Andrew G. Pittman
Sunday Morning
July 8, 2007

A Secure Home.
2 Corinthians 5: 1 – 5.


I. Introduction.
When I first submitted this sermon title for publication in the worship bulletin, I realized that there were at least four ways you could interpret the title. Some people would automatically think about security systems for their homes. According to the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (http://www.alarm.org/), American households spent $18.7 Billion on home security systems in the year 2001. They did not list statistics on more recent years. Of course, I would also be interested to know how many homes with security systems also have spy ware programs running through unfiltered internet connections. Homes that are secure from physical intruders can still be susceptible to virtual intruders.
Other people might think the sermon would offer a definition of Christian marriage and detail the ways that Christian marriage is under assault by the culture around us. There are reasons to be concerned about Christian marriage, with many states attempting to redefine marriage to accommodate the homosexual lifestyle. The Bible teaches us that man and woman were created for each other. Man and woman are opposites parts that come together to make one whole. Genesis 2: 24 teaches us: “A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Jesus expanded this principle in Mark 10: 8 – 9: “So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” This leads us to promote a biblical picture of marriage as one man and one woman for life. In a Christian sense, a home is secure only when it has biblical, Christian marriage as its foundation.
And then there are some of you who think a secure home depends on the implementation of the Castle Doctrine. This new law will go into effect September 1 in Texas and can be summarized by saying that when someone breaks into your home, you do not have to “retreat.” You can actually protect your home with deadly force. I just hope there is a provision in the law that allows pastors to visit church members and prospects.
With the possible exception of the Castle Doctrine, these would be appropriate sermon topics for our church. I can’t think of a way to turn the Castle Doctrine into a sermon…And many people in East Texas don’t need any more encouragement to protect their homes and property.
However, I want to direct our attention this morning to the secure home that no intruder could ever penetrate…A home that is so secure that it will last forever. Of course, I am not referring to a literal, physical, earthly home. I am talking about the home God has provided for us in heaven. This home is available to everyone who believes…Everyone who places faith in Jesus as Lord and enters into a life of following and serving Jesus.

Read 2 Corinthians 5: 1 – 5.

This Scripture falls in the context of Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth. Most of us are more familiar with Paul’s first letter to Corinth. In the first letter, Paul named several sins and divisive practices that were taking place in the church. In the second letter, Paul is much more friendly, lovable and complimentary. He even tells the church that he is sorry for the way his first letter offended them. Of course, he says that he is glad that they repented of their sins and division, but he did not want them to think he continued to be “grieved” by their actions. No. Paul was very happy that the church in Corinth was now on the right path, and he expressed how anxious he was to visit with them in the near future.
In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul wrote about how important it is for Christians to stand up under trial and persecution. Many believers were being ridiculed for their faith in Jesus, and others were losing out on new jobs or even promotions in their old jobs because of their faith. There were financial and social risks involved in being a follower of Jesus. There were even some areas where Christians were physically beaten or killed because of their faith. And Paul writes to us telling us that we can find comfort in knowing that persecution is part of following a Crucified Lord. Do you hear the comfort in that statement? It is comforting because it emphasizes how we are not really “at home” as long as we live physical, earthly lives. Our home is in heaven, in the presence of God himself.


II. Tent (v. 1).
The first thing that occurs to me in verse one, is the way Paul obviously uses the image of a “tent” to communicate something temporary. The earthly tent is something that can be “destroyed.” It will not and cannot last forever.
Paul used the image of a “tent” to refer to the human body. Your body will not and cannot last forever. There are physical limitations to our life on earth. Some people live to be over 100 years old, while other people live just short lives. But no one can live on earth forever.
The second thing that occurs to me is how this relates to Paul on a personal level. In several places in the New Testament, Paul boasted about how he never preached the Gospel for money. He earned his living working a secular career, so that no one would accuse him of benefiting financially from the spread of the Gospel. And Acts 18: 3 tells us that Paul’s career was as a tentmaker. He made his living making tents for people to use and live in. He is being realistic about his own career path. He works diligently, day in and day out, to build something that will not and cannot stand the test of time. Maybe there is another sermon in this…No matter how hard you work, your career will not and cannot last forever.
It also occurs to me that Paul had a thoroughly Jewish upbringing. He knew the Scriptures that we know as the Old Testament. He had learned from his earliest memories of childhood how God had rescued the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. God led them across the Red Sea into the desert where they lived for forty years…in tents. Do you know what another word for tent is in the Bible? “Tabernacle.”
In ancient Judaism, there was an annual event known as the Feast of the Tabernacles. Jewish people from all over Palestine and the known world would return to Jerusalem to worship God and remember what God had done to deliver them to the Promised Land. The whole landscape of Jerusalem would be populated by travelers living in tents to remember how their ancestors had once lived.
Paul knew this well. Paul perhaps had even participated in the Feast of Tabernacles and had lived in a tent with his family as a child. Paul had probably made tents and sold them to families who were traveling to Jerusalem for the Feast.
Paul knew that living in a tent was one option for a family traveling. Paul knew that the Hebrew people had lived in tents for forty years in the desert. But Paul also knew that tents are only temporary.
In fact, during the forty years in the desert, God instructed Moses to build a special “tent” that would be the place for the people to worship God. Worship had to be in a tent as long as the people were on the move. A Temple was not possible. Temples cannot be taken down and packed away to carry to the next stop along the road.
I believe Paul is teaching us that as long as we are on this earth, our dwelling places will always be temporary…Tents. This fits very well with the teachings of Jesus to his disciples. When Jesus called the first twelve disciples, he issued a very simple call: “Come. Follow me.” The Christian life is a life of being on the move…Following Jesus…Going where Jesus goes…Doing what Jesus does. And since we are on the move, we need to live in temporary shelters.


III. House (v. 1).
Verse one contains instructions that we have temporary residence on this earth, but it also contains a promise. If the earthly tent is destroyed, then we have an eternal house in heaven. This house is secure, because it was not built by human hands.
If you would like to turn a few pages in your Bible, look at John 1: 14. This is John’s story of the Incarnation of Jesus. He began by telling us that the Word was present with God from the foundations of the earth. The Word was present and active in the act of Creation. Then verse 14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
The NIV interprets this verse by using the phrase “made his dwelling.” However, in Greek this is just one word. Literally, it says Jesus “tabernacled” among us. Now remember that a tabernacle is a tent. So, another way to interpret this is to say, “The Word became flesh and ‘pitched his tent’ among us.”
Incarnation means that Jesus became one of us. Jesus became flesh. Jesus lived in a tent, just like you and me. Jesus had a temporary body of flesh and blood. This temporary body went to the cross where Jesus literally and physically died. But that was not the end of the story.
Turn over to John 14: 2: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”
This is what Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians 5. There is a place in heaven that is secure. This place in heaven is not temporary; it is eternal. It is not a tent; it is a house. It was not built by a human tentmaker; it was prepared by God himself.


IV. Body (v. 2 – 4).
Paul tells us that it is natural for us to want to leave this earthly, temporary body and groan for our eternal, secure home in heaven. But, here is the difference between what we believe as Christians and what other people believe. Wherever we reside, we will have a body. As Christians, we do not believe in a disembodied state of being. When we die, we will not become ghosts or spirits. We don’t even become a part of God or a part of the heavens. We will have a bodily existence.
The body is a very important part of our theology. First, Jesus was Incarnated in the “flesh.” Jesus had a body. He had emotions and felt pain. Then, after the crucifixion, Jesus rose again in the body. He walked around, his disciples saw him and touched him. Jesus even ate breakfast while the disciples were watching. He had a body. Then, forty days after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven…In the body. And Jesus promises us that when he returns to earth, he will return in the body. In the same way, he promises us that when we live with him in heaven, we will be given new bodies.
Have you ever wondered why Christian theology places so much emphasis on the human body? It is because of relationship. A body makes it possible for us to have a relationship with others. Because I have a body, there is a clearly defined place where my person stops and your person begins. There is a boundary that separates. You and I are not the same. But at the same time, our bodies define who we are. Body is the way we know each other and the way we are known by others. Knowing is the basis of relationship. This is why I believe the Bible teaches that we will know and be known by others when we are in heaven. Body makes relationship possible.


V. Conclusion: Holy Spirit (v. 5).
And now Paul tells us this is what we were created for. We could certainly make a case for relationship with others as our purpose. But here, I believe Paul is telling us that we were created for heaven. One day, we will fully realize our God-given purpose, by shedding this earthly tent and moving into a secure, eternal house in relationship with God and relationship with others.
But how can we know if we are going to heaven? The Holy Spirit is the “deposit guaranteeing what is to come.”
This is a wonderful biblical image of what God has planned for us. The Holy Spirit is a deposit. There are two interesting ways this Greek word “deposit” was used in secular Greek. First, it was used in legal contracts, for example the sale of land. If a man signed a contract to purchase land from another, he would often place a deposit or “earnest money” on the land to guarantee that he would fulfill his end of the bargain. Second, it was also used to describe an “engagement ring.” When a man intended to marry a woman, he would give her an engagement ring to guarantee that he would fulfill his commitment to marry her.
So, how can we know if we are going to heaven? Paul says that God gave us an engagement ring when he gave us the Holy Spirit. This is your assurance that God has built a permanent house for you. This is your guarantee of heaven…God inside you.