"...Our Goal to Please Him" 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

What is it that causes a group of young athletes to get up before sunrise in the summer while their friends are sleeping in and grind it out in the weight room, willingly working for coaches who bark at them, “Come on! Give me five more reps!” And then they come back morning after morning to do it all over again? What is going on in the mind of a young woman who after spending months studying for the MCAT, four years of demanding studies in med school, is then willing to endure the grueling schedule of seven more years of residency so she can become a neurosurgeon? The answer to the question for both of these situations is quite simple, they have a goal, an ambition, and because of their goal they are willing to endure what others wouldn’t even consider an option. To win the prize, to hold the trophy, to become a surgeon who desires to help people–these goals make sense to us. Afterall, everyone loves a winner. But what about the person who has the most promising career path laid out before them and yet they choose to walk away in order to begin a new life in total obscurity? That makes absolutely no sense does it? It made more sense than anything in life to Martyn Lloyd-Jones.In 1916, Martyn Lloyd-Jones headed off to the big city of London to begin medical school at London University’s Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital. Bart’s carried the same prestige in the medical community that Oxford did in the academic community. In 1923, at the age of 24, Martyn completed all of his classes and was already chief clinical assistant to Sir Thomas Horder, the doctor to the royal family.  Just two years later he was awarded the MCRP (Member of the Royal College of Physicians.) Then, in 1927, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones walked away from it all. He was troubled by the spiritual and moral void in people’s lives and he had come to believe that the best solution was the gospel and not medicine. So, the man who was next in line to be the doctor for the royal family packed his things and took a tiny little church at Port Talbot. He gave up his salary of 3,500 pounds a year to minister to the poor congregation in Wales who could only pay him 220 pounds per year. When the press found out what Martyn had done they made their way to Port Talbot. They had some questions to ask him. “What were you thinking? What are you doing? How could you give it all up for this?” Martyn said, “I gave up nothing, I received everything. I count it the highest honor that God can confer on any man to call him to be a herald of the gospel.” Martyn had a goal, a goal to please the Lord by ministering to His people. And that will be the focus of our time together this morning. How can we live in such a way to please the Lord? Let’s read our Scripture for this morning found in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10.

1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:1-10 NIV)

We spent all of our time last Sunday taking a look at verses 1-5. We learned one day these “earthly tents” we are now living in will be destroyed, we will die, but that is no reason for the followers of Jesus to wring their hands, worry, or become paralyzed with fear because God has prepared “an eternal house in heaven” for us. Also, Paul mentioned that “we groan and are burdened” while in this earthly tent, but the groaning we are most familiar with was not the groaning Paul knew. We groan because life can be very difficult, it is very difficult at times, sometimes for a long time. Paul was very familiar with the trials and suffering of life, but he didn’t groan about how hard things were for him because his suffering caused him to groan, to long for his heavenly home. Last of all, we learned that God has given all of His people, the followers of Jesus His Holy Spirit as a “deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Is it any wonder, that after sharing these important truths with the people of Corinth, Paul writes, 

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:6-7 NIV)

“Therefore we are always confident…” Paul mentions his confidence again in verse 8. It is a wonderful thing to be a confident person, but we need to make sure that our confidence is built on what is sure, what is solid, what is true. The man who built his house on the rock and the man who built his house on the sand both had confidence, but it was the test of the storm that proved whose confidence was well founded and whose was not. Paul’s confidence was not the result of his great oratorical skills, his brilliant mind, or his undying tenacity. His confidence for life and in death was grounded in the resurrection of Jesus. Back in 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, Paul wrote,

13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. (2 Corinthians 4:13-14 NIV)

Paul didn’t hope that one day he would go to heaven, but he knew the One who raised Jesus from the dead would also raise him from the dead. The question of the possibility of an afterlife is a huge topic of conversation for people when they, or someone they love, is confronted with the reality of death. It has always been interesting to me that we don’t talk more about death when you consider that there is a 100% probability that each and every one of us is going to die. The biggest question is “What happens when we die?” This past week I’ve read tons of ideas that people have about what happens when we die. People from all walks of life. Kathi Pickett is an author, conference speaker, Registered Nurse, and an Intuitive Healing Energy Practitioner.  Kathi has a podcast that you can listen to on most every podcast platform. She wrote an article, “Will The Afterlife Be Boring? And More About What Happens When We Die.” The title grabbed my attention. Kathi writes,

The physical body dies with the last breath, and the spirit lives on in eternity. There is no heaven, hell or purgatory. We are admitted to the Afterlife no matter our race, our culture, our socioeconomic status, or our beliefs. It is open to all, even those who make egregious decisions on earth. (Kathi Pickett. Will the Afterlife Be Boring? And More About What Happens When We Die.)

I searched and searched for where Kathi gained these insights, but found nothing. Where did she get these ideas? What historical evidence did she uncover which led her to these conclusions? Truth is Kathi has built her afterlife house on the sand. I also read the brilliant Stephen Hawking and his thoughts about the afterlife. Stephen Hawking died at the age of 76 on March 14, 2018. During his life, Dr. Hawking was considered one of the most brilliant minds on the planet. He was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist who received an endless list of honors for his work in the field of cosmology, quantum physics, black holes, and more. Dr. Hawking wrote thirty books, including “A Brief History of Time” and “The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe.” You would think if anyone would know about the afterlife it would be someone as brilliant as Stephen Hawking. In an interview with Ian Sample, Dr. Hawking said,

I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark. (Interview with Ian Sample in Guardian Magazine, May 15, 2011) 

“There is no heaven or afterlife…” That’s Stephen Hawking’s belief, but poll after poll throughout the past several decades show that the vast majority of Americans believe there is some kind of afterlife, even if their opinions of what it is and what will be experienced differ widely. I wonder what data Dr. Hawking gathered in the lab to come to his conclusion that there is no heaven or afterlife? Dr. Hawking would hear Paul say, “For we live by faith, not by sight” (vs. 7) and dismiss it as foolishness. He would say there is no room for faith in science or in life, but in actuality Dr. Hawking exercised great faith in many of the theories that he shared as truth, and his faith, in some instances, has been proven wrong…he had a confidence built on sand.Paul’s living by faith was not a blind leap into what he hoped was true or possible, but his faith was built on what God has revealed about Himself, the world, life in the world, and resurrection power. I want us to spend a minute taking a look at something Paul wrote in verses 6 and 8. Let’s read 6-8 one more time.

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NIV)

“As long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.” Then, in verse 8, Paul writes, “we…would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” What does Paul mean by saying that if we are in our bodies we are away from the Lord?  Paul knew the presence of the Lord through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He had been strengthened, guided, rescued, and comforted time and time again. He knew Jesus’ promise to His disciples in Matthew 28:20 where Jesus said,

…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20 NLT)

Paul also knew that one day he would experience the fullness and glory of being in the Lord’s presence like never before, totally unencumbered by the cares, frailty, sin, and brokenness of this life. George Guthrie writes,

By definition, the fellowship that believers have with Christ in the earthly body is partial, obscured, shadowed by a fallen world, and stands in contrast to the fullness and glory of the face-to-face relationship with Christ that will follow in the next life. The dim will give way to clarity. The darkness and confusion of this veil of tears will drop away before the glory of the unveiled Presence. (Guthrie, George. 2 Corinthians. pg. 285-286).

When we stop and think about what we know from God’s Word about being at home with the Lord, how could we not desire to be with Him? Revelation 21:4 tells us,

4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4 NIV)

No more mourning or crying or pain…Can you even imagine a place like that? That’s heaven my friend. Most people would say they are looking forward to seeing a loved one who died in the Lord, someone they’ve missed terribly. I can’t wait for the day I will see my mom again. I’m also looking forward to singing in that choir that I read about in Revelation. Because of what Jesus has done for me on the cross, I’ve been invited to join the choir made up of people from every nation, tribe, people, and language! I get chills just thinking about singing praises to the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. All of these will be wonderful experiences for you and me once we leave this earthly tent and take up our heavenly home, but they pale in comparison to the main event of heaven. Scott Hafemann writes,

To make the central focus of heaven anything or anyone beside God himself is ludicrous, to add something to God as heaven’s pleasure is idolatrous. (Hafemann, Scott. 2 Corinthians. pg. 219)

To fully, completely experience the presence of the Lord–that is heaven and there are no words to describe what the followers of Jesus will experience when that day comes. Let me assure you, there is nothing, no experience, no place, and no person in this life that can give to you and me what we will receive when we find ourselves fully in His presence. Many years ago there was a young couple in our church who were such special people. Jason and Jill Mirikitani loved the Lord with all of their hearts and their heart’s desire was to serve Him and His people. Jason and Jill were traveling to a funeral in Beaumont, Texas when they had a horrible car wreck. Jill was killed instantly, their little girl Abby was in a carseat in the backseat and was unharmed, but Jason’ head was split wide open. Jason was airlifted to a hospital and he survived. I spoke at Jill’s funeral and watched Jason’s mom and dad, Ron and Jan Mirikitani, nurse their son back to health over the course of several years. Jason and I were talking about Jill one day when I said, “I want to ask you a question. Knowing what you and I know about heaven and what Jill is experiencing at this very moment, do you think if the Lord asked her, ‘Jill, if you want to go back to Jason and Abby you can go. Would you like to go?’ Do you think Jill would say, ‘Yes!’” Jason looked at me and said, “No way.” I said, “You are right and what Jill is experiencing now is what you and I have to look forward to one day, but not today. Today we are called to serve Him.” Let’s move on. Take a look at verse 9 with me.

9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (2 Corinthians 5:9 NIV)

Like the young athletes or the woman laboring to become a neurosurgeon, Paul had a goal and his goal was to “please him.” The New International Version translates the Greek word as “goal.” Other translations translate the Greek word as “aim” or “ambition.” The word was used in biblical times to describe the honor given to those who rendered great service to the state or other institutions. It was also used to describe wealthy people who tried to outdo one another. Last of all, the word was used by the Romans to describe politicians who went around canvassing for votes to get themselves elected. God urged His people not to pursue selfish ambition. In Jeremiah 45:5 we read,

5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them.  (Jeremiah 45:5 NIV)

And in the New Testament, Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in Philippi and let them know that selfish ambition would lead them to look out only for themselves. He wrote, in Philippians 2:3-4,

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4 NIV)

This doesn’t mean that ambition is inherently bad. We can possess a godly ambition, a goal of being a blessing to others with no expectation of benefitting ourselves. Paul lets us know in 2 Corinthians 5:9 that his all-consuming ambition in life is to please God. How do we, how can we please God? That’s like asking the question, “What do you give to the person who has everything?” Isn’t God already pleased within Himself? God needs nothing so how can we, mortal, sinful, broken people that we are do anything that would give God pleasure? Now that’s a great question! And I have an answer for you from God’s Word. Let me show you what I’m talking about. Turn with me to Romans 12:1-2 and let’s read together.

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2 NIV)

How can we please God? By offering ourselves to God to be used for His service and refusing to fall in line with the world and its ways. How can we please God? Turn to Hebrews 13:16 with me.

16 And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. (Hebrews 13:16 NLT)

Do good. Be a blessing to everyone He brings across your path. Serve those who are overlooked and forgotten. Share out of the abundance of what you have been blessed with so that others who are in need will recognize Jesus working through you. I could go on and on sharing with you how we can please God, but let me share just one more example. If you will turn with me to Colossians 1. I want you to listen to how Paul is praying for his friends. 

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:9-12 NIV)

My prayer for you and me is that we will live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, and continue growing in the knowledge of God. If we will pray that prayer for one another and make it our goal, our ambition in life to live in such a way so that we might please Him by the words we speak and the things we do each and every day then God will be pleased my friend. As we turn to our last Scripture for this morning, verse 10, we find that there is coming a day in which we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of this life we have been given. Read verse 10 with me.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV)

There will be no escaping it. Paul says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” We will not stand before the Lord to see if we will get into heaven because our good works outweigh our bad works. The Bible could not be more clear that we are saved solely by grace alone through faith alone. Paul wrote,

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)

We are saved by grace and not by works, but we are not saved simply so we can have an insurance policy to guarantee our entrance to heaven. We have been saved to serve. Paul says we will “receive what is due for things done in the body, whether good or bad.” The word Paul uses for “bad” means “worthless” or “useless.”  There are many things we can do with our time that are not necessarily sinful, but they might very well be worthless when they are weighed on the scales of God’s purpose for you and me. Our lives are to be lived for His glory and we are to let His light shine through our every word and deed. On the day we stand before Him we will learn about how we have lived the gift of this life we have been given. S. Lewis Johnson told the story about the day a well known evangelist came to his church. At the end of his sermon, the evangelist, Bruce Gilbert, told the audience that he had a dream that he was standing before the judgment seat of Christ. He said an angel came from the side and began to pile up his works. He said it was a huge pile of what he just knew were good works. Then the angel struck a match and lit the huge pile of works on fire. The evangelist said, “If you’ve ever seen a haystack burn then you have a good idea of what I saw in my dream.” He said the pile burned for a little bit and then it sank, it burned some more and sank, and finally it looked like there was nothing left. Another angel came out with a little dust pan and swept up the remains. He was allowed to look into the dustpan and all he saw was a little bit of gold, some pieces of silver, and a few precious stones.In this life, we tend to have an inflated idea of just how good we are and how good we have been, but I have an idea that when we stand before Jesus we will be overwhelmed, not with our goodness, but with His. If you are not a Jesus follower, I pray this morning you will confess your need for Him and begin to live for His glory. Mike HaysBritton Christian ChurchMarch 5, 2023