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Sermons from our Favorite Songs
“This World is not my Home”
One of my responsibilities as a gospel preacher, as I see it, is to get my audience ready for death. I don’t want to sound morbid because death is a beginning. It’s a new beginning. In the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes, the antagonist of the illustrious detective, Henry Blackwood, is on trial and the governor says, “Lord Henry Blackwood, you are sentenced to death for the practice of black magic, the unholy murders of five innocent young women, and the attempted murder of a sixth. Have you any final words?” And Blackwood responds: “Death… is only the beginning.”
In Christianity, that statement is even more true – death is only the beginning. We are afraid of death because we have never experienced it and very few people have ever experienced death and then come back to tell about it – no one in our lifetimes. So, we are afraid of death.
Yet, a preacher’s job, it seems to me, is partly to get us not to be afraid of death. Song writers try to do the same thing. We have so many songs about heaven, to try to encourage us to look forward to that new home that is waiting for us. In our song book, in the “topical index” section, there are 60 songs that are listed under the heading: “Heaven.”
So, let’s take a look more closely at the thoughts of “This World is Not My Home” and its theology.
THE ANGELS BECKON ME TO THE TREASURES:
Take a look, first, at 1 Peter 2:11-12. If this world is not our home and we’re “just passing through,” if we are truly just “aliens” and “strangers” in this world, then how does that affect our behavior? You just don’t put down roots. You keep relationships at a superficial level. Any changes that I would make to my house would not be changes that would be expensive; I would not get my money’s worth out of the changes if I’m only living there temporarily. So it is with our spiritual lives. Why get bogged down in this life and its affairs if we are just passing through? This world is not our permanent home; our permanent home is much better.
Our treasures are laid up in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21). Let us imagine there was a bank in New Mexico that paid 30% interest on all deposits. Let us imagine that the one stipulation for earning that interest rate is that you had to agree that, once you retire, you will only spend that money within a 20 mile radius of that bank in New Mexico. It would be hard not to invest in that bank, right? But, if we started sending our retirement income to that bank in New Mexico, then we would make plans that, once we retired, we would be moving to New Mexico. Living close to that bank would be a stipulation for receiving that great retirement income.
So it is that we make our deposits in spiritual matters. Our time is invested in spiritual matters, investing in the work of Jesus Christ. Our interests are invested in spiritual matters. Our hearts’ desires are invested in spiritual matters. Our money is invested in spiritual matters, in the work of Jesus Christ. That means that the interest that Jesus will pay is astronomical.
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I AM WEAK AND POOR BUT THEY’RE EXPECTING ME:
The key idea in this verse is that our salvation does not depend on who we are. It does not matter if we are American or Chinese. Salvation does not depend on whether we are black or white. Our eternal destiny does not depend on whether we are male or female. Married or single. Whether we have children or we do not have children. The song writer specifically mentions being “weak and poor.” That is, our salvation does not depend on whether we are rich or poor. There will be rich people in heaven, but poor people will be there too (James 2:5).
Paul says that the Christians in Thessalonica are Paul’s “hope, joy, crown, and glory” in the presence of Jesus when He comes again (1 Thess. 2:19-20). Paul will see those Christians. Paul will know those Christians. Paul will rejoice over those Christians when he sees them saved, in heaven. Who is expecting me? All those faithful who have lived and died before me, who know me. Mom and Dad. My grandmother. My grandfather. I don’t know who else.
Someone is waiting for you and me on the other side. It might even be the apostle Paul, Peter, John. Isaiah. Habakkuk. Adam and Eve. But there will be a multitude there and they are waiting for us to get there too.
SAINTS ARE SHOUTING VICTORY & SINGING SWEET PRAISE:
Heaven is called, here, the “glory-land,” the land of “glory.” God is the glory in heaven and we’ll bask in the glory of God when we reach heaven. If you like the heat of the sun on a Florida beach, you’ll love the warmth of the glory of God in heaven. We’ll experience that eternally. As “saints on every hand shout victory.” Take a look at Revelation 15:2-6 and then 14:1-5.
The picture we have of heaven here is one of victory – for all those who have overcome Satan and his temptations on earth, not through their own power but through the blood of Jesus Christ and their faithful dedication to the Gospel of Christ, the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Imagine that you are on your death bed and you feel the approach of the grim reaper. That is, you know death is approaching soon. You close your eyes, take one deep breath and then, you know that your spirit has left your body. The Bible teaches we have consciousness after we die. You are conscious that you have died. But just as soon as you realize that, you also feel the strong presence of a supernatural being lifting you up, at least lifting your spirit up. You turn and see an angel – it doesn’t matter what the angel looks like (but he radiates purity, strength, and confidence). In the distance, you can hear singing – the singing of your favorite hymn. Even though there is some distance, you can hear the singing distinctly and it is, quite literally, the prettiest singing you have ever heard, not a single note is off. The angel carries you toward that sound and as you get nearer and nearer, the singing becomes more powerful, not loud in an obnoxious kind of way, but loud in a powerful, penetrating type of way. As if the singing goes right through you, into your heart and soul.
Yes, much of this is our imagination, something of an informed imagination, but an imagination nonetheless. What is not an imagination is that death is only the beginning.
What is not imagination is that this world is not our home. We are just passing through. Do our lives reflect our conviction?
-Paul Holland
