The Christ Portal
2 Corinthians 5:6-10,
14-17
by Jim Westmoreland
Two guys were sitting in a bar talking about their relatives.
"My grandfather," said the first guy, "knew the exact day of the year that he was going to die. It was the right year, too. Not only that, but he knew what time he would die that day, and he was right about that, too."
"Wow, that's incredible," his friend replied. "How did he know all of that?"
And the first guy said, "A judge told him."
It makes a difference how we live and what we do. None of here have the certainty of the day and hour of our death that was afforded the man's grandfather by the judge. But, be assured that what we do makes a difference, not only in this life, but in the life to come. Paul writes that we walk by faith, not by sight. There is much that is unseen in our spiritual journey. Other people may not know all of our actions. We may even grow numb to our disobedience. Paul's answer to this uncertainty is given in 2 Cor. 5:9-10, "So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil."
We all live with the tension of how to live our lives. Just when we think we have everything under control and flowing smoothly, we are pulled back out to sea by the strong riptides of temptation, distraction and rationalization. Whenever we stop living by faith and start insisting that everything stay just as it is, that everything be laid out neatly before us in order for us to feel secure, we have exchanged living by sight for living by faith. Our confidence and security is not from having and maintaining a neat nest around us, but from walking by faith as a new creation in Christ. When the world thinks things are over and finished, Christ surprises everyone by giving us a new start in our lives. We have made our mistakes and felt the consequences of our sins, but there is new life in Christ.
When Winston Churchill planned his funeral he included a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral in England.
After the benediction the bugler played "Taps," signaling that the service was over. But, Churchill also included a surprise at the end of the service. In another location, high in the dome, was a second bugler. When the first bugler had finished playing "Taps" the second bugler played "Reveille." It was time to get up and get going.
Churchill's testimony was that history would end not with "Taps," but with "Reveille."(1)
Life and Death always came with a new beginning for Churchill. Sometimes, we let other people tell us what is possible or not possible for us. Not Paul. There was a constant in Paul's life, and he is telling us about it in this text today. It can be a constant in your life. It can transform you. It can give you confidence when times become very trying in your life. It had to do with something that Paul had discovered.
There is a life beyond the barriers and limitations of this life. And, we find it by passing through a life-changing portal. A portal . What is a portal? A portal is a doorway, an entrance, or a gate, especially one that is large and imposing. It is an entrance or a means of entrance. For those of you who use the internet a portal can be a website that is considered as an entry point to other web sites.
Listen to Paul's words from verse 17, "So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" Christ is the portal! He is the way, the truth and the life!
When I was growing up, my family had a Saturday night TV routine. We watched Paladin (Have Gun Will Travel), Gunsmoke with Matt Dillon and Chester, and then The Twilight Zone with Rod Serling. In The Twilight zone people would sometimes accidentally enter a portal into a different world or dimension and things would seem new and different to them.
Paul said that we enter a portal into a new dimension of life through Christ. Paul tells us that Christ "died for us all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them." We see things differently that before. We value things differently. We respond to what life brings us differently than before.
In Thomas Kuhn's classic, The Structure of the Scientific Revolutions, he makes the case that science is dependent upon some prior vision in order to make progress. It isn't a matter of a scientist simply walking into a lab, doing research, and making a surprising discovery. It is also a matter of being able to see the things in front of our eyes, of possessing an expectation of what we might see, before we can see. Vision is limited by our imagination.(2)
When we move through the "Christ Portal," changes begin to occur in us. We are given a new imagination to take in and interpret our lives and our world. We become a new creation. The old things that dominated us in the past no longer control us. Depression gives way to the transforming power of God's love and affirmation. Life may be hard at times, but God will see us through. He is there with us. He is for us. He is living in us. If we are still seeing things in a defeated way, if we are full of pessimism and criticism of others and ourselves, we need a change of scenery. We are looking out the wrong window. We need to toss that old "stinking thinking" aside and claim our identity as children of God, as full heirs to the kingdom. We need to step up and immerse our whole self into Christ. That's when we pass through the "Christ Portal." That's when our whole world is made new!
Ann and her husband were typical married boomers. Well-off financially, they had no time for church, and they each became busy in their respective lives. Their romance faded early, but neither wanted to give up their life-style. Besides, both adored their children, and their youngest son, T. J., was a special favorite of his mother.
Even though the children were never sent to Sunday school and God was never mentioned in their home, one day T. J., out of the blue, said, Mama, I love you more than anything in the world, except God. And I love him a little bit more!
Ann was surprised but told him it was okay. But why would he speak of God? she wondered.
Two days later, on a bitterly cold day, while his sister was horseback riding, T. J. crossed a snow-covered creek, fell through the ice and died.
Ann remembers saying, I hate you God! But even then she felt herself held in loving arms. Her world shattered. She remembered the Christmas gift T. J. had bought her that week. He had kept trying to give it to her before Christmas. Each time she had laughed and told him to put it away until Christmas Day. When she got home from the stables where he had died, she hurried upstairs to open it. Inside was a beautiful necklace with a cross. Now, a mother that was too busy for God was receiving a faith story she could not forget from her youngest son.
Ann says that Jesus made her reach out to others rather than become lost in herself and her own grief. Helping others helped me. Ann's husband also changed, and together they became new creatures in Christ. Through her ordeal, Ann discovered a gift for spiritual hospitality, bringing healing to other parents.
By now, this young mother has reached out to help two hundred families who have lost children in accidents. She calls her efforts T.J. Ministries, not only after her T.J., but to emphasize how she's made it since then: Through Jesus.(3)
"So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" Christ is the portal! He is the way, the truth and the life! Has our vision become blurred about what is important? Come to Christ. Has our awareness of God's love and presence become numb or a distant memory? Come to Christ. Have we hurt ourselves and damaged our relationships with others? Come to Christ. Life is both a journey and a process. It is not too late to make changes in our lives. Come to Christ. Each day get up and pray, "Christ, I give to you as much of myself as I know to as much of you as I know. Be with me today." Christ is the portal, the entrance to new life. This morning, let us all come to Christ. Amen.
Century Christian Church, June 18, 2006 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
www.centurychristian.org
1. Homiletics Magazine, May-June, 2006, Vol. 18 No. 3, p. 60.
2. William Williman, "Another Point of View," Pulpit Resource, April-June, 2006, Vol. 34, No. 2, p. 54.
3. Diane M. Komp, A Window to Heaven: When Children See Life in Death (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1992), 81-83.