“Goin’ Home”
2 Corinthians 5:6-8

Click for Audio

Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost—July 8, 2018

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Our text is from today’s Epistle Reading in the fifth chapter of 2nd Corinthians.  St. Paul writes:  “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  We live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Goin’ home, goin’ home, I’m a-goin home.

Quiet like, some still day, I’m jes goin’ home.

Those are the words to an old American spiritual song, once sung by slaves in the South.  Their lives here on earth were filled with hardship, toil, and trouble.  But, they looked ahead, not with fear and despair, but with faith and hope.  They looked ahead to a better life; with confidence they looked ahead to goin’ home.

St. Paul also had a life of hardship, toil, and trouble.  He describes his sufferings a few verses after our text: “troubles, hardships and distresses; beatings, imprisonments and riots; hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.”

And later in 2nd Corinthians he writes: “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.  I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.”  Tradition says that finally St. Paul was beheaded, executed because of his faith.

But, like those American slaves, in the midst of all his hardship, toil, and trouble, St. Paul looked ahead.  He looked ahead, not with fear and despair, but with faith and hope.  He looked ahead to a better life.  St. Paul looked ahead with confidence to goin’ home:

 “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  We live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Does it seem that YOUR life is also filled with hardship, toil, and trouble?  How can YOU look ahead, not with fear and despair, but with faith and hope?  How can you be confident like St. Paul?  How can you be confident like those slaves, who even in the midst of all their trouble sang, “Goin’ home, goin’ home, I’m a goin’ home”?

Confidence of a better life in heaven does NOT come from relying on yourself for salvation, your own good works to earn your way to heaven.  Because God doesn’t just say, “Try your best and that’s good enough.”  Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount that God demands, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  And in James the Lord declares, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”  Our good works do NOT bring confidence, because our good works aren’t good enough.  The Book of Isaiah says that in God’s sight, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”

St. Paul warns in the last verse of today’s Epistle Reading: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  The bad news is, by that standard we all deserve to be found guilty and eternally condemned.

But, the Good News is, on Judgment Day, the Judge will be your friend.  The Good News is the Judge himself has already suffered for your guilt and paid the price for all your sins.  The Good News is your sinful works will not even be entered into evidence in the heavenly court.  For, they are all gone, forgotten, forgiven.  The Lord says in Isaiah, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”  And the Book of Micah declares, “He will have compassion on us.  He will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

The Good News is, you will never suffer any punishment for your sin, because the punishment has already been completely fulfilled for you, by your Savior.  As St. Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.” 

“Do not let your hearts be trouble,” Jesus says, “trust in God, trust also in me.”  The Good News is that for Jesus’ sake, your heavenly Father forgives all your sins and makes you his child and gives you faith to trust in Jesus for your salvation.

“In my Father’s house are many rooms,” Jesus promises, “I am going there to prepare a place for you.”  The Good News is, Jesus has prepared a place for you, personally, in heaven, and you’re a goin’ home. 

“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  We live by faith, not by sight.”  By faith you trust that God loves you, even when your life is filled with hardship, toil, and trouble.  By faith you know that God is not punishing you, because your punishment has all been paid for you, by Jesus on the cross.  By faith you are certain that God will never leave you or forsake you.  By faith you are sure that “God works all things together for the good of those who love him.”  By faith, “We are confident, “St. Paul says, “and would prefer to be away from the body at home with the Lord.”  By faith you are confident that you’re a goin’ home.

Remember the Parable of the Prodigal Son?  He ran away from home and wasted his inheritance.  Then when he had nowhere else to go, he returned home to his father.  He didn’t know what to expect.  Would his father refuse to see him?  Would he throw him out?  Would he demand repayment?  Would he be bitter and angry and unforgiving?

But, the father in the parable represents God, our heavenly Father, and our Father who art in heaven is not like that.  He is never bitter or angry or unforgiving toward you, his precious, beloved child.

The parable says that when the prodigal son returned home, “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion . . . so he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, kissed him,” and welcomed him home.  So it is with your heavenly Father; so it is with your heavenly home.  As Psalm 23 promises, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  We live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Goin’ home, goin’ home, YOU’RE a-goin home.

Quiet like, some still day, YOU’RE jes goin’ home.

It’s not far, carry on, YOU’RE a goin’ home.