We may not belong to this world but our time here has
a purpose that echoes the Great Commission
Image Source: called2bastrangeronearth.wordpress.com
By Khen Lim
Let’s face it. Some of us are really having a great
time. Our favourite food is dirt cheap and easily accessible. We’ve got great
movies on DVD anytime. There’s the World Cup every four years. And we can go
holidaying on the cheap since Air Asia has made flying very affordable. Life’s
a holler and we don’t really need to be anywhere else. How about heaven?
Now that’s an awkward question for most Christians. We
tend to agree that heaven’s where we want to be but not quite right now. We’re
just way too comfy here and quite honestly, heaven might end up being a little
boring. Where’s the char kuay teow? No chendol!? Wha…no Internet
as well? Hey, mana boleh!!?
Life in this world is so chock full of distractions.
We think of heaven maybe during Bible studies or Sunday services but once the
week arrives, the ways of the world pervades. In other words, we’d pay lip service
to what is easily the most crucial reason to have Christ our Saviour.
However, for true believers, the story might be quite
different. If we care enough about the purpose in the life we have, then we
will understand when Paul calls us “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb
11:13). Indeed that’s how we feel when we focus on God while being anchored to
this decadent and creaking world. As we are blessed, we are to bless others; as
God is holy, we are, too, to be holy. But the more we infuse ourselves in the
spirit of Christ, the more we find the world increasingly alienating. Eventually
we could be as far from the world as we can imagine. That’s when you’re at a
point of knowing that the world lures you with its self-centred populism while
heaven awaits your anticipation.
By this point we become different. Exiled, yes, but
then understand that while on earth, we are to lay our lives out in ways others
may see Christ in us. So as we welcome heaven into our plans, our time on earth
is to become more precious where every little day counts. Herein we are to serve
Him and to magnify His goodness to inspire others to follow.
But there lies one problem. For some of us, the work
we do may not always appear fulfilling or least, that’s what it looks like. We
have been called to evangelise, sow seeds, water them, to minister to the poor
and needy, to pray for the sick and to avail ourselves to those who seek our
help. Oftentimes we pray for those who have not received Christ. Even if it’s
challenges our Christian nature, we keep at it only because we are
Christians.
But there comes a point when all of us may feel the
fatigue of putting so much in but not see enough results. How many of us have
prayed and worked diligently to try make things happen yet the outcome is
anything but encouraging? We keep praying but the prospect still feels dry and
unproductive. I know of people who had kept trying until their dying breath;
yet they did not see but yet so, they stayed their faith. As true
believers, they kept hanging onto their trust in God. They. Never. Gave. Up.
There have been times when we’re told of God’s
promises but somehow short of seeing much of them. Or we end up seeing them
“from a distance” (v.13). Abraham was just one such person. God promised him
descendants “as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand
on the seashore” (v.12). What he ended up experiencing was a mere two descendants,
Isaac and Jacob, and a distant view of how God’s promises could be fulfilled.
As for Isaac, he owned a few wells and a bit of grazing land. Jacob had 70
descendants that shaped the 12 tribes of Israel but he was forced to go to
Egypt. 70 isn’t exactly as “numerous” as the stars in the sky.
If these were their experiences, how about yours? What
are your hopes and prayers? What do you think you’ll see in your lifetime? And
how do you view all of these given our place here and in heaven? Does it matter
to you? And what does Hebrews 11 tell you in light of all these?
Like I’ve said, heaven is our home. We’re no more than
“strangers and exiles on earth” (v.13) and therefore our desire is to be united
with our Father in heaven. We know we’ll never get to see the full fruits of
our labour. The late Sam Walton begot the Walmart phenom but he didn’t get to
see it become the world’s largest retailer. Abraham saw but two descendants and
from afar, but he wasn’t be able to witness the full extent of the Israel of
today.
Sometimes we can only see and welcome these promises
from a distance but by doing so, we already recognise that the world isn’t ours
to call home. But that’s okay. We have plenty of chances while we’re “in exile”
to tell others about our real homeland.
Paul says in Philippians 3:19-20 that we’re unlike
those “whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite and whose glory is
in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
Friends, we’re here alive today. One day we’ll all be
headed to our home-coming in the heavenly realm but until then, here’s the
reason for our occasion – to exemplify God.
Let’s take up the role that God has meant us to and
tell the world about where we’re going and why. And if you can bring along
someone who’s prepared to follow the way of the Christ, that’s time well spent
in exile. That’s when “God is not ashamed to be called [our] God” (v.16), which
is how we’ve a city waiting for our triumphant return.
Reflection
“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature;
and the enjoyment of Him is the only happiness with which our souls can be
satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than
the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives or
children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but the enjoyment
of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun.
There are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops; but
God is the ocean.
Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a
journey towards heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest
end and proper good, the whole work of our lives; to which we should
subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labour for, or set our
hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?
– Jonathan Edwards
The Works of Jonathan Edwards - “The Christian
Pilgrim” (Chap 2, pages 243-246)
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