Trading Vehicles

Today I officiated at the burial of one of my church members - I've known Doug for several years - a guy not much older than me, full of life - until cancer took a toll on his body.

As I prepared for his funeral service I felt prompted to share a passage from scripture about the treasure God has placed in these "jars of clay" we live in on this earth. I had watched Doug struggle in recent weeks with the cancer that was causing his body to waste away from within - and after fifty plus years I realize that my own body is wearing out gradually.

Prior to my brief message, I invited some family members to share some personal eulogies ("good words") about Doug. There were some sincere and touching words from his wife and his two grown children - a sign of true blessing. Then his brother-in-law humorously shared about how much Doug liked getting a new vehicle - and what was really happening is that Doug was "trading in" the vehicle he had been "riding" in for the last 59 years for a new model in heaven!

I love this analogy and it "fit" perfectly with the scripture I was planning to share. While I hope to get a lot more miles and a good number more years in my "earthly vehicle" these words of the Apostle Paul just ring so true for all of us in a time of reflection like this:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all‑surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,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 in his presence.

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:6-18 (NIV - emphasis mine)

I've got to admit, I like "trading vehicles" as well! As I get older, I think I like it more than ever! It's exciting to get a new vehicle - and trade in an old one. Someday I too will get to make an eternal trade - for a vehicle that will never rust, never wear out, and never grow weary! Oddly, this is a comforting thought when so many things point to only what we can see and tell us to value what is temporary.

As a follower of Christ, we carry around in our bodies the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God!" Though outwardly we are "wasting away" - inwardly we are being renewed day by day! A day like this reminds me that we are fixing our eyes on what is unseen ... and eternal!

Thanks be to God!