I remember not long ago thinking Paul was just speaking figuratively when he said, “indeed in this house we groan.” I assumed he was describing our spirit’s longing for God. Now, living in a deteriorating house, I understand that Paul also probably meant that we literally groan. I now find involuntary sighs and moans coming out of me when I have to move. So now I say with Paul, I too am groaning in this house.

I spent the day recently with a man who had been housed in an exceptional body for a half century. It had been graced with good proportions, strength and agility, yet it had been stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease. What had been an impressive residence was rapidly becoming a shambles. Medical science informs him that in spite of the best maintenance, his house was going to crash in on him in the near future.

The unique thing about this man was his eyes. They were bright, joyful eyes, betraying a gentleness of spirit that is rare in men. As its peaceful occupant, I believe he was looking out of the windows of the ruined home with the gleam of anticipation.

I thought this man was invited to the retreat I was hosting for encouragement in his illness. I didn’t know he was going to become my mentor who would display, as only he could, what Paul was trying to get across in this passage. I believe this brother knew (along with Paul):

 That when the earthly tent which had been his house is torn down, he would have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Indeed in his house he groaned, longing to be clothed with his dwelling from heaven. He was anticipating with increasing clarity that his mortality will be swallowed up by life. He knew that God was preparing him for this very purpose and had given him the Holy Spirit as a pledge. (adapted from 2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Consequently this man was:

ogood courage, knowing that while he is at home in this body he is absent from the Lord. He was walking by faith, not by sight. It was his ambition, whether he was in this house or had moved out, to be pleasing to the Father. He knew he must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that he may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (adapted from 2 Corinthians 5:6-10)

This man did not fear a Judge. He was running full stride to meet his Savior. He was serving —fulfilling his call as never before, as the light of the world. Christ was shining brightly from him in what some might say was his darkest hour. Those eyes betrayed a hope (even a hunger) for things unseen yet eternal. No one needed to teach this man to number his days that he might present to God a heart of wisdom. His body was all the reminder he needed. This saint was aglow.

You can meet this man for yourself. Go to Kelvin Classen Profile – You Tube

Father, May your mercies flood his life. May joy in increasing measure be the strength of his life. Thank you that he is not wasting his sorrows and that he radiates an infectious hope to those nearest him. May this next chapter of his life be that of a man running full stride toward Christ – the finish line and his ultimate reward. Amen.

 

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