Voices of Home
“We regard paradise as our country…There, a great number of our dear ones is awaiting us, and a dense crowd of parents, brothers, children, is longing for us, already assured of their own safety, and still solicitous for our salvation. To attain to their presence and their embrace, what a gladness both for them and for us as well! What a pleasure there is in the heavenly kingdom, without fear of death; and how lofty and perpetual a happiness with eternal life! There the glorious company of the apostles-there the host of the rejoicing prophets-there the innumerable multitude of martyrs, crowned for the victory of their struggle and suffering-there the triumphant consecrated virgins, who subdued the lusts of the flesh and of the body by the strength of their self control-there are merciful men rewarded, who by feeding and helping the poor have done the works of righteousness-who, keeping the Lord’s precepts, have transferred their earthly inheritance to the heavenly treasuries. To these, beloved brethren, let us hasten with an eager desire; let us crave quickly to be with them, and quickly to come to Christ.”
St. Cyprian of Carthage
There are times in our lives, when we can become so tied up in the concerns of daily routines, activities and chores, that we forget that we are not truly destined for this temporal existence. We sometimes wonder what are we going to be doing next year at this time, or perhaps we say to ourselves “next week I’ll go see so and so and do this or that.” We become so tied up in the processes of time and this reality that we somehow forget that the true reality is the eternal one. In the eternal kingdom there will be no need to wonder what will be a year from now, or hoping a loved one recovers from sickness, or even wondering how we are going to pay next months rent. In that kingdom, there shall be no more tears, no more darkness, no more pain; instead it will be replaced with unending joy, eternal glory, and perpetual love and affection both to each other and to our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Scripture speaks about how we are to look at ourselves as though we have traveled from afar to this place we call earth. With all its terrors, strife, prejudices, hardships, and so much more, it can seem as if this is all that will ever be. Scripture says something a bit different than this. I would like to begin by reading from the book of Hebrews 11:11-16:
11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
In this passage we read that those who lived godly and righteous lives before the coming of Christ and took it by faith that there would be a heavenly kingdom to inherit. Once Christ arrived, through God’s personal intervention in the history of mankind, we were assured that not only do we look ahead towards a future kingdom and city in which we shall reside eternally, but also that God himself resides in each of us, abiding with us, while we sojourn in this alien country called earth.
There is an old hymn I am reminded of which says “this world is not my home, I’m just a’passing through, if heavens not my home, then Lord, what will do, the angels beckon me to heavens golden shore, Oh, I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”
This past week I have thought about those who have gone before us and are currently enjoying the serenity of Paradise itself. Praying for us, asking God to draw us closer to Him. Sometimes I smile and think of it as a heavenly cheerleader team of our loved ones and brethren. They may say something like, “Lord be with them in this time of struggle, show them your love and mercy, be kind to their inadequacies, and give them strength to make it through their trials.”
St. Peter also exhorts us to be mindful that this world is not our home. In 1 Peter 2:9-12 it states:
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
We have been chosen by God Himself to show the works of the Lord so that He may be glorified and by doing so we are given the reward of a great city, which cannot be hidden, cannot be shaken, and its foundations shall endure forever. It is our home. It is our destination. It is our hope.
So, what will this city be like that we are to be mindful of? In the book of Revelation 21:2-5 we read:
2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He 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." 5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
And in Revelation 22:1-6 we read:
1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
What a glorious place we shall inherit for our eternal home! We shall sit beside the river’s edge and bask in the radiance of Christ’s glory for ever and ever. Until then, however, we must make the proper choices and listen to the proper voices which constantly bombard us while we sojourn in this foreign land.
An excerpt from Aftermath News (Dec. 14, 2007):
“New Yorker Alison Wilson was walking down Prince Street in SoHo last week when she heard a woman’s voice right in her ear asking, “Who’s there? Who’s there?” She looked around to find no one in her immediate surroundings. Then the voice said, “It’s not your imagination.”
Indeed it isn’t. It’s an ad for “Paranormal State,” a ghost-themed series premiering on A&E this week. The billboard uses technology manufactured by Holosonic that transmits an “audio spotlight” from a rooftop speaker so that the sound is contained within your cranium. The technology, ideal for museums and libraries or environments that require a quiet atmosphere for isolated audio slideshows, has rarely been used on such a scale before. For random passersby and residents who have to walk unwittingly through the area where the voice will penetrate their inner peace, it’s another story.
Ms. Wilson, a New York-based stylist, said she expected the voice inside her head to be some type of creative project but could see how others might perceive it differently, particularly on a late-night stroll home. “I might be a little freaked out, and I wouldn’t necessarily think it’s coming from that billboard,” she said…..Holosonics has partnered with a cable network once before, when Court TV implemented the technology to promote its “Mystery Whisperer” in the mystery sections of select bookstores. Mr. Pompei said the company also has tested retail deployments in grocery stores with Procter & Gamble and Kraft for customized audio messaging. So a customer, for example, looking to buy laundry detergent could suddenly hear the sound of gurgling water and thus feel compelled to buy Tide as a result of the sonic experience….It’s not the network’s first foray into supernatural marketing, having launched a successful viral campaign for “Mind Freak” star Criss Angel earlier this year that allowed users to trick their friends into thinking Mr. Angel was reading their mind via YouTube.”
It is amazing to me that now instead of silent billboards of half naked women and every illicit act being justified as “advertising” that now you may actually hear a woman’s voice whispering seductively in your ear, sound effects that prompt you to buy certain products, and all of this bouncing around, literally, inside your head. Imagine the horror of someone driving a vehicle near one of these things and hearing, “Hey you!” The consequences could be disastrous.
The same holds true for our spiritual ears. If you allow errant voices to filter into your heart, you can be distracted from your Christian attitudes, goals, and motivations, with disastrous results. There have been pastors that have fallen from grace due to listening to the wrong voices and then following them up with wrong choices. As a Christian, we can no more tolerate wrong voices entering into our hearts, than we can tolerate satanic propaganda being pumped into our minds by the world. We must listen to the true words of God through the perfect medium….God’s Word.
If we want to inherit the Kingdom of God in the New Jerusalem, we must become so completely sold out for Christ that people will instantly know that there is something drastically different about us versus the world. We cannot sit in our chameleon skins any longer and expect to make it into eternal life. The Bible makes it very clear that if we enjoy the voices of this world, we will never experience the joyful sounds of our heavenly home. Christ exhorts us to store up treasure in heaven instead of the earth, because if we do not, and we partake of all that earth has to offer (in bad ways), we have our reward and in the world to come, we will have nothing.
So, as I close today, I want to ask you three questions….
What voices are you listening to today?
At the end of the day is the thing that moves you, move God?
Are you determined to listen to God alone as your source of life?
