The Eternal: The Things that Matter Most

Sermon- The Eternal: The Things that Matter Most June 10, 2012

2Corinthians 4:13-5:1 Trinity Church, Staunton

The Rev. Shelby Ochs Owen

An audio version of this sermon is available here. 

Outer nature vs. inner nature. Temporary vs. eternal. What can be seen vs. what cannot be seen. Earthly tent vs. a building from God. In the passage from the second letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul uses contrasting images to teach his readers to search for what matters, at least what matters in the eyes of God.

In our culture, so often it is the external, and yet temporary, qualities of a given situation that seem to be emphasized- how someone or something looks, how much money something costs, how much money someone makes, the education or vocational level someone has achieved. It is rare when advertisers suggest that we look below the surface of a situation, rare when we are encouraged to pay attention to the eternal; rare to be taught to search for the things of God, the things that matter.

Part of today’s passage from Corinthians is often used at funerals---for good reason: “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature in being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of Glory beyond all measure; because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal…” What a wonderful reminder at the death of a loved one that the things that matter most are of an eternal nature! But truly, it need not be only in death that we tune into those things that are not seen.

You probably know that the Eucharist is one of two sacraments in the Episcopal Church-Baptism being the other. And what is a sacrament? Directly from our catechism, a sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.” It is a powerful way to help us to focus on, to remain in, to engage with the eternal love of God, and through the Eucharist we are united with Christ and to one another.

In Hymn 51 which we sang today at the 10:00a.m. service, the final verse states, “In the Lord’s service bread and wine are offered, that Christ may take them, bless them, break and give them to all his people his own life imparting, food everlasting.” So this sacrament, this visible sign of bread and wine, while it does indeed matter, connects us to the inward grace of Jesus’ body and blood, the life eternal. The table from which we partake of the Eucharist could be seen as one end of a longer table that extends from the here and now, the earthly, the temporary, to the other end- the heavenly table, the table of the greater life, the permanent, the eternal, the really real. We can see the Eucharist as the means through which our sins are forgiven, the strengthening of our life with Christ and one another and the nourishment in eternal life.

As we are reminded that we are united with Christ and with one another, we are given perspective on and strength for this earthly life. The writer Paul was fully acquainted with the difficulties of the earthly life; he was afflicted, persecuted, perplexed. Fully aware how fragile we are as human beings, Paul says, “Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” If this is true, then there is obviously more going on around us and within us than we even know about! Paul was all about recognizing the power of God working through us as believers and as limited human beings. In the frailty of our flesh we cannot always see the full reality of the situation at hand. In fact, I would say we almost never, except perhaps in a mystical experience, see the full reality.

Many years ago, before electric refrigerators replaced iceboxes, the manager of a local ice house lost his watch, but no one could find it. Finally the manger posted signs all over town offering a substantial reward to anyone who found his watch .

The next day a young boy rode up to the ice house on his bicycle and asked if he could look for the watch. The manager said, “Don’t bother me, boy” But the boy was insistent. Finally the manager told him, “Look boy, we can’t have you underfoot while we’re moving these big blocks of ice. You can come back on Thursday afternoon when everyone is gone.” Meanwhile, the search continued, but the watch failed to materialize.

On Thursday afternoon the young boy came back to look for the watch. The manager lead him into the dark, cold room and ten minutes later the boy returned with the watch to claim his reward. The manager was amazed. He asked, “How did you find the watch? Nobody else could find it and we’ve gone over every inch of this place. How did you find it?” The boy replied, “It was easy. All I did was listen for the tick.” (The Portable Pep Talk, by Alexander Lockhart, p.167)

Tuning into the eternal is kind of like listening to the tick, the heart beat of God. When we cannot see what God is up to in our lives, when God doesn’t seem visible, perhaps we can listen and see with our hearts. The sacrament of the Eucharist reminds us of the reality of the invisible, the very realness of the presence of God, the actuality of divine love.

We as very human, human beings will experience difficulties. Some of us already have- deep disappointments that sometimes have us questioning the goodness of God. Paul related his own suffering as totally tied into Christ’s own suffering and death, and he also recognized just as we have died with Christ so will we be resurrected with him. There lay his hope! While we have these slight (even though they may not seem so slight!) momentary afflictions, we will experience a glory beyond all measure. There lies our hope as well. That no matter what we suffer, what difficulties we experience in this world our inner person is renewed every single day. To be renewed is to let the Holy Spirit take hold of us. If we can simply relax into God, surrender our own will to his goodness, we will find the fruit that the Spirit wants for us will reside in us. That fruit is love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

If we can confidently expect to be raised up with Christ, to be resurrected with him, we have reason to hope. So let us remember that the external things, while they tell us something, they do not tell us the whole story. There is more to God’s story and ours than meets the eye.

Master Eckhart (13^thc. theologian)

A man

born blind can easily

deny the magnificence of a vast landscape.

He can easily deny all the wonders that he cannot touch,

smell, taste, or hear.

But one day the wind will show you its kindness

and remove the tiny patches that

covered our eyes,

and we will see God more clearly

than we have ever seen

ourselves.

So search for the things that matter, the things unseen, yet permanent and eternal. Do not lose heart. Tune yourself into the heartbeat of God. Relax in the eternal love of God until the day God removes those tiny patches that cover our eyes.

Amen.