Living By Faith
Prayer of Illumination:
Lord God, our souls wait for You, more than those who watch for the morning. Send Your Spirit upon us as Your word is read and proclaimed so that we may experience You and know the way of truth and love. Amen.
When my family walked the pilgrim’s journey - the Camino de Santiago - three weeks ago, we each carried a backpack of around 11-15 lb (5-7 kg).
In the backpack, I had two sets of clothes, a sleeping bag, a make-up bag, a toiletry bag, a microfiber towel, slippers, a bag of candies, a first-aid kit bag, a water bottle, trekking poles, and some other minor things like a phone charger, poncho, etc.
We woke up around 6 am each day, got ready quietly because we were sharing a room with many other pilgrims, and began a full day’s journey of 23-28 km. We had 2-3 breaks on the way and arrived in a new town around 2 pm.
Once we checked in at a pilgrim’s hostel (Albergue), we took a shower, washed our clothes and hung them to dry, took a short rest, went out grocery shopping for dinner, cooked, ate, and went to bed.
That was the routine. It was a very simple life, with a few things to carry, fewer responsibilities, and fewer noises, like a minimalist’s life.
As I was walking, I got to see many stunning scenic areas. The heart-stirring poppy flower fields, magnificent churches, breathtaking sunrise over the endless vineyards, and refreshing streams of water.
But No matter how lovely the village or scenery was, I did not put a tent up there to stay and enjoy the beauty. I just passed through for the next destination.
The pilgrim's journey represents the journey of life in general. Jacob also compared his life to a pilgrimage in Gen. 47:9. He said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years.” We are just passing through this life, journeying toward heaven.
In today’s text, Paul compares our life in this world to the earthly tent, which is temporary and transient to get to our eternal house in heaven.
Today’s passage continues from last week’s Scripture lesson, in which Paul defended his apostleship against the accusations of the false apostles who showed up at Corinth. The false apostles relied on and boasted about their qualifications and achievements.
But, Paul was not embarrassed about not being impressive and powerful. Rather, Paul was prepared to be vulnerable and take Christ and His suffering as his model, and relied only on his faith and that in which he believes.
He quoted a reference from Psalm 116 - “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” The psalmist was greatly afflicted. He cried, “The cords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.”
But he praised God, saying, “You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” Because of his faith, the psalmist continued to speak of God’s greatness.
With the same spirit of faith, Paul and his co-workers believed and continued to speak of their faith in Christ despite their suffering.
The faith of which Paul spoke was simple. It was faith in God who raised Jesus from the dead; a faith that also carried with it the hope that God will raise both Paul himself and all the followers of Christ Jesus on the final day.
That was why Paul confidently proclaimed “We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do but we do not lose heart. We are ill-treated due to our faith in Jesus, but God does not leave us alone. We are knocked down but not knocked out.”
Paul never pretended to be Superman. He was merely human. All the suffering he experienced truly hurt him. It left scars. He was discouraged, disappointed, and dismayed at times. For those looking from the outside, he must have seemed to be wasting away.
Perhaps some wondered—and some in Corinth might even have said—"Why are you doing this to yourself? Haven't you done enough? Why not take some time to focus on yourself?"
Our life gives us all sorts of causes and reasons for discouragement. Every day we face the temptation to ‘lose heart.’ There are a million reasons for discouragement large and small.
While we’re living in this earthly tent, the temporary housing, we cannot avoid the hardships of life. What kind of trouble do you have now?
Are you afraid that your beloved spouse will leave you soon for the eternal home?
Are you afraid you might forget your spouse’s or children’s faces?
Are you discouraged when you look around and realize, that what you have accomplished in your life seems meaningless?
Do you wake up at night in fear of feeling like you’re all alone?
Are you heartbroken because your grown-up child does not seem to be living a faithful life?
Do you lose heart when you check your bank statement and find that you don’t have enough money to pay the mortgage?
Are you distressed when your health condition is declining rapidly?
Are you downcast when you cannot participate in conversations because you cannot hear them; or when you cannot walk the stairs; or when you can’t do gardening anymore because you cannot bend?
For the younger generation: maybe when you can’t find a job and have been jobless for 2 years? When you can’t afford rent or a car?
Are you worried because you might have another anxiety attack due to the uncertainty of your life?
As for me, I get discouraged because I used to have perfect vision but now, without my reading glasses, I cannot read anything small. I have 4 reading glasses and 2 multi-focal glasses.
I feel blue because I used to be pretty, but now I see the deep lines, wrinkles, dark spots; saggy skin, and grey hairs in the mirror.
I feel miserable because I used to have a good memory and remember names well, but now I can’t think of the vocabulary or the name I want to say.
I am discouraged when my English has not improved; when it seems like my prayers are not answered; when I don’t see many people on Sunday; and when I feel like I didn’t accomplish anything after a long and busy day.
Let me tell you a story.
“It was advertised that the devil was going to put his tools up for sale. On the date of the sale, the tools were placed for public inspection, each being marked with its sale price. It was a treacherous lot of implements: Hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Doubt, Lying, Pride, and so on.
Laid apart from the rest of the pile was a harmless-looking tool, well-worn and priced very high. “What’s the name of this tool?" asked one of the purchasers. "Oh," said the adversary, "that's Discouragement." "Why have you priced it so high?"
"Because it's more useful to me than the others. I can pry open and get inside a person's heart with that one when I cannot get near him with the other tools. But once I get inside, I can make them do what I choose. It's a badly worn tool because I use it on almost everyone since few people know it belongs to me."
Discouragement is a major tool of the devil. Discouragement knows no boundaries. We all face troubles and afflictions in life and they discourage us. Christ-followers, the church, and you and I are not immune.
That is why Paul tells us, “Do not lose heart.” Paul said, “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is renewed day by day.”
Paul affirmed that although our outward body is wasting away, our real self is in the process of renewal. Our body is subject to decay, yet those touched by the Spirit of God experience a renewal of the inward self. This renewal can only be seen through the eyes of faith.
Just like scientists look through a microscope or a telescope to gaze at what they cannot see, so Paul is encouraging us to look at our suffering, hardships, pain, grief, regrets, or loneliness through the lens of Jesus.
He also describes it as preparation. Our suffering is not meaningless; it serves a purpose. Suffering prepares us to experience the far "heavier" glory of eternity.
And Paul declares, in Romans 5: “But we boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.”
The troubles we face shape us. The sickness, weakness, disability, disappointment, and pain humble us and refine our character.
God strengthens us to endure life’s challenges, and as we endure, our character is built more like Jesus.
And then, Paul urges us to shift our perspective - to see our life as a tent and long for heavenly dwelling, just as pilgrims don’t get attached to the country they’re passing through.
They have a destination in mind and look forward to getting there. If they stop at a nice hotel, they don’t start hanging pictures on the wall and settling in.
This certainly doesn’t mean we dismiss or ignore the realities of life faced in this world. It doesn’t mean our life here is meaningless and we disregard what God has put before us today.
Instead, it means we recognize that our suffering or hardships have a beginning and they will have an end. They are finite and temporary, but what God promises us in Jesus is infinite and eternal.
People in the world focus on the here and now. People pursue material things - bigger houses, bigger TVs, brand-name clothing, designer handbags and accessories, plastic surgeries, the best education, more extracurricular activities, success, more money, early retirement...
I’m sure many of you already realized that these things are meaningless. These material things will never give you satisfaction.
Friends, God’s work is ongoing - renewing every day, even when it is not immediately apparent. The Holy Spirit is even active in our lives now, such that ‘we are being renewed day by day.’
So, do not lose heart. Do not be discouraged.
Accept what is and think about what is to come.
We are being shaped into the image of Christ, and this work of grace progressed in the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ.
Friends, our bodies are withering and decaying every day.
We may need a walker to walk, hearing aids to hear, reading glasses to read, dentures to eat, wigs to cover thinning hair, and several supplements and vitamins to boost energy.
And the devil will keep bothering us with troubles, hardships, disappointments, and discouragement. But let us keep the faith ever strong.
Remember, “Even though our physical being is gradually wasting away, our spiritual being, our inner nature is being renewed day by day by God’s grace. And this slight momentary affliction and trouble we suffer will bring us tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble.”
Let us not be discouraged by what is seen and temporary. But instead, let us fix our eyes on what is unseen and what is eternal.
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the life’s challenge we face is not easy. It hurts and discourages us, but we know that You sustain us. Help us look at our afflictions as light compared to the pleasures of what is coming, which are unimaginably great. Help us to fix our eyes on what is unseen and eternal. In the name of Jesus, our Source of Hope, we pray. Amen.