Saturday, September 10, 2011

The former things have passed away.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1.3-5

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. - Philippians 3.20-21

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21.4

Last night I was driving in the car and listening to a Christian radio station. The DJ came on talking about all the things people have lost in recent floods and hurricane damage. She talked about how the losses hurt - some people losing irreplaceable pictures, heirlooms, and their homes. Then she went on to remind her listeners that these things were "just stuff" and wanted to remind us of what would truly last. According to her, our memories that we had built would last, providing lasting comfort in the face of our suffering of loss.

Here's what I wish she would have said:
All the painful loss we suffer in this life should point us to what truly lasts - God's promise of eternal life with him free of pain, loss, disease, and sadness because we are in his loving, powerful, holy presence! We absolutely should mourn the losses we experience, and that mourning should only be both eased an deepened by the reality of the glorious eternity kept secure from all harm in heaven for us. Our mourning can be eased because we know we have a great promise that will, in the end, prove true and more glorious than we can imagine. But our mourning should also be deepened by our longing to see this world give way at last to the fulfillment of all God promises to his people.

Father, help me and all your people to be comforted not by the comfort we bring ourselves, but by the comfort you give and the promises secured by Jesus' finished and complete work on Earth!

If the only comfort we offer ourselves and others when we suffer loss in this life is comfort in this life, we're missing the whole point of the Christian's citizenship in heaven