Home in heaven
Series: Welcome home | Bible text: Letter to the Philippians
People who see themselves as guests on earth and have their home in heaven live refreshingly differently. The example of Paul from Philippians explicitly supports this thesis. Despite imprisonment with an open outcome, the basic melody of his life is joy, freedom from worries, serenity and freedom. We want to learn something from this inspiring example.
How would you like to be? I’ll make you a suggestion: Your heart is full of joy, even when things get pretty tight in life. You are a pleasant contemporary and do good to others. You are carefree and optimistic. Even in times of great tension you remain calm. Your inner peace is genuine and completely independent of the opinion of others.
For me, that is a desirable attitude to life. It is the description of a person who can say: «But my home is heaven, where Jesus Christ the Lord lives.» Yes, that is how significant the knowledge of home with God is. C.S. Lewis sums up the connection between life as a guest on this earth and the certainty of a home in heaven: «From history we see that it was precisely those Christians who looked most to the hereafter who were also most concerned with this world. whoever strives for heaven, the earth will fall into his lap; whoever strives for earth, both heaven and earth will be lost.» Paul impressively exemplified this truth. The letter to the Philippians gives a corresponding insight.
Home in heaven
Philippi had a special status at the time of the Roman Empire. As a reminder of the victory over the Caesar murderers Brutus and Cassius, the city was made a Roman colony (Acts 16:12). This meant that Philippi was legally regarded as if it were in Italy, which came with certain privileges: the city could govern itself and its citizens had the same rights as the citizens of Rome such as exemption from certain taxes and duties. For the inhabitants of Philippi, it was clear what it meant to be citizens of a city that lay far away.
It is no coincidence that Paul wrote to these people: «We, on the other hand, are citizens of heaven, and from heaven we also expect our Saviour – Jesus Christ, the Lord»(Philippians 3:20; NGÜ). Endowed with the rights of heaven, living on earth. The Bible New life translated: «But our home is heaven, where Jesus Christ, the Lord, lives.»
The home we carry in our hearts influences our existence. There are many people who live in Switzerland but are citizens of another country. During the holidays, they then travel to their homeland to show it to their children and breathe in the homeland air themselves. They love to look at photos from their home country and would never miss a DOK programme about their region. An Italian always remains Italian at heart. Our national football players with Kosovar roots would never sing the Swiss anthem. To them, that would be like betraying their homeland. Rather, they flaunt their nationalist symbols, such as the double-headed eagle.
People whose home is heaven should also live home-oriented, sing «the hymn of heaven», investigate what it is like there and tell the children about it. Is home in heaven an issue at our dinner tables?
Guest on earth
He who has his home in heaven will see himself as a guest on this earth (Psalm 119:19). This puts many things into perspective and leads to a holy serenity.
Paul was in a very uncomfortable situation when he wrote the Letter to the Philippians. For some time now he has been in custody in Rome awaiting his sentence. He does not know whether he will be released again or whether his life will soon be extinguished. Normally, people in such bottlenecks grumble with the circumstances or with themselves. One is then sufficiently occupied with oneself. Paul is quite different!
The following terms describe it and challenge us at the same time:
Joy. The word «joy» appears 16 times in Philippians. It is also called a letter of joy. Despite imprisonment with an open-ended outcome, joy is the keynote of his life.
Freedom from worries and peace in the heart. Spelled out in his own life, he recommends the people of Philippi to do the same: «Do not worry about anything, but pray for everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him. You will experience God’s peace, which is greater than our human mind can ever comprehend. His peace will keep your hearts and minds in faith in Jesus Christ.» (4,6f). None of us has more reason to worry than Paul had. Those who do not worry will experience a peace so profound that it is impossible to comprehend. Supernatural. Like a little child at home with mommy and daddy, a Christian with a heavenly home consciousness never has to worry.
High tolerance of ambiguity. It is the ability to endure ambiguous situations and contradictory courses of action. «I have learned to be content with what I have. Whether I have a little or a lot, I have learned to cope with any situation: I can have a full stomach or an empty one, experience abundance or suffer lack. Because everything is possible for me through Christ, who gives me the strength I need.» (4,11–13). Paul’s inner world is independent of his outer experience. Even the option of dying soon is not a danger for him, but only joy and serenity.
Correct order of priorities. A conscious look at our home in heaven helps us to set the right priorities in our daily lives. Paul prays for the Christians in Philippi: «For you should be able to discern what is important, so that you may stand pure and exemplary before Christ when he comes again.» (1,10).
Enthusiastic about Christ. In Paul’s shoes, I’d probably try to save my skin and maybe I’d quarrel with God. Hey God, why do you allow this? Paul has only one goal: to make Christ known so that many more people will find a home with God (1:18).
Untouchable. Paul binds his fate to God’s will, to Christ. So the Romans can do what they want with him, they are only fulfilling God’s will.
Prayer. Paul is connected with home several times a day. He does this not out of a sense of duty, but out of joy (1,4).
As an interested and attentive observer, one can sum up by saying: As a guest on this earth, life is great in every situation!
Key to the homeland
As a reminder of home in heaven, we distributed the engraved keys at the beginning of the year. What is the key to a life like the one we see in Paul?
The answer is already given: He was aware of his home in heaven. So he lived with his head in heaven and his feet on earth. But what is the key to someone being able to say that his home is in heaven or is becoming more and more so?
Paul helps further: «For Christ is my life, and dying is my gain»(1:21; Lut). With people for whom Christ is their life, dying can only be gain. But what does it mean that someone «Christ is my life» can say? Actually, any person who has been baptised could say that. Baptism expresses the bond with Jesus Christ. With him we give our old, own life to death. With him we are resurrected to a new life that is shaped by him. Paul expresses this in Galatians 2:20: «I live, but no longer myself, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body in faith in the Son of God who loved me and sacrificed himself for me.«That is why in the beginning of Philippians he presents himself as «Servant of Christ Jesus»(1:1). This is an honorific title and means that someone has given up his own rights and trusted Jesus completely. It is the key to finding a home with the Father in heaven.
To connect one’s life completely fatefully with Jesus Christ needs courage and trust. I can only let go if I trust that Jesus means well with me. And – I don’t know in advance!
With the trapeze artists there are «flyers» and «catchers». The flyer jumps off the platform and swings through the air. He gains momentum with his body and swings faster and higher. Meanwhile, the catcher dangles upside down from another trapeze and has his hands free to grab. The moment of truth has come as soon as the flyer lets go. He whizzes through the air without stopping and does one or two somersaults. At that moment, there is absolutely nothing that could save the flyer from crashing. But the next moment the catcher swings into our field of vision. He has tuned his pendulum movement perfectly and is right there when the flyer loses momentum and falls down. He grabs the arms of the flyer with his hands. The flyer cannot see him; but he feels himself being grabbed out of the air. The catcher brings the flyer home. In an interview, a trapeze artist says: «As a flyer, I have to have full confidence in the catcher. The spectators may think I am the star on the trapeze, but the real star is the catcher. He has to be there with split-second precision and grab me out of the air. The flyer does nothing. The catcher does everything. That is the secret. When I fly towards the catcher, I just have to stretch out my arms and hands and wait. A flyer must trust, with arms outstretched, that his catcher will be there at the right moment.» It is even said to become really dangerous when the flyer tries to grab the arms of the catcher.
«Christ is my life«It means letting go and trusting that Jesus will catch you. It’s about surrendering individual areas of life to Jesus and saying, «You decide.» The only thing we have to do is jump. He holds us and changes us. Paul explains this to the Philippians: «I am quite sure that God, who has begun his good work in you, will continue and complete it until the day when Christ Jesus comes again.» (1,6). Jesus Christ began the work in us, he will also complete it. Perfecting does not mean perfecting, but coming more and more to an undivided heart. To jump again and again, to be caught by Jesus Christ and brought home. This is Paul’s key to a brilliant life.
As the quote from C.S. Lewis has expressed, people who have their home in heaven should be deeply concerned with this world. Not naïve, world-weary, all-knowing or fatalistic, but interested, hopeful, uplifting and open-minded. We want to engage with wisdom, in modesty and humility, in the discussion on global issues such as climate change, on socio-political issues such as marriage for all or political issues such as European policy. Even more, we want to face our everyday challenges. But all this in the knowledge that we are guests on this earth and our home is in heaven. This changes everything and makes us pleasant, calm, hopeful and independent people.
Possible questions for the small groups
Read the Bible text: Philippians 4:1–13
- What feelings and thoughts do you associate with the term «home»?
- How real do you live in the knowledge that your home is in heaven? Where and when is this truth addressed in your everyday life?
- Let’s say you find that the world has become too much of a home: how could you mutate into a guest? What measures would help you to be more aware of your real home?
- «Christ is my life, dying is my gain.» What do you think about this sentence?
- What quality that Paul identified do you want for yourself?
