinthians 5:2-4)
Words such as “groan”, “living in this tent”, “being found naked”, all reflect the physical, spiritual and emotional challenge that we have in living with a body that is not meant to live on earth forever. In the previous chapter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians he speaks about this weakness of living in our mortal bodies. “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (II Corinthians 4:7) “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (II Corinthians 4:16)
I play softball on Wednesday mornings in a Senior Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball League. My, do we ever make grunts and groans!! We are trying to do things now that we were able to do many years ago in our glory years. In my league we are able to use substitute runners. So, if you still have the strength to swing the bat but first base is too far away, a substitute runner can run to first for you. If you can hit the ball and still hobble to first, but that is as far as your legs can take you, you can get a substitute runner from first. Now if someone could just help us with catching a fly ball or throwing the ball to the right base, we’d be much better. I think the Rockies might want to see if our rules can work for them!!
Paul speaks about some of these miserable sounds in Romans 8, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved.” (Romans 8:22-24)
Have you ever been tent camping? Everyone should do it at least once in their life. The memories, though not always wonderful, are lasting. Our daughter provided us a picture of one of their experiences. A bear, just outside their tent, was looking for food. They woke up during that episode and stayed awake for a while longer. Many years ago Marilyn and I took our three kids to Turquoise Lake just outside of Leadville. We had great plans, setting up camp, cooking dinner over a campfire, smores just before bed. But we arrived in a downpour and the downpour didn’t stop. We set up camp in the storm. Everything got soaked. We slept in that darn wet tent in our wet sleeping bags with our wet clothes with temperatures just slightly over freezing.
I don’t know if Paul had such experiences, or your own, in mind when he said, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” (II Corinthians 5:1) But his picture of a tent – our earthly bodies – carries with it a picture of something that is temporary, frail, something that wears out.
But God always has an answer for our struggles and questions. This reading says clearly, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (Verse 8) In Philippians Paul would bluntly say, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.” (1:23) But our hope isn’t just to be in heaven. Our hope isn’t just that our souls get to be in the presence of God. The Christian’s hope is the renewal of the body. The body that becomes too weak, too diseased, too frail to live one more second on earth is going to be made whole and perfect and strong and eternal in heaven. Jesus Christ died and then rose physically in His flesh. And so shall we.
I Corinthians says, “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (15:42-44) And then later he goes on, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’” (15:53-54)
Now the miserable sounds are replaced by magnificent proclamations!! Our moaning, groaning, sometimes hopeless complaints are given an answer. Christ bore the burden of our sin and the result of our sin – physical and spiritual death – and promises new life in the soul and then a body that stands strong forever. “For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
We often see aging and frailty begin to take over our lives, or the lives of others. It seems to swallow our life. Eat us up. We aren’t what we once were. But God, in His power, through Jesus, swallows up the enemies. They no longer can destroy us forever. They are destroyed. The psalmist says, “Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.” (Psalm 69:15-16) Just before our reading, Paul gives those classic words, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (II Corinthians 4:18)
Our miserable sounds find an answer in God’s magnificent proclamations. All due to Christ. Paul would ask the question and then give the answer – “Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 15:55-57)
Do you find yourself groaning too much? Do you have too many questions that begin with:
- Why me, Lord?
- Why now, Lord?
After the miserable sounds of living life in a world that is incomplete and then hearing God’s magnificent proclamations through the work of Jesus our question goes from “why” to “what”. “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” (II Corinthians 5:9) We have a response, a goal, in living. We live to please God. Today, in your life, live your life to please God. He loves you. Love Him. Do it in how you treat your family and friends and your enemies. Do it by the words you choose to say to others. Do it in the attitude you have with the people you work with, and those you work for. Now we change our question from, “Why me, Lord?” to “What can I do, for You, and for others, Lord?” How can I please You, Lord? The Scriptures say, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17) Or, in I Corinthians, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
God is good. He takes care of body and soul on earth. He clothes us in Jesus now with His righteousness. And then He replaces an earthly tent with an eternal mansion. Our flesh is made perfect and eternal. And now? Our miserable sounds get a new melody. We get to live our life as a song of praise for God’s goodness. Amen!! Amen!!
