“For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.”
Paul the Apostle had a penchant for illustrious metaphors. Often laced with themes of battle – fighting the good fight – word pictures were central to his teaching and persuasive arguments. But in this passage, he drew on his occupational experience to elicit a different kind of emotion. Paul the Tentmaker wrote about longing for a home.
In his vocational life, Paul would have dealt mainly with travelers: merchants, nomads, and especially soldiers, people for whom an established dwelling was a rare comfort. It is only natural that his gospel illustrations would grow from these encounters. And he saw among his customers not only a mirror of the conflict of the Christian life but the same yearning for home that he felt himself when he thought of heaven.
The idea of this body as a tent on the way to our permanent dwelling paints a visceral picture of Paul’s ultimate focus on eternity. Tents are important, indeed vital, to the livelihood of travelers and the completion of their work, but they are never a substitute for the comfort of home or the family and friends who live there.
Amid a treatise of instruction, this passage acknowledges and validates the holy desire for heaven.
Do you ever feel adrift? As though life, no matter how beautiful and fulfilling, lacks the permanence you were made for? You are in good company. It is a common cord binding the experience of every believer from the apostles until now. And though words will never match the experience of being in the presence of God, take comfort in this today: you do not travel alone. You are surrounded by brothers and sisters in tents just like your own, all longing for the same home. Travel together. Travel well. Encourage one another. And know that your eternal dwelling is waiting.
Romans 8:22-23
[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.
Oh God, for the redemption of these “tents”!