The Tragedy of Jonathan

Read to start

I’m going to start with an assumption that everyone here has at least heard of William Shakespeare. That should be a pretty safe assumption, he’s only the best known playwright in the history of the English language, and frankly, easily among the most widely read and studied authors in any language. Shakespeare’s plays generally fall into one of three categories – histories, comedies, or tragedies. This of course is not a lecture about a playwright who lived four hundred years ago, this a sermon about people who lived three thousand years ago. But when I was in university, studying English literature, I looked at the account of Saul as we see in the book of 1 Samuel and found him to be highly reminiscent of the archetype of a tragic figure, such as you might find one of Shakespeare’s plays, a character like Hamlet, Othello, or Macbeth.

Saul is a fascinating character, and one that is well worth examining in detail. We can definitely learn from his successes and from his mistakes. But it’s not Saul that I’d like to focus on this morning. It’s his eldest son Jonathan.

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Seeking and Waiting

Read Matthew 2:1-12 and Luke 2:-21-38 to start.

Who here enjoys waiting? What’s that? No one is immediately putting their hand up? That’s hardly surprising. It’s not a question like “Who wants ice cream?” or “Anyone mind if we finish early today?” We are not keen for waiting, it’s not something that we particularly want to experience, or that we would commonly seek out.

Now, on the other hand, we often very much enjoy what comes on the other side of the waiting. If you’re in line at an amusement park, when it comes to your turn for the rollercoaster or the waterslide, then that’s great, that’s something that is enjoyed by one and all, or at least by all who enjoy waterslides and rollercoasters. I remember as a child waiting for summer vacation or Christmas break, or even long weekends. Frankly, as an adult I find myself waiting for those things as well.

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The Pants

Read to start Genesis 1:1, 2:7-9, 2:15-17.

Who here is familiar with McDonald’s? You’ve probably heard of it. Aka the Golden Arches, Scrawny Ronny’s, Mickey Ds, there’s probably a few other names there as well. Yes, I’m talking about the clown-themed restaurant that serves good coffee and marginally edible burgers, I’m pretty sure it’s the best known fast food chain on the planet. I’m not looking for a show of hands, I’m going to guess that most people have been there at least once or twice.

If you remember, or if you don’t, take a look next time you go, you will notice on the door a sign indicating some rules and requirements. It’s mostly pictures, and you might have to look closely to interpret it. You are not allowed to bring pets into the restaurant. And likewise, you are required to have a shirt and footwear. If you’re coming back from the beach with your dog and you aren’t wearing shoes, then you’re out of luck if you want a Big Mac, unless you use the drive through.

You see this sort of sign at lots of public places. The most obvious and in-your-face example would be a sign that says No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service. There’s not much way to misunderstand that. In general though, it’s a pretty much understood rule that when you go to a restaurant or a store that you are not going in barefoot or in your swimsuit. That’s part of living in a civilized society, or a society with some health department regulations at least.

One thing that you do not see on these signs, though, is any mention of pants. And when I say pants, I’m meaning that as a blanket category, clothing that covers from your waist and goes in the direction of your ankles. Whether you call them slacks, or jeans, or trousers, and I’m including shorts, and skirts, and dresses, and even leggings. It’s simply far easier to just call them pants.

Now that we have that clear, we don’t need to be told that we have to wear pants to go a restaurant or a store. No one posts a sign that says “You can’t come in here in your swim suit or your tighty whiteys.” No one needs to post a sign that says that, because it’s understood. It’s a basic assumption that people do not visit public places without their pants. You don’t need to announce it. If someone goes out and about with no pants, it better be a toddler, or there’s going to be a call to the authorities.

I mention specifically about toddlers because we are not born intrinsically knowing that we should wear pants. We know how to breathe, how to cry, how to swallow, those things we don’t need to be taught how to do. But pants? Those we all receive instruction on at a very young age. Our parents put pants on us when we were very little, and they told us that we had to wear them, even when we didn’t want to because it was hot or humid or we just didn’t want to wear pants. And so we do. We all know this, we’ve all spent years wearing pants, and so it’s not a surprise to anyone.

There is a principle to take from this, describing something as “the pants” meaning that it is a basic, understood, essential item. For example, we wash when we are dirty. We do not use violence toward others in our words or our actions. These are things that are not negotiable, not open to discussion or reinterpretation.

I’ve used the term with my children enough times that they now will use that as well. The other day I heard one of them describing something as “the pants,” I believe in the context of regular showering or something hygiene related.

These are basic things that we all know, or that we really should know. We assume that other people know them, unless they are babies or mentally incapable. If they don’t, then that is a good indication that something is wrong.

But sometimes what is wrong is what we have assumed. People from other cultures, with different backgrounds and different experiences may have very different understanding of what is normal and acceptable and assumed. They may have completely different pants. 

We are a church, a local group of believers who are part of the church universal. We profess the name of Christ, and we call ourselves His followers. I look at the people here and I feel it is safe to say that this is true of most, if not all of you. We are Christians, and there are certain basic of that which we all should understand. These are core principles that are not up for debate or discussion. At some point we all have been told these, and so we know them. Or at least we should. It’s not always safe to assume.

Sometimes we take for granted that these things are know because we know them, but we did not always know them. Our children may not know them. People we encounter on the street may not know them. In fact, I would suggest that every time you interact with the general public, you are interacting with people who do not know or believe these basic principles.

So what are these basics of the Christian faith? You’re probably wondering when I’m going to tell you what they are. I did some looking up what other people have said and taught about this, and there’s a lot of good stuff out there, but what I’m really concerned with is the low-level essentials. These are four things that don’t demand detailed understanding, complex doctrine, or even adult intelligence in order to be useful. Now, there is certainly a lot of nuance packed into each of these, and frankly, you could preach a separate sermon on any or all of these, I’m fairly certain that I have done so on at least some of them in the past, and you’ve probably heard them all preached about in the past. I’m not going to go into great detail, this would be a much longer sermon and you’d all be pretty upset if I kept you here past 9:00 going over things you already know. Because as I mentioned, this is not new material. This is the raw basic stuff. This is not everything. But this is the pants.

I’ll go through them in order, and each one is directly taken from scripture. First, and the verses I read to start should clue you in on this one, God created the world, all the living and natural things that are in it, and therefore He gets to make the rules.

This is the most simple and plain thing that there could possibly be, but so many people have so much trouble with it. People do not want to accept that God made the world, and so they come up with every contrived and convoluted fable they possibly can to avoid this. Every time you hear a news story about some new discovery about the origin of the universe, every time you see a headline about fossils that are hundreds of millions of years old, every time that every time you hear that right is wrong and wrong is right, that’s coming from someone who is denying that God made the world and that He gets to make the rules.

I’m not here to convince you of this truth. There is plenty of evidence, the obvious design we see in the life, the universe, everything, in how it all functions and continues and does not immediately fall into disorder. It requires far more faith to believe that everything came from nothing, that life came from non-life by random chance, contrary to everything we know about biology, chemistry, and thermodynamics.

It’s up to you whether you want to believe the truth or reject it in favour of something else. But if you call yourself a Christian, if you want to be a follower of Christ, genuine follower, in both word and deed, then you have no choice but to believe what He said and what He taught. It is clear that Christ had no questions about the creation of world and how it took place, and that He accepted His Father’s authority fully and completely. That is what is required of a believer.

If you believe that God made the world and that He makes the rules, then that requires you to ask yourself three questions. What are these rules, have I kept them, and what’s the consequence if I do not?

In the passage I read to start from Genesis 2, we see one rule that God had given to the man He had created, and we see the penalty – death. That may seem like a harsh penalty for what sounds to us like a relatively minor infraction, but again, God made the world and so He can set the rules. We don’t have to like the rules, that’s not part of the deal. We just have to obey them.

I’m not going to try and give you a complete list of all the rules that God has given us in His word. You probably know a bunch of them already. To see if you measure up, two rules should be sufficient, it’s the two that Christ gave when asked what was the greatest commandment, you can read the account in three of the four gospels, but I’ll read the verse from Luke chapter 10, at verse (27) And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Love the Lord your God entirely, and love your neighbour much as you love yourself. Not complicated. But also not easy. And if we are being honest, it’s something that we know we have not done, or not done well enough. We have not reached God’s standard. We have fallen short.

This brings us to the second principle, and I’ll read a few verses from Romans chapter 3 to illustrate the point. Romans 3:19-23 (19) Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (20)  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (21)  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (22)  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (23)  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

The second basic principle is that that we cannot meet God’s standard, and therefore we are all guilty sinners, deserving of punishment, and unable to save ourselves. This is what we find when we look at the law, the rules that God has given. Sure, we can pick and choose and find a few rules that we can keep, but there’s a lot more that we can’t, or that we haven’t. I have never murdered anyone, and I don’t imagine that anyone else here has either. Good for us. Society and the world at large would approve. But that’s our standard, and it’s a fair bit lower than God’s standard. If you asked if I had ever selfishly wanted what someone else has, or ask if I have always honoured my parents, well, that’s going to be a miss. If you ask me if I’ve ever been unreasonably angry, or have I hurt others with my words, or have I been lazy or lustful or lackadaisical, then I definitely don’t measure up.

And you know what, I recognize that I should not do those things, and even the least moral person I know would likely agree with me. My standard is a far step below God’s standard, and still I miss it. If I can’t even be good enough in my own sight, how far short have I come from what my creator requires?

That is what the law reveals to us, that we are insufficient, we are sinful, we are guilty. Once again, people want to pretend that the law is not there, that it does not apply. Truth, morality, right and wrong, those are all subjective and situational, or so the world will tell you. But that is simply not true. The reason that we even have the concept of right and wrong is because a higher power has ordained this to be so. Ignoring the rules does not make them go away, any more than ignoring gravity makes you able to fly. It certainly does nothing about the consequences.

So to summarize what we’ve covered thus far, God has made the world and made the rules. We have all gone afoul of the rules, we are all guilty of death, and we can’t fix ourselves. This is not a happy situation, this is bad news. But now for the good news. Keep your finger in Romans 3, but for now, flip over to John chapter 3.

(14) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (15) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (16)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (17)  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (18)  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (19)  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (20)  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (21)  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

The third principle is that there is deliverance to be had, there is salvation available through, and only through, the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite the fact that we have completely missed His standard, rather, because we have missed the standard, God the Father sent the Son to be the saviour of the world. So while all have sinned and come short of God’s glory, so all may be saved. Whosoever believes in Him will not perish, that is what we read in John 3:15, as well as in verse 16, which is easily the best known verse in all of scripture. We can’t save ourselves, we can’t pay the price, but God can, and He has. But wait, there’s more. I hope you kept your finger in Romans chapter 3, because I’m going to hop back there and continue from verse 24.

 (24)  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26)  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.(27)  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. (28)  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

We have salvation in Christ Jesus, salvation that we don’t have to earn or pay for, it is freely given. We call it a gift because like any true gift, it costs the recipient nothing. But it cost the giver, it definitely cost Him. He shed His blood to pay the price for our sins, He died so that we might not. That is the price that has been paid, the price that we don’t have to pay. This is the essence of the third principle, the free gift of eternal life through the cross.

As mentioned, there are four basic essentials that I want to talk about today, four items that make up the pants of the Christian faith. I’ll read another familiar passage to set the tone for this fourth one, from James chapter 2.

(14)  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? (15)  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, (16) And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (17)  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (18)  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (19)  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (20)  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

This fourth principle is most plainly stated as follows: Faith must have evidence. It’s easy to say that you have faith, that you believe in Christ, or that you believe this or that, but it’s easy to say a lot of things. The old saying goes that talk is cheap, because it is.

The verses from James explain this quite clearly. If someone lacks necessary things, if they have inadequate food and clothing, and you wish them well, you have done nothing to help them. You are not acting as Christ acted, He cared for the people around Him, He felt their pain and relieved their suffering. No, we are not given the power to go about healing lepers and restoring sight to the blind, but we do have the ability to help others on some level, however small it might be. Can we fix all the problems we see around us? No, obviously not. But if we don’t do anything to help anyone, then how exactly are we followers of Christ?

We often see this expressed as “thoughts and prayers” sentiments. Something bad happens, or someone is in crisis, and people say “our thoughts and prayers are with you.” Don’t get me wrong, thoughts are fine, and prayers are always advisable, and if it’s a disaster halfway around the world then maybe there’s not a lot else that we can offer. But if this is closer to home, if there is something more we can do, then we should do it, or offer help, or something. We should pray, absolutely we should pray, but if we have an opportunity where we can be an answer to someone else’s prayer, or even a small part of an answer, then we should do that. God often gives us opportunities to serve that we don’t even see coming.

A year or two ago, a teenage boy who one of our children knows happened to be in a situation where he had nowhere to go. I don’t recall all the particulars, but his living arrangements were, shall we say, not ideal. He really didn’t want to impose, but he slept on our couch that night, because he needed somewhere safe and warm, and we could provide that. Was it awkward and uncomfortable and kinda weird? Yes. But it was the right thing to do, and I’m glad that we were able to do it.

I’m not telling this story to boast in any way, but to illustrate that sometimes help can be as simple as a couch to crash on, a warm meal for someone who is going through a difficult time, or offering a couple hours of childcare to someone who really needs a break.

Faith needing evidence can also be expressed as branches should bear fruit. Christ talked about this in a cautionary sense in Matthew 7. In that passage we are told how good trees bring forth good fruit, but you don’t get grapes from a thorn bush. This is the same passage where He warned of false prophets, who at a glance appear to be legitimate. He described them as appearing to look like sheep, but really they are vicious wolves, which is where we get the term wolf in sheep’s clothing.

There’s always evidence of something. Faith will have evidence, and lack of faith also displays evidence. It may not be immediate, obvious evidence, but the evidence is there. No matter what we are on the inside, it will show through eventually. This raises the question, then: If someone does not show any signs of actually behaving as Christ did, then are they actually His follower?

We’ve talked this evening about the pants of the Christian faith, four basic concepts that are absolutely required if someone is going to genuinely follow Christ. I’ll restate them now to be sure this is all completely clear.

God made the world, and therefore He makes the rules and sets the standard. We have fallen far short of His standard, and we can’t possibly get there on our own merit, therefore we are guilty, and the penalty is death. There is salvation, however, paid in full by God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and this salvation is freely available to any and all who will put their trust in Him. And if we follow Him, put our faith and trust in Him and His finished work on the cross, then there should be evidence of that. This is the Christian faith summed up in one hundred words.

Now, I was curious so I went and counted, and I have 22 pairs of pants in my closet at home. Well, 21 pairs, I’m wearing a pair right now. It’s a very good thing to have pants. But they are only useful for me if I wear them.

These same four principles, it’s good and fine and frankly, needful to know them. But if you do not apply them, if they do not change your behaviour and your mindset, if they do not have any effect on your life, then they are like pants you leave in the closet and never wear. In James chapter 2, verse 19 that I read a few minutes ago, I’ll read that verse again. (19)  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. Knowing the truth is important, but doing something with it is more important. God has called us to know Him, to follow Him, to be more like His Son, but making the assumption that because we have heard the truth then it must be in our hearts is a dangerous thing to assume. Having knowledge of God up here in your head is well and good. If that does not change you, then it does not save you from your sins.

Walk Before You Run

Read Isaiah 40: 28-31 and Ephesians 4: 17-32 to start.

Last month was the 20th annual PEI Marathon. It’s grown to be a rather large event, with more than 2000 participants this year. I’m pleased to report that I have maintained my perfect record of not participating. That’s right, 20 years of marathons in PEI, and I haven’t competed in a single one. With sufficient planning and enough training, and this might be tough, but I’m hoping to stretch that out to 21 next year.

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That Your Joy May Be Full

Read 1 John 1:1-10 and John 15:1-11 to start.

Who remembers Marie Kondo? Of course, I say remember like this is ancient history, but her Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo only came out five years ago. For those who are unfamiliar with Ms Kondo, she is an author and TV presenter specializing in organization. She has sold millions of books and was on Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people. She has some controversial and frankly ridiculous ideas when it comes to how to organize and declutter your home, such as the recommendation that you should have no more than 25 books. No, that’s not 25 books on the table at one time, but rather 25 books in your house. In total. Yeah, we’re a bit over that at my house. When I was writing my sermon I took a look around the room and stopped counting at 25 books, and that was before I got to the bookshelf. Or the other bookshelf. Or the rest of the house.

The concept that Marie Kondo is perhaps best known for is the idea of sparking joy.  Gather the items in your house, pick them up one at a time, and with each item, ask yourself “Does this spark joy?” The idea is that if something does not cause joy, then you get rid of it. If it does cause joy, then you keep it. This is supposed to help you reduce clutter. Frankly, I’m up for trying it. Of course, if I did, I might end up throwing out the bills from Maritime Electric and Eastlink, and probably the bathroom scale, too.

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Mansions in Glory

Read John 14:1-4 and Revelation 21:21-22:5 to start.

Where do you live? I don’t mean in Montague or Three Rivers or eastern PEI. I mean do you live in a house or an apartment or a yurt or a van down by the river? We all live somewhere, whether we own it or rent it or maybe our parents own it. Most everyone here is not in their first home, apart maybe from those who are very young. My previous house we were there for a bit more than seven years, and we’ve been in our current house for almost six years now. Bob and Marg, they owned that house for 29 years before we bought it from them. Will we own it that for long? Who knows, but I have my doubts. We’re not likely to catch my grandmother, she had lived in the same house for 80 years when she passed away in 2020.

The places where we live now, though, those are all fairly temporary. Now, six years or seven years or 29 or even 80 years might not sound temporary, but it’s not exactly permanent, is it? Especially not when compared with eternity.

We put a lot of attention and effort into our temporary lodgings here. Folks spend vast sums of money and put countless hours into purchasing, repairing, maintaining, expanding, beautifying, and of course cleaning our homes and properties. Of course, unless you want to live in a hovel, it demands a certain amount of attention to keep a home in a reasonable state, but for some people it’s one of their main concerns, one of the main demands on their time and attention. It’s nice to have a beautiful home, but for however long you’re going to live there, how much effort will it take?

You might think that this is a sermon about how to invest your time in this life with a focus on eternity, and certainly that is a worthwhile subject. You’ve probably heard more than one sermon on that in the past, I know it’s certainly something that I’ve talked about in the past, and likely will again in the future. However, that’s not my primary topic for this morning. I do want to speak about eternity, though. We think a lot about eternity, we like to imagine what it will be like, but it can stretch the imagination, and frankly, it can hurt your head if you think about it too hard.

Now, if you have a good memory, you might recall that I spoke a sermon last year on the topic of eternal life and what it will look like. I don’t want to run over the exact same ground again, and I’m not planning on that, although I did read at least a few of those verses from John chapter 14 last time as well.

When it comes to the topic of eternal life, I’m speaking most specifically to the believers here this morning. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, then you are promised eternal life in heaven with Him. This is central to the message of salvation. After all, your soul is going to be around forever, it doesn’t wink out of existence when you die.

Atheists would dearly like to believe that, that is, after all, the easy way out. If everything is over and done once your heart stops beating, then there are no lasting consequences for what we have done in this life, but it’s not something that the human mind is readily able to accept. That’s because it isn’t true, and deep down we all know it. We know that right is right and wrong is wrong, even if we get a bit muddled and confused about which is which sometimes. We know that there are consequences to our choices, potentially good or bad. The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote that we have eternity in our hearts, we know that there is something beyond this life.

That something is not like the Hindus or Buddhists say, they claim that you reincarnate and come back as someone else or something else, until finally you get it right and end up in either paradise or non-existence, depending on what flavour you subscribe to. Not sure that non-existence is a good long term goal, in any case, that just brings us back around to atheism by the scenic route, but I digress. I could go through further issues with any number of additional world religions, but that’s not really my intent for this morning either. My point is that it’s important to remember it’s this life and only this life, you don’t get a second go around. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgement.

You go somewhere. Your soul, it’s forever. It’s going to go somewhere, you are going to go somewhere, your soul is going to continue to exist somewhere. Somewhere good or somewhere bad. Up or down. Heaven or hell. It’s one or the other, not some place in between. There is no limbo, no purgatory, no holding station. No door number three.

I don’t know about you, but eternal life sounds like the obvious preferred choice. If you’re here this morning listening, I probably don’t need to convince you of that, but sometimes the reminder might be welcome.

If you have concerns about the state of your eternal soul and where you are going to end up, please come and talk to me after the meeting, or if not me, talk to someone, please. This is too important to ignore. Your soul is of too much value to not bring this up, not to have assurance about it.

For those of us who are confident about eternity, those who are sure about where we are going, we likely have some thoughts about what to expect. That being said, we don’t always have a clear idea of what eternity will look like. There are some silly clichés such as everyone sitting on a cloud with a harp, hopefully you are not expecting that. It’s not terribly Biblical. Now, if you’re talking about the New Jerusalem, the crystal sea, the streets of gold, that has a far more solid basis.

One frequently repeated idea is the concept of having a mansion in heaven. There’s a considerable number of songs which mention that idea, some of which we sing here from time to time. “Victory in Jesus” mentions a mansion, as does “Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul” to name a few. Some are even more on the nose, such as “I’ve Got a Mansion Just Over the Hilltop.” When I went looking for examples I found one called “Mansions in Heaven” by John Mellencamp. It’s a familiar idea, to be sure. And I’m sorry to say, it’s wrong.

Now, you might be saying wait a minute, we read about that a few minutes ago. After all, this idea is based largely upon John 14:2, where Christ says to the disciples that in His Father’s house are many mansions, which is how it reads in the KJV, and in a number of other translations. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Maybe you have imagined that heaven will look like some sort of estate with rolling grounds, a large house, and then down the way a little distance there is another, similar house, and then another, and another, and so on. Maybe you picture something palatial with grand columns out front, a big front step, seven bedrooms, a big balcony, the sort of stereotypical place where we imagine that the ultra-wealthy would live. Or maybe you picture something ultra-modern with an angled roofline and way too much marble with a huge swimming pool out back, I don’t know. Different people have different ideas of what a mansion should look like. I’m not sure what your idea might be, but it’s probably time to rethink it.

In many other translations, it says instead that there are many rooms in my Father’s house, rather than mansions. The original Greek word is monē (mon-AY) from the root word meno (MEN-oh) and it means a place to stay, or the act of abiding somewhere. The second word there, a place, the Greek word is topos (TOP-os), means a location or a spot. In my Father’s house there are many places to stay, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a spot for you.

There are some people who complain about modern translations and say that the translators have taken away our promised mansions, but that was never really the case. Christ did not tell His disciples that everyone was getting a big house with a big yard and a three chariot garage. And why would He? That does not even make sense when you think about it. And my idea of an ideal house might be different from yours, and I’m sure it would be completely different from what the disciples would have thought, should they have expected large houses. The more you think about it, the more odd that thought becomes. But we do like the idea of having it, don’t we? Sometimes we think of heaven as being not so different from an earthly paradise, and mansions are what we associate with that here. But heaven is not going to be like that at all.

The notion of wealth and mansions and that sort of existence is very much tied to our ideas of what is ideal in this life, what we think success should look like. We want to live in big, fancy houses, just as we want to drive nice cars, wear expensive clothes, have lots of nice stuff and all of that. That is the dream of many, many people, and the idea that if they can’t have all of it in this life, then they can get something even better in the next, that is enticing for folks. That is enticing to our human nature, that covetous, greedy, proud and selfish old human nature that wants and wants and wants. We assume that what we want in this life is what we will get in eternity, but that is not the case at all, especially if what we want in this life is self-serving and unimportant.

Christ did not promise His disciples big fancy houses. Why would He? Keep in mind, that’s not even what they wanted, they had forsaken many of the comforts of this world which they already had to follow Him. There was no luxury to be found in the company of Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, it was the people, in particular the religious people, who were noticeably wealthy and powerful, who often received the harshest criticism from the Lord. John 14:2 is not about manor houses in eternity. It’s about having a place in the Father’s house, a place reserved, a place prepared by the Son of God Himself.

When we read it that way, it changes how we imagine it. Christ told the disciples that there were many places to stay in His Father’s house, that there was plenty of space, and that He would prepare a place for them. By extension, that includes you and me and anyone who trusts, follows, and believes in Christ. The Father’s house is not limited or small. There’s room for everyone.

I want to reassure you that there is no housing crisis in heaven. Here on the earth, we certainly are hearing a lot about that at the moment. In a lot of places, that’s nothing new, and frankly, it’s probably been a low to mid-grade issue in this part of the world for a very long time, but it’s a larger concern here and now than it has been in the recent past. I imagine that after the Second World War there might have been a similar crisis. We hear so much about that now, people are worried about where they will live, if they will find a place, or at least a place that they can afford.

In eternity, that’s not a concern. There is no waiting list, no sketchy landlords, no need to worry about mortgage rates or rent increases or renovictions. There’s room for everyone. Christ told the disciples this very specifically, there are many places to abide.

Not only is there space, there is space reserved. In Matthew chapter 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats is probably familiar, but I’ll read a few verses from there. Matthew 25:31-34 (31) When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (32)  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: (33)  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. (34)  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

I’ll stop there. Listen to what Christ says to those on His right hand: Come and inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you. Not prepared for the last five minutes either, but this is a realm that has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is not some sort of slapdash final hour find a spot in general seating type of arrangement; this has been in the works since the start of time as we know it. No matter what your housing status is at the moment, that should be a reassurance to you. Our earthly homes are temporary at best. Hereafter, they are already taken care of, and taken care of by the Saviour personally. That sounds like a pretty amazing offer to me.

Does this mean that I know what heaven is going to look like, what my place, what your place will resemble? No, I’m afraid not. We don’t know this, not specifically. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know, I can’t tell you that, and no one else can either. But I can tell you this: it’s really not all that important.

If we trust Christ to save our souls, if we trust that He has a place for us, then surely we can trust that it will be a good and suitable eternal abode? If we trust the Father to hold us in His power and keep us safe for all eternity, and if we believe that God so loved the world that He sent the Son to redeem us, and that if the Son so loved us enough to die for us, while we were yet sinners, mind you, then we should trust that He has good things in store for us. He didn’t save us from our sins because he wants to stuff us into a leaky canvas tent or the heavenly equivalent of a fleabag motel for all eternity. I’m quite confident that there no leaky tents or cheap motels in heaven. But that doesn’t mean that we should expect to spend eternity in the house from Fresh Prince of Bel Air or the Beverly Hillbillies, either.

Christ has a place for us, a place reserved for us. Why would it matter what it looks like?

If you have had your heart set on this particular vision of heaven, I trust that this will not be too disappointing. It’s not that I want to burst your bubble, although I have been told that I have a tendency to do that. It’s that we should refocus on what actually matters. It’s not what heaven looks like that’s important. It’s not about the high ceilings or the floor space or the fancy decor. There are streets of gold, but so what? Would you buy a house because you are impressed by the pavement on the road out front? It’s not about the beauty or the shine. It’s about the company.

Let me ask you this, in the here and now, where would you rather be? In a fancy and impressive building all by yourself, or perhaps with two or three hundred strangers, or in a simple cabin, or on a beach, or even out in a field, with a person or people that you love, and that love you? Is that a question that even needs to be asked? I know my answer, and I know it’s true from my own experience.  

Unfortunately, the question does need to be asked, because we do like fancy things. Or at least the idea of fancy things. If your first thought is to go for the luxury, well, how quickly would you tire of it? How many people who have great wealth find soon themselves unsatisfied and unfulfilled? If that is all that you are looking forward to in heaven then why would you even want to go there?

There’s a little children’s song that I remember from when I was a kid, which wasn’t yesterday. If I say Psalty the Singing Songbook, it might bring back memories for some of us, particularly those who were kids growing up in Christian homes in the 1980s, maybe the early 90s. As a kid I was confused for a time because I interpreted “Psalty” as being flavoured with salt, like pretzels, or seawater, and didn’t understand that it was in reference to a Psalter, or a book of Psalms and hymns. Bit of a difference there. My childhood confusion aside, the song I have in mind is called “Heaven is a Wonderful Place” and while it’s not exactly “Amazing Grace” or “And Can It Be That I Should Gain” it speaks an important truth. Don’t worry, I won’t try to sing it for you.

Heaven is a wonderful place
Filled with glory and grace
I want to see my Saviour’s face
‘Cause heaven is a wonderful place.

That’s pretty much it for the lyrics, those are repeated I’m not sure how many times overall. The message isn’t exactly hard to find. Heaven is a place which is wonderful. What makes it wonderful? Yes, there is glory, and there is grace, but most crucially, there is the Saviour. Heaven is the place where we will see Him face to face. That is the main thing, because without the Lord, the rest of it does not really matter. There is no value, no importance, no reason to be there if He is not there. The reason we can go to heaven is because He has redeemed us, and that is why we should want to be there.

At the other end of the musical spectrum, Fanny Crosby wrote a more nuanced and complete hymn that illustrates the importance of this, which also mentions a mansion, as it happens. The hymn is “My Saviour First of All” and it’s number 256 in our red hymnbook. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try and sing that one either. I will read one verse from it, though, verse three to be specific.

Oh, the dear ones in glory, how they beckon me to come,
And our parting at the river I recall;
To the sweet vales of Eden they will sing my welcome home;
But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.

The important thing about heaven, about eternal life in general, is who we will be with. The particulars of what it’s going to look like, where exactly it’s going to be located, what sort of space we will occupy, those things don’t matter, not really at all when you stop and think about it. If they do matter to you, if they concern you beyond the simple fact of wanting to know, then it’s time to re-evaluate.

Now, I get the wanting to know part, I get that, I definitely do. I’m someone who wants to know all the nitty-gritty details about anything that interests me, and I’ll gladly share all that knowledge with you if you ask, and maybe even if you don’t. My family is probably nodding vigorously at that, they know what I’m like, and some of them are like that as well. It’s great to know about stuff. But sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we don’t get to know, and that has to be okay as well.

God has told us, through the Bible, what we actually do need to know. In those verses we read from John 14 to start, Christ told His disciples what they needed to hear. They needed reassurance and comfort at that point, and they needed it more than they even knew, because He was going to be arrested only a few hours later, and then crucified only a few hours after that. They needed to know that even though the Son was going away, He had not abandoned them, and likewise, the Father had would not abandon them either. What’s more, if we continued reading the chapter, we would get to the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would likewise provide not only additional comfort, but also the indwelling and the resultant power to allow believers to follow and serve God in this fallen world.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, where we are told about the resurrection and the rapture, that was also given to comfort believers. I’ll read a few verses from there now, starting at verse 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (14)  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (15)  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (16)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (18)  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Notice how we are not told when this will take place, nor much of the detail of what it will look like, apart from rising to the clouds and meeting the Lord in the air. It doesn’t describe where we are going, what we will do when we get there, or any further order of events. The point is that we will be with the Lord. That is what matters, that is what was going to provide comfort to believers who mourned the loss of loved ones. This was their coming hope, as it is ours.

Do we need to know what heaven is going to look like? We are given a certain amount of description in Revelation chapters 21 and the start of 22, as we heard earlier, and it all sounds impressive with the gemstones and gold, but we are also constantly reminded that God is present. He is the key feature. The place is not special because of the niceties, it is because He is there, His throne is there, and most crucially, His Son is there. The rest is window dressing.

Trust but Verify

Read Luke 1:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 to start.

Back before Christmas, when I was preparing for the Christmas Eve service and deciding on readings, I looked up several familiar passages, in particular from Isaiah, and Micah, and of course the second chapters of Matthew and Luke. At the time, I also took a look at the context for the various passages. Some of this context is quite well known, such as the genealogy from Matthew chapter 1. Luke chapter 1 is also well known, it talks about the parentage and birth of John the Baptist and Mary’s angelic visitor. It’s a big chapter, there’s a lot that takes place in it, there’s 80 verses, making it the longest chapter in the New Testament by verse count. I’ve heard multiple different sermons that address various sections of the chapter. But not all of it. The very first part of the chapter, is one that I don’t think I’ve ever heard referenced in a sermon, or devotional, or a Sunday school lesson.

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Best Laid Plans

Read James 4:13-17 and 2 Kings 5:1-8 to start.

A couple of weeks ago was New Years Eve, and as it happens on that day my family and I had gone to a festive gathering. There were some good friends there, some slight acquaintances, and some complete strangers. One of the strangers, who, as it turns out, is the brother-in-law of one of my best friends, because that’s how things go in PEI, is a pastor at a church in Charlottetown, and I chatted with him for a bit about sermon topics. I told him about the topic that I had chosen for this morning, and how it was an important and valuable topic, and also based on a passage that I don’t think I had ever heard anyone speak from before.

This is not that sermon. Maybe some month soon I will preach that, but not this morning. My original plans, my well considered outline, it went out the window in favour of something else. That is often the nature of plans, though. We make plans, sometimes simple and straightforward plans, other times elaborate and complicated plans with multiple stages that run over months or years, then things change, and those plans go down the drain.

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Sunk Costs and the Value of Letting Go

Read Mark 10:17-27 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 to start.

Many years ago when I was in university, my first year of university, in fact, I took a course in economics. It was the only course in economics that I took, and I remember little from it, aside from the fact that I didn’t want to learn any more economics. I do however remember a few economic concepts. One of those is the idea of sunk costs.

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Take it to the Lord in Prayer

Read Luke 10:38-42 and Psalm 69: 1-5 to start, see also “What a Friend We Have in Jesus“.

This morning I’m going to do something a little different, or maybe a lot different, in a few different ways. First, I’m going to start at the end, which might sound crazy but I think it will make sense once we get going. Second, this is probably going to feel more like three small sermons that are linked together, rather than one cohesive sermon. And the reason for that is the third different thing, that even though we started with a scripture reading, and we heard an entirely different passage earlier, my sermon is not really about either of those passages, but it’s about a hymn. We sang it a few minutes ago, number 517 in our red hymnbook, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”

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