The best days of our life
Focusing on resurrection: in part three we focus on that tantalising flourish at the end and ask what is coming next. By Terry Young
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. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
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. 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. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
We have explored the truth in this passage from two angles already. First, we have thought how fragile our bodies are. Second, we have considered how mortality must give way to life in the end. We saw this with the seed and the plant that it becomes. We know from the last blog that what exists now is nothing like what is on the way, but something surges through the decay. Something stays the same!
In the next blog, we will look at the tent of meeting – an image that hovers over this passage – but here we focus on that tantalising flourish at the end and ask what it is that is coming next. What comes after this in-between housing, this existence that is effective but temporary and that will fold in time? Elsewhere (e.g.: 1 Corinthians 2:6-10) Paul hints that God’s preparations for those who love him are unimaginably spectacular. But what are those plans?
In the last blog we considered the idea of a code that is developed in time to flourish in eternity. At the moment, that code is you in this world. When it is transplanted to another world, it will take on a form that perfectly embodies the best of the redeemed soul you have become, but that does so in a way that is entirely appropriate to that world.
I find this a compelling way to connect the small seed that falls into the ground with the much larger structure that emerges in due course. Our question is what is it that we’re being coded for?
A reflex reaction may be that it’s all about singing in some hazy domain, principally because the countless crowds are among the few things in the book of Revelation that we can identify with. I’m sure the world to come will be deeply inflected with praise, but those crowds in Revelation seem to be singing while the world around us is, well, still around! The end of the story appears to be a world of activity with nations going about their business.
I realise I have dipped my toe into highly controversial waters, but I think it would help us more to ask what we will do in the world to come, rather than what the world to come will be like. In other words, what are we coding up for?
I’ve written elsewhere about Jesus’ parables in Luke, several of which clearly allude to what comes next (see Radical parables from Luke: 1, the minas; 2, the rich fool; 4, the shrewd manager). They talk about activities that we would recognise from our world, such as trading, administration and governance. On the other hand, some forms of pleasure such as sex, appear to be out (Matthew 22:23-33). Indeed, the whole relationship agenda appears to be out, to be replaced by the great marriage to which the best of all other marriages point.
At first sight this may come as a disappointment, with things you were looking forward to off the agenda and things you dislike or are poor at, taking centre stage. I don’t think that’s the way to read these passages and believe we are being prepared for something that will suit us better than anything we have experienced, up to now. But I think it gives us a better agenda for extreme old age than the harps and choirs imagery alone. We’re going somewhere where the best of all we have learned and experienced will be critical to our enjoyment and the enjoyment we bring to God.
The unclothing imagery Paul uses here may help us as we close. The end game is not to escape our body – so what is it? As we live longer, there are fewer and fewer things can get us in the end. Sadly, dementia is one of those threats, and it demeans us by robbing us of our awareness and inhibitions because it closes the memory banks we have developed and depended on over a lifetime.
For some, this means using words they would never have used before. They get violent where they were placid, or express abhorrent views when they were sweet and thoughtful. It’s a terrifying prospect but a real spectre in our world. In the worst possible way, that’s a picture of unclothing.
What’s the opposite? I know an example that happened to the father of some friends of ours. Although he was fading badly, and for him the reality around was fading badly, whenever he prayed, he was lucid. Imagine that! Clouds and chaos until he starting talking to his Heavenly Father.
If this is to be taken seriously – and I believe it is – then our generation is spending more time in this in-between accommodation than any other, but we don’t talk about how we can encourage one another through our final days and into glory.
We have low expectations of our final years and most of the praying we do is that God will help us find a reverse gear, rather than for help in taking the roof off to enjoy the sunshine that is starting to stream in – and out!
Image | Mohamed Nohassi | Unsplash
This is a five part series focusing on the resurrection:
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Terry Young is a missionary kid who read science and engineering. After a PhD in lasers, he worked in R&D before becoming a professor, when he taught project management, information systems and e-business, while leading research in healthcare. He set up Datchet Consulting to have fun with both faith and work and worshipped at Baptist churches in Slough for 19 years before moving to the New Forest.
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Baptist Times, 27/11/2023