Eternity Amnesia
TCF Sermon
March 10, 2013
An 85 year old couple, married almost 60 years, died in a car crash. They had been in good health the last ten years, mostly because of the wife's interest in a healthier diet. When they reached the pearly gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and master bath suite with a Jacuzzi.
As they "oohed and aahed", the man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. "It's free," Peter replied, “Remember, this is Heaven."
Next they went out back to see the championship golf course that their home backed up to. They would have golfing privileges every day, and each week the course changed to a new one representing the great golf courses on Earth.
The man asked, "What are the green fees?" "This is heaven," St. Peter replied. "You play for free."
Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the cuisines of the world laid out. "How much to eat?" asked the man. "Don't you understand yet?" St. Peter asked. "This is heaven. It's free!"
"Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods?" the man asked timidly. "That's the best part...you can eat as much as you like, of whatever you like, and you never get fat and you never get sick. This is Heaven."
The man looked at his wife and said, "You and your stupid bran muffins. I could have been here ten years ago!”
Knowing what’s coming, the immediate and ultimate impact of our choices, often affects the choices we make today, and the attitudes we have today about all of life.
As believers in Christ, we know what’s ahead when this life ends – at least in part - because of what God’s Word tells us. Yet, I believe at least some of the time, most of us suffer from what you might call Eternity Amnesia.
We forget what the Word tells us about eternal life, and as a result, this amnesia leads to disappointment, dissatisfaction, and sometimes, poor choices.
We like to know what’s coming. We’re wired to want to have an idea of what lies ahead. Most of us do not like to go blindly into our future, whatever we’re doing. When we go somewhere, we want to know what to expect.
Knowing what’s coming generally changes the way we respond today. It has an impact on the choices we make. It can change our behavior or our attitudes. For example, if we get up in the morning, and we hear on the radio that the weather is going to get colder, we’ll bring along a warmer coat or jacket. We make a different choice about what to wear.
If we’re driving somewhere and hear that there’s an accident or construction, on the road we’re traveling, we may decide to take an alternate route.
If we hear that something is dangerous, we’ll usually try to avoid that activity or product, or at least use it properly.
If we learn that something is good for us, like bran muffins, we’ll often try to add that to our lives somehow.
I couldn’t resist showing you these other warning signs I came across.
We like to have a sense of how things will go, don’t we? Why else do we ever plan anything, rather than just live our entire lives flying by the seat of our pants? Don’t we all know someone who seems to live that way – and what word would best describe their lives? Perhaps “chaos?”
Knowledge is power, it’s been said.
I read about a study once that said that a large percentage of the enjoyment of a vacation for many people is in the planning. Deciding to go somewhere and do something, and then planning the trip are major factors in how much we enjoy a vacation.
We also sometimes will sacrifice something now, for something we know will be better, or needed, sometime later. Why else do we save money at all? Why do we eat bran muffins instead of donuts? Why do we exercise?
For some of us it’s fun, but for most of us, the exercise is primarily so we can enjoy better health today and down the road. Or just to look better. I like to say that I exercise to support my eating habit.
We innately understand, or at least we should, that what we choose to do today affects what our life will be like tomorrow. Scripture speaks of these ideas often.
Romans 2:6-8 (ESV) 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
Galatians 6:6-10 (ESV) 6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
John 6:27 (ESV) 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.
So, we see from Scripture that what we do, and how we do it, is related to eternal life. Related to rewards. Related to punishment for those who are apart from Christ.
Of course, that knowledge isn’t always enough to affect our behavior, but with most of us, the knowledge of what’s coming affects at least some of our choices about what we do today.
As Christians, we know that heaven is our eternal home. We don’t know all there is to know about heaven, but if we understand what Scripture does reveal about our future home, we know it’s “better by far,” as Paul tells us in Philippians 1:23.
We know that there, God will wipe every tear from our eyes (Rev 21:3). Death and sin and suffering are gone. Most importantly, we’re in the presence of our Maker, and our Redeemer.
So, if, as followers of Christ, we know that forever is our destiny, shouldn’t what we know about forever shape the choices we make today? Shouldn’t this reality impact our attitudes and our choices, related not just to some things in life, but everything?
A few month ago, I read a great book called Forever by Paul Tripp. Some of the ideas and a few quotes in this morning’s sermon are drawn from this book.
One of the things this author notes is that it’s not hard for us to notice that not everything’s right in the world. The evidence is all around us. Every human being recognizes this is not the way things were meant to be. Whether we believe in God or not, we instinctively understand that abuse, divorce, abandonment, murder, violence, war, stealing, lying, sex trafficking, hatred and many other things we could name, are clear evidence that something’s not right.
As Christians, we understand these things are a result of the fall – original sin. As believers in Christ, we understand that the only solution for these things is the grace and mercy of God, demonstrated in the sacrifice of Jesus for us, paying the penalty for our sin that we cannot pay.
Yet, even as Christians, it’s hard for us to be satisfied.
Paul Tripp asks:
Why is it so hard for us to be satisfied? Why do so many of our marriages struggle over the long run? Why do we have such a hard time getting along with family and friends? Who do we carry around so much debt? Why do we stand in front of full closets and say we have nothing to wear? Why do we look into fully stocked refrigerators and say we have nothing to eat? Why do so many of us consistently spend more than we earn? Why do we struggle so much with envy? Why does our culture tend to be overdrugged and oversexed. Why do we spend so much on making sure we are incessantly entertained? Why do our trials paralyze us more than they should? Why do people disappoint us so easily? Why does life in the here and now never seem to deliver what we hoped it would deliver?
He writes that “deep inside each of us is a cry for forever.” I believe that we all struggle with this to one degree or another.
That’s true because God placed eternity in our hearts. We see that in Ecclesiastes 3:11, which is also on the cover of your bulletin.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV) 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart,
So, the idea that we hunger and thirst for eternity, and all that means, doesn’t mean you’re spiritual - it simply means you are human. This side of eternity we all want it. We hunger for eternity and all that will mean. It’s why the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans that in this life we groan:
Romans 8:18-25 (ESV) 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Think about this. If we better understood, or more consistently remembered, this reality, and if that understanding was not just a belief, but a conviction that shaped the way we lived – the choices we made – the attitudes we have – can’t we see how that perspective would revolutionize our lives? Can’t we see how much of our discontent would disappear?
Things aren’t perfect because they’re can’t be. Things were perfect in Eden – before the fall. Before we blew it, before we needed the redemption that comes only in Christ.
But today, we live in a fallen world. The good things we enjoy, and there are good things, are but a hint, a foretaste, of what we will experience with God in eternity. There are many practical ways this reality is evidenced in our lives. And there are consequences to living with Eternity Amnesia.
Paul Tripp said that he often lived as an eternity amnesiac. He writes: “I, too, often lived with the unrealistic expectations and functional hopelessness that always results when you tell yourself that this life you have right here right now is all there is. I was confronted with the fact that in very significant ways, at street level, we don’t always live in a way consistent with what we confess to believe.
…the unshakeable promise of the future grace of eternity does more than give you hope for the future. No, embedded in the promise of a future is the guarantee of grace for what you’re facing right here, right now. You see, the God of eternity enters your story in the here and now, or He couldn’t guarantee your future. And that makes all the difference in the world. Paul Tripp - Forever
Part of the reason we have eternity amnesia is the culture we live in. If we’re honest with ourselves, all of us are influenced to one degree or another by our culture. Even as believers, who seek to be influenced, shaped, by the Word of God, we can see some of culture’s ideas reflected in our eternity amnesia.
University of Minnesota professor Paul Zachary Myers wrote of:
… the godless view of death. It’s an end, not a transition. It deserves all the sorrow the living bring to it, and the absurd attempt of believers to soften it with lies are a contemptible disservice to the life that is over.”
That’s a comforting thought, huh? The idea of eternity is pretty much absent in our culture. In fact, our culture does not have any good, helpful, or comforting answers for us when it comes to death.
As an example, watch this short video. Play video clip (link here)
This is an example of one thing that results from eternity amnesia. Or in this case, simply disbelief in eternity. Hopelessness. Despair. Meaninglessness.
Without understanding that God’s purposes are higher than ours, without knowing that He numbers the very hairs of our heads, which means he knows and cares for us intimately, without the understanding that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us, even in death, without the understanding that this life is not all there is, a tragedy like we saw in this short video is totally meaningless.
That’s what it’s like to be without hope and without God in this world. None of you here, who are in Christ, will ever hear such hopelessness at your graveside. Instead, what you’ll hear in the midst of grieving is a shout of victory.
1 Corinthians 15:54-58 (ESV) 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
This passage illustrates the polar opposite of eternity amnesia. This is remembering, having our attitudes shaped by, what scripture tells us about forever. It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve loss. It means we don’t grieve without hope. It means that our labor in the here and now is not for nothing. A total change of perspective.
One of the things I’ve always appreciated about TCF is that we’ve learned here, through the years, a true theology of suffering. A true theology of suffering cannot include eternity amnesia. This is where remembering our forever future is perhaps most helpful.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV) 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
We see here in this passage the comparison between the temporary things that life brings, and what we will experience in eternity. We see that our afflictions in life have a purpose – we are being prepared, we are being renewed inwardly day by day.
We see that this life, by comparison, is but a moment, compared to eternity. And we recognize that this part of life – the part we experience on earth, even the good things cannot even be compared to what we will experience in our forever home. In other words, it pales by comparison.
Yet, our challenge remains. We can believe in eternal life, and not live like we believe it, because we tend to forget. I noticed this in myself in the past few years. We had several deaths in our church family and extended family two years ago. Joel’s mother passed into eternity, and Bud’s wife Pam died a few months later.
In between those two, Bill Sanders, TCF’s first pastor, whose story Jim told last week, went to be with Jesus.
I was involved in significant ways in ministering to all those who died and their families, and was involved in all three funerals, so at that point, death and dying were very much a part of my thinking - very top of mind. During that time, I thought long and deeply about eternity, about our hope in Christ.
Then, several months later, my dad died. That’s more than a year ago now, and I realized when I read this book a few months ago, how quickly that thinking about our eternal destiny fades. When we’re not in the middle of someone’s death or dying, if we haven’t been to a funeral recently, these thoughts tend to recede into the background, and life takes over. The cares of this world – even the good things – tend to crowd out any thought about eternity.
And when those thoughts fade, the belief we have in eternal life often makes no difference in how we live our lives. It’s because we, too, often suffer from eternity amnesia. And that eternity amnesia can have consequences in our lives.
Some examples.
We live with unrealistic expectations.
Too often we are asking this present world to be what it simply never will be. We want life in the here and now to be like our final destination will be. Yet, the reality is that the things we experience in this life prepare us for eternity.
Another consequence of eternity amnesia is our intense focus on self. God created us to live lives with the big picture, the long view, in mind. We were made to live with a perspective larger than our daily comfort, pleasure and happiness. Eternity challenges us with the fact that we are not in charge, that we are not the center of the universe, and that life moves according to God’s plans and purposes and will. The have-it-now, self-serving, almost narcissistic obsession of our culture never brings us peace and contentment. Eternity confronts me with the realities that transcend my momentary wants, feelings, and needs.
Eternity amnesia can also mean that we ask too much of people. When we fail to live with forever in view, often, without realizing it, we’re asking the people around us to provide the heaven we hunger for.
The problem is, these people around us aren’t capable of giving us, in the here and now, that peace and satisfaction that only God can give. It’s true that He can bring a foretaste of it here and now, but only God can do that, and only eternity will fully quench that thirst.
Asking others to give us what they can’t give us ends in disappointment, frustration, conflict and division.
An additional consequence of our eternity amnesia is that we sometimes question the goodness of God.
When we don’t understand God’s plans, His purposes, we often tend to end up questioning His character. That’s why we must rest in what scripture teaches us – there is a tension between the already, and not yet. We have to understand that God’s promises are only totally fulfilled in eternity. Yes, we get a taste of God’s good gifts in the here and now. But that taste is meant to keep us hungry for the fuller, better, more satisfying meal, that is waiting for us in eternity.
An additional consequence of eternity amnesia is that we live more disappointed than thankful. Unrealistic expectations will always lead to disappointment. Many of us are disappointed, not because God has failed us, or because we have suffered, or because the people around us have been particularly difficult to live with, but because we hope life will bring us things that we can only experience in eternity. Our disappointment reveals at least as much about our eternity amnesia as it does about the world around us.
Eternity amnesia also means we can lose motivation and hope.
All of these consequences we’ve mentioned can weaken our motivation and our hope. Scripture reveals to us that the world is not an endless cycle of meaninglessness, but is part of the Master’s Plan – headed toward a day when everything that is broken will be restored.
Remembering that – conquering our eternity amnesia – can fill us with hope, and give us a reason to get up in the morning.
We’re less than honest about reality if we don’t recognize that life is hard. But this life is not all there is. My chapter in life is not the final chapter of God’s bigger, better story. God will set things right again – better than Eden.
So, eternity really does give us a reason to continue, to hope, even when nothing right now seems like it is working properly. Remembering eternity helps me know that what I’m experiencing right now is not only not permanent, it’s but a short, fleeting blip on the radar screen in God’s eternal view.
Finally, a consequence of eternity amnesia is that we tend to live as if there are no consequences in life.
We echo the rich man in the parable Jesus told in
Luke 12:16-21 (ESV) 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
One reason we are to be rich toward God is because there is more to life than the here and now. Our choices in this life have consequences. We never want to fall into the trap of thinking that, well, because forever with Christ awaits us, this life doesn’t matter at all. If anything, not having eternity amnesia leads us to the opposite conclusion – an eternal perspective makes this life, our choices, our attitudes, our actions more important, gives these things more meaning, than if the atheists are right, and when we die, we just cease to exist.
John 4:7-14 (ESV) 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
This passage can be a powerful antidote to our struggle with eternity amnesia. The contrast here is very significant. When Jesus says, “this water,” in vs 13, He’s clearly referring to all the things on earth that seem to satisfy but are always fleeting.
Yet, the “water” that Jesus gives, spiritual life, is made by God’s grace to come from within us. One commentary notes that this makes
the soul not a cistern, for holding water poured into it from without, but a fountain, springing, gushing, bubbling up and flowing forth within us, ever fresh, ever living. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of Christ is the secret of this life with all its enduring energies and satisfactions, as is expressly said (John 7:37-39). "Never thirsting," then, means simply that such souls have the supplies at home. JFB Commentary
At home. In the here and now. Eternity amnesia means our deepest spiritual longing, to know God personally, is somehow forgotten. But the living water that Jesus provides, His Holy Spirit living inside us when we are followers of Christ, is a never-ending supply. He will satisfy us forever. And forever can start today.
We can drink daily of the water of life through prayer, through communion with His Spirit living inside us as believers, and with His Word, through which He reminds us of things to help us with our eternity amnesia.
And when we find our satisfaction in this living water, we cannot help but remember eternity, and our forever home with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Remembering these things can and will make a difference in our hearts, in our attitudes, and in what we do in the here and now for His glory.
Pray
