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“In the World But Not of the World” 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 *Click for Audio* Pastor Kevin Vogts Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas Third Sunday after the Epiphany—January 25, 2015 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is today’s Epistle Reading, in which the Apostle Paul warns us not to become engrossed in the things of this world, because the time is short, the end of all things is at hand, and the world in its present form is passing away. A few years ago in the movie “The Terminal,” actor Tom Hanks played a man from a foreign country caught in a bureaucratic snafu, who is not allowed to leave New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. The movie shows how he lives for months in the airport’s international terminal. He actually becomes quite happy and comfortable there, and eventually he doesn’t really want to leave. The airport was supposed to be only a temporary place he was passing through on his journey, but it became his home. That movie was actually based on a real-life story. It happened not in New York but in Paris. Merhan Nasseri was a refugee from Iran who arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1988, having lost his passport and entrance visa. For more than ten years he was forbidden to leave, but even after he got immigration papers, and could have left anytime he wanted, he had become so attached to the airport that he didn’t want to leave. He kept on living there until 2006, when illness forced him to finally leave the airport for the first time in 18 years. Just like in the movie, what is supposed to be a temporary place you only pass through on your journey instead became his home. In both the movie and the real-life situation the movie was based on, the problem was the lack of a passport and entrance visa, proving citizenship, and giving the right to pass THROUGH the airport and enter the country. Paul says in Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” The entire planet Earth is, in a way, sort of an enormous “spaceport,” where we are all waiting for our journey to another world. But, the bad news is, all of us collectively lost our passport and our entrance visa permitting us to enter this other world of heaven, when humankind fell into sin. Because of our sin, our final destination at the end of our lives in this world was changed, from heaven to hell. But, the Good News is, Christ paid for all your sins and earned for you the right to enter eternal life. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he says. “Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will take you to be with me. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Jesus is your passport and entrance visa into heaven. Trust in him; he will take you to be with him in eternal life. “For our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly AWAIT a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is that period of WAITING in this world for our final journey to heaven which Paul is talking about in our text. “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short.” Paul is writing by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit and speaking here from God’s perspective when he says “the time is short.” It has now been nearly 2,000 years since he wrote those words, but as the Apostle Peter explains, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” All throughout the New Testament, the Second Coming of Christ, the final judgment, and the end of the world at the Last Day are pictured as happening immediately. The Apostle John writes, “Dear children, this is the last hour.” The Apostle James says, “The Judge is standing at the door!” Paul says in Romans, “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.” Peter says, “The end of all things is at hand.” This is not a mistake or error the part of the Bible, or the Bible’s writers, for they are writing by the inspiration of and on behalf of God, and so they are writing from God’s perspective. “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” What the Bible calls the “last days” actually means the entire era we call “A.D.”, “Anno Domini,” the year of the Lord. For it was his birth that ushered in the “last days.” As the book of Hebrews says, “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” From God’s perspective, from the perspective of eternity, from the perspective of the entire time since the creation of the world, the approximately 2,000 years since the birth of Christ is “the last days.” “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.” For the movie “The Terminal” they constructed one of the world’s largest, most expensive movie sets, a life-size, completely working airport terminal. To make it realistic, all of the restaurants and stores other amenities were real. You could eat in the food court; you could shop in the stores. Tom Hanks said, “It was the most comfortable movie set I’ve ever worked on . . . Actually, I think an airport—if you don’t have anyplace to go and can just relax there—is almost like a resort.” What he’s referring to is that in the past decades trillions of dollars have been spent at airports across the country, adding restaurants, shopping malls, luxury hotels, and many other comforts and conveniences. That’s the debate going on right now over the airport in Kansas City. The goal in the airport industry is to transform airports from just a temporary place you’re reluctantly passing through into a destination, where not only passengers but even people from the community want to go and stay. Spiritually, that’s what Paul is warning us about in our text. Don’t treat this temporary terminal like your real home. You are only passing through this world, you are only waiting here for your final journey to heaven. “From now on those who . . . use the things of the world [should live] as if not engrossed in them.” Spaceport Earth has so many wonderful amenities. And there is nothing wrong with using those things while you are waiting here. But, Paul is warning us not to let the things of this world so distract you that, like a passenger waiting for a flight, you don’t heed the boarding announcement and miss your final journey home. “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none.” Paul continues with a representative list of things in this world that could possibly hinder you on your journey home. He begins very pointedly with the one worldly thing that for many people is the most near and dear, often the only thing that really matters in this world: your spouse. And that is representative of all personal and family relations. While you are waiting here in this world it is a great comfort to have loving family and friends. The greatest blessing is when your family and friends are waiting WITH you in anticipation of the final journey home. But, if that is not the case, you must not let even your beloved family or closest friends become a hindrance on your journey through this world to your heavenly home. Jesus puts it this way: “Anyone who loves his father or mother MORE than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter MORE than me is not worthy of me.” “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not.” The prevailing worldview today is hedonism, that your primary purpose in life is the pursuit of pleasure and avoiding pain. Paul is warning against adopting a hedonistic worldview, making pleasure and avoiding pain the primary purpose of your life in this world. For, we look forward in hope to another world, with surpassingly greater joys than this world could ever give us, and with an end to all suffering and sorrow. Jesus puts it this way in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. . . Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” Speaking of this life and the eternal life to come, Psalm 30 says, “Weeping may remain for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.” In our modern American culture that last is probably the greatest temptation: to become engrossed in the material things of this world. Material things are not an end in themselves, but blessings from the Lord to help keep you comfortable here, “while we wait” Paul says in Titus, “for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” They’ve hit a snag at many airports where they’ve attempted to convert the airport into a shopping mall, both for passengers and the general community. Psychologically, people just don’t think about shopping at the airport. Usually they’ll only buy what they actually need for the journey. Part of the reason is they don’t want to be burdened and weighed down on their journey with extra things. That’s what Paul is saying in our text. Concern yourself only with what you actually need for your journey home; don’t become overly burdened and weighed down with extra things that may hinder you in your journey. Jesus puts it this way: “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with . . . the cares of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly.” “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” The Greek word for the “present form” of this world, which is passing away, is used to refer to the scenery for a stage. It’s a tradition in theater that immediately after a play the first thing you do is have the strike party, when the set is taken apart. After they completed filming “The Terminal,” that’s what happened to one of the largest, most expensive movie sets ever constructed. That complete, elaborate, working airport terminal they built was taken apart. Shakespeare said that, “All the world’s a stage,” and one way to think of the end of all things at Last Day is the final strike party, when this set, in which our lives in this world were played out, is dismantled, and replaced by the director with the new set for our new lives in the new world. As Peter says, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” That is the ultimate reason for you not to cling to the things of this world. “For this world in its present form is passing away.” In commenting on this text, Martin Luther says: “Christians should treasure the eternal blessing which is theirs by faith, forsaking this life, so that they do not sink too deeply into it, either with love and desire, or with suffering and weariness. But they should rather behave like guests on earth, using everything for a short time. In this way they live in the world at all times. They make use of the world as an inn, a temporary abode from which they must emigrate in a short time, and so they do not attach their heart to the affairs of this life. They tend to worldly matters with their left hand, while at the same time they raise their right hand upward to the eternal homeland. And no matter what their lot may be in this temporary abode, it is satisfactory to them; for they know that eternal mansions have been prepared for them by the Son of God.” “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” Amen. Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

“In the World But Not of the World”
1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Third Sunday after the Epiphany—January 25, 2015

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

Our text is today’s Epistle Reading, in which the Apostle Paul warns us not to become engrossed in the things of this world, because the time is short, the end of all things is at hand, and the world in its present form is passing away.

A few years ago in the movie “The Terminal,” actor Tom Hanks played a man from a foreign country caught in a bureaucratic snafu, who is not allowed to leave New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. The movie shows how he lives for months in the airport’s international terminal. He actually becomes quite happy and comfortable there, and eventually he doesn’t really want to leave. The airport was supposed to be only a temporary place he was passing through on his journey, but it became his home.

That movie was actually based on a real-life story. It happened not in New York but in Paris. Merhan Nasseri was a refugee from Iran who arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1988, having lost his passport and entrance visa. For more than ten years he was forbidden to leave, but even after he got immigration papers, and could have left anytime he wanted, he had become so attached to the airport that he didn’t want to leave. He kept on living there until 2006, when illness forced him to finally leave the airport for the first time in 18 years. Just like in the movie, what is supposed to be a temporary place you only pass through on your journey instead became his home.

In both the movie and the real-life situation the movie was based on, the problem was the lack of a passport and entrance visa, proving citizenship, and giving the right to pass THROUGH the airport and enter the country. Paul says in Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” The entire planet Earth is, in a way, sort of an enormous “spaceport,” where we are all waiting for our journey to another world.

But, the bad news is, all of us collectively lost our passport and our entrance visa permitting us to enter this other world of heaven, when humankind fell into sin. Because of our sin, our final destination at the end of our lives in this world was changed, from heaven to hell.

But, the Good News is, Christ paid for all your sins and earned for you the right to enter eternal life. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he says. “Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will take you to be with me. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Jesus is your passport and entrance visa into heaven. Trust in him; he will take you to be with him in eternal life. “For our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly AWAIT a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is that period of WAITING in this world for our final journey to heaven which Paul is talking about in our text. “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short.” Paul is writing by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit and speaking here from God’s perspective when he says “the time is short.” It has now been nearly 2,000 years since he wrote those words, but as the Apostle Peter explains, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

All throughout the New Testament, the Second Coming of Christ, the final judgment, and the end of the world at the Last Day are pictured as happening immediately. The Apostle John writes, “Dear children, this is the last hour.” The Apostle James says, “The Judge is standing at the door!” Paul says in Romans, “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.” Peter says, “The end of all things is at hand.”

This is not a mistake or error the part of the Bible, or the Bible’s writers, for they are writing by the inspiration of and on behalf of God, and so they are writing from God’s perspective. “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”

What the Bible calls the “last days” actually means the entire era we call “A.D.”, “Anno Domini,” the year of the Lord. For it was his birth that ushered in the “last days.” As the book of Hebrews says, “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” From God’s perspective, from the perspective of eternity, from the perspective of the entire time since the creation of the world, the approximately 2,000 years since the birth of Christ is “the last days.”

“What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.”

For the movie “The Terminal” they constructed one of the world’s largest, most expensive movie sets, a life-size, completely working airport terminal. To make it realistic, all of the restaurants and stores other amenities were real. You could eat in the food court; you could shop in the stores. Tom Hanks said, “It was the most comfortable movie set I’ve ever worked on . . . Actually, I think an airport—if you don’t have anyplace to go and can just relax there—is almost like a resort.”

What he’s referring to is that in the past decades trillions of dollars have been spent at airports across the country, adding restaurants, shopping malls, luxury hotels, and many other comforts and conveniences. That’s the debate going on right now over the airport in Kansas City. The goal in the airport industry is to transform airports from just a temporary place you’re reluctantly passing through into a destination, where not only passengers but even people from the community want to go and stay.

Spiritually, that’s what Paul is warning us about in our text. Don’t treat this temporary terminal like your real home. You are only passing through this world, you are only waiting here for your final journey to heaven. “From now on those who . . . use the things of the world [should live] as if not engrossed in them.”

Spaceport Earth has so many wonderful amenities. And there is nothing wrong with using those things while you are waiting here. But, Paul is warning us not to let the things of this world so distract you that, like a passenger waiting for a flight, you don’t heed the boarding announcement and miss your final journey home.

“What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none.” Paul continues with a representative list of things in this world that could possibly hinder you on your journey home. He begins very pointedly with the one worldly thing that for many people is the most near and dear, often the only thing that really matters in this world: your spouse. And that is representative of all personal and family relations. While you are waiting here in this world it is a great comfort to have loving family and friends. The greatest blessing is when your family and friends are waiting WITH you in anticipation of the final journey home. But, if that is not the case, you must not let even your beloved family or closest friends become a hindrance on your journey through this world to your heavenly home. Jesus puts it this way: “Anyone who loves his father or mother MORE than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter MORE than me is not worthy of me.”

The prevailing worldview today is hedonism, that your primary purpose in life is the pursuit of pleasure and avoiding pain. Paul is warning against adopting a hedonistic worldview, making pleasure and avoiding pain the primary purpose of your life in this world. For, we look forward in hope to another world, with surpassingly greater joys than this world could ever give us, and with an end to all suffering and sorrow. Jesus puts it this way in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. . . Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” Speaking of this life and the eternal life to come, Psalm 30 says, “Weeping may remain for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

In our modern American culture that last is probably the greatest temptation: to become engrossed in the material things of this world. Material things are not an end in themselves, but blessings from the Lord to help keep you comfortable here, “while we wait” Paul says in Titus, “for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

They’ve hit a snag at many airports where they’ve attempted to convert the airport into a shopping mall, both for passengers and the general community. Psychologically, people just don’t think about shopping at the airport. Usually they’ll only buy what they actually need for the journey. Part of the reason is they don’t want to be burdened and weighed down on their journey with extra things.

That’s what Paul is saying in our text. Concern yourself only with what you actually need for your journey home; don’t become overly burdened and weighed down with extra things that may hinder you in your journey. Jesus puts it this way: “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with . . . the cares of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly.”

The Greek word for the “present form” of this world, which is passing away, is used to refer to the scenery for a stage. It’s a tradition in theater that immediately after a play the first thing you do is have the strike party, when the set is taken apart. After they completed filming “The Terminal,” that’s what happened to one of the largest, most expensive movie sets ever constructed. That complete, elaborate, working airport terminal they built was taken apart.

Shakespeare said that, “All the world’s a stage,” and one way to think of the end of all things at Last Day is the final strike party, when this set, in which our lives in this world were played out, is dismantled, and replaced by the director with the new set for our new lives in the new world. As Peter says, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” That is the ultimate reason for you not to cling to the things of this world. “For this world in its present form is passing away.”

In commenting on this text, Martin Luther says: “Christians should treasure the eternal blessing which is theirs by faith, forsaking this life, so that they do not sink too deeply into it, either with love and desire, or with suffering and weariness. But they should rather behave like guests on earth, using everything for a short time. In this way they live in the world at all times. They make use of the world as an inn, a temporary abode from which they must emigrate in a short time, and so they do not attach their heart to the affairs of this life. They tend to worldly matters with their left hand, while at the same time they raise their right hand upward to the eternal homeland. And no matter what their lot may be in this temporary abode, it is satisfactory to them; for they know that eternal mansions have been prepared for them by the Son of God.”

Amen.

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