HOMESICK FOR HEAVEN

0:01 I was in the seventh grade. After a brief argument with my parents, I boldly proclaimed, I'm running away. Now, as a seventh grader, you're not really thinking logically, not really thinking through all the things. So I just started walking. I didn't know where I was going to go, but I just started walking. and I walked away from my house and I was pretty resourceful. I knew that there was a grocery store down the street and they gave away free samples of cookies. So that night I had a great cookie dinner, pretty similar to my life now. so then it became dark and I had to find a place to sleep my brother had found me he I told him to bring me my checkbook had 150 dollars in it so I was going to be set for at least a couple years as a seventh grader so I had to find a place to sleep and so I I knew my friend was out of town his parents were gone but they had a camper inside their garage so as a seventh grader I snuck into the garage. I climbed into the camper and I curled up, my knees all bent and fell asleep. You know, when I was sitting there and in the garage and climbing to the camper and sleeping at night, I didn't really feel bold. I didn't feel rebellious. To be honest with you, I missed home. See, that's the thing that they don't tell you about when you run away.

1:41 They don't tell you what you're really going to feel. And what I really felt was homesick. Have you ever been homesick? I mean, have you ever really been homesick? Maybe it was the first time that you were away from everything familiar. Maybe it was the time that you went to college or you're on a long business trip and you're feeling that ache in your body that you're just homesick. You want your bed. You miss your pillow. See, the truth is that homesickness is kind of a funny thing because you can be surrounded by people. You can be surrounded by noise and have all these things going on around you, but you still feel that ache in your soul for home. the truth is is that all of us have that feeling and what I discovered was that this wasn't just a a childhood moment but this was a a mirror of the human condition because all of us whether you realize it or not we were born homesick from the moment you were born you were homesick not necessarily for a place that you've been but for a place that you were made for a place where you belong that's not psychological it's not emotional that's spiritual it's God so here's what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11, it says, he has also set eternity in the human heart. God hardwired your eternity.

3:25 He hardwired your DNA for a longing of eternity. He stamped your soul with this homing beacon pointed toward heaven. And no matter how high you climb or how far you run or no matter what you chase after, your heart is always going to point towards home. These past few weeks, Pastor Ed has been talking to us about heaven, and we've learned and discovered that heaven is a real place. It's not some fictitious fairy tale place, but it's an actual place with real people made by a real savior. We've learned that we're not going to be sitting on clouds with harps and halos, singing all day, but we're going to have an occupation. We're going to be doing activities. We're going to have real communication. It's going to be everything that God has desired for us in our life. Heaven is going to a place where we get to experience the fullness of what God created us to be. We've learned that we're not wired for this world.

4:35 you were made for more. See, when you realize that heaven is home, you'll discover three things. The first one is this. You'll discover a heavenly longing, a heavenly longing. The Bible says this in Philippians chapter three, verse 20. It says, but our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that word citizenship is a very key word there. It's a powerful word. Paul was very strategic in why he put that word citizenship. This wasn't random. Paul was writing to the city of Philippi. Philippi was a Roman colony, and they were obsessed with Roman culture. They were obsessed with Roman citizenship, and they were mostly made up of retired Roman soldiers. And so Paul is really tapping into their civic pride when he says this and he flips it on them.

5:38 Paul's saying, look, your truest identity is not political, it's not cultural. Your truest identity is stamped heaven. Paul is speaking directly to the audience here saying that the most important citizenship that you can have is one that God has given you. See, here's what a heavenly longing will do in your life. When you realize that you have this heavenly longing, it begins to explain your dissatisfaction. Have you ever felt dissatisfied? we all have we were not made to discover and to to want things that decay we were made for more you can stack vacations you can stack careers you can stack all the all the dollar signs that you can get but you're still going to feel an emptiness a hollowness inside of you. This isn't failure. This is proof. When you feel that, that hollowness, that, that emptiness, that's a reminder that God has not created you for this world. If you have a relationship with Jesus and you feel that emptiness, it's a reminder that you were not made for this world. If you feel that emptiness and that hollowness, and you don't have a relationship with Jesus. That's what that emptiness and hollowness needs to be filled first. But then you'll still discover that there's something that you're longing for because God created you not for this world, but for the next. So it explains your dissatisfaction. It also pulls you toward your purpose. Now, let me be very clear. Your citizenship in heaven does not mean you get to just disregard all your responsibilities here on earth. Unfortunately, you can't send your bills

7:46 back to the sender and say, you know what, just pay this one to heaven. Just bill me there. We'll get it covered. No, this is an understanding that yes, we still have a responsibility to be faithful with what God has given to us here on this earth. What this means is that you are a representative of heaven while you're here on earth. Just like the colony of Philippi was a representative of the Roman culture, you are a representative of heaven. You're a representative of Jesus while you're here on this earth. My wife and I, we have three boys. And from a very early age, we would tell our boys something every time they left the house. Anytime that we weren't going to be with them, parents, you know, you get a little nervous. What are they going to say? What are they going to do? For example, last night, my oldest son, he was going to spend the night at a friend's house. And we don't know what 15-year-old boys are doing. It is a, luckily we have Life 360.

8:52 We get to track them. 2 a.m. They're at Whataburger. Okay. But this is what we would tell him every time he leaves the house. Say, remember, you're a Donnelly. Remember, you're a Donnelly. And what we were really saying was, remember who you are. Remember what we have raised you to be. Remember the convictions that you have. Remember the standard that we expect from you because of the standard that God expects from us. Remember you are different. And what God is saying to all of us is that yes, our citizenship is in heaven, but while you're here on earth, remember who you are. Remember who I created you to be. And when you do that, you'll discover that you have a different set of convictions, a moral clarity, a boldness, a perseverance.

9:50 it pulls you toward your purpose. Now, while we tell our oldest son right now, remember you're Donnelly, our youngest son, we're still trying to figure him out. He's just turned four. He is the third kid, right? for him, for him to understand this, I tell him, I say, Cove, here's what I need you to do. You have a mission. Cove, here's, here's your mission. Normally it's be a good listener. Here's your mission. And then I tell him a task to do. He needs, he needs some sort of reminder of his purpose. What God is saying to us is, Hey, here's your mission. Yes, you are a citizen of heaven. You have a relationship with Jesus. You are a citizen of heaven. But while you're here on earth, you have a mission to bring heaven to earth, to show the earth, to show the people around you who Jesus is, what he's done in your life. The last thing that a heavenly longing does is it fills you with anticipation. Philippians chapter three, verse 20. Look at the second part of that verse, it says, and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul doesn't say that we casually wait. He doesn't say that we sit back in our lazy boy recliner with our feet propped up waiting. No, he says we eagerly await. That word eagerly is not a passive waiting.

11:24 This word expresses an intense, active, forward-leaning expectation. maybe you have been expecting a package recently, something you were really wanting. You get on your phone, your computer, and you get to track on the Amazon delivery. You get to see how many houses it is away. And you're looking, you're checking constantly, see if it's close. It's that kind of expectation. Maybe it's an Uber Eats delivery. You're tracking it really close, making sure it goes to the right house, not the neighbor. It's that expectation, that anticipation for what is coming. It was like my wife as she was walking down the aisle to me, the feeling that she felt. that expectation when you are eagerly awaiting something, there's a buzz, there's a tension, there's urgency, there's energy. And God is saying that your soul should eagerly await Jesus in heaven, just like that. See, when you finally realize that this world isn't home, that heaven is home, something else starts to happen. Your life begins to look differently. When you realize that heaven is your home, it doesn't just pull you, but it shapes how you see everything. You begin to see life through a different lens. We have our heavenly longing, but then it moves to our heavenly lens.

13:05 or heavenly lens. Here's what the Bible says in Colossians chapter three, verse two, set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Paul is showing us one of the most powerful disciplines in the Christian life. That word set, it doesn't mean to glance. Doesn't mean to just look once. It means to fix your focus. It means to lock in, to intensely stare. Paul's saying, don't let the world shape your focus. You choose your lens because how you look at your life determines how you live your life. Think about a lens. A lens doesn't change your reality. It just helps you see more clearly. I'm 41. I don't have glasses yet, but I'm getting there. I'm sure I will soon. But for those of you who wear glasses, you know your glasses, they don't change the reality of what's outside of your eyes. This helps you to see more clearly. A few weeks ago, my wife was driving our son and all of his friends to the mix on Wednesday nights, the best place for students to be. And it was dark outside. And so I went outside with some Windex and I sprayed the inside of her windshield. It was soft smudge. It was dirty. It was gross. And so I wiped it all down, cleaned it off so she could see more clearly as she was driving. It didn't change the reality of what was going on outside of the car. It just helped her to see differently, see with a different lens, see with more clarity. And that's what a heavenly lens does for us. When we see our life through this heavenly lens, it brings a sense of clarity that we haven't had before. It brings a sense of understanding of what's going on around us because now we are filtering everything through the lens of what's going on in heaven, of where we belong. When heaven is your home, heaven becomes your lens. You stop interpreting life from the ground up and start seeing life from

15:14 the top down. You stop living for the moment and start living with one eye here on earth and one eye on eternity. You know, all the great athletes have something in common. Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Derek Donnelly. All of us great athletes have something in common that they're able to play with a different kind of awareness. They play in the moment, but they're able to see and know where the clock is. Think about a quarterback. He lines up behind the line of scrimmage. He's not stressed out. He's not panicking. He knows the cadence. He knows the timing. He knows that play clock is counting down. He knows where it is, but because of his awareness, because he has one eye on the moment, one eye on the clock, he's able to operate at such a high level. Think about a basketball player. The clock is winding down. He knows where the clock is. He knows what the number's at. He's thinking in his head, so he's able to execute appropriately. He's able to either make that pass or make the shot. It's a different kind of awareness that these elite athletes have.

16:34 And that's the kind of awareness that we have to have as Christ followers with one eye on eternity, knowing that the clock is counting down, but also one eye here on earth, knowing that God has placed us here for a reason. That heavenly lens, it gives us this eternal awareness of what's going on in our life. You live differently. You know what lasts. You know what matters. That's why it's so important that we talk to him every day. That's why it's so important that we reorient our life in worship. That's why it's so important that we show up to corporately worship with others. That's why it's so important that we are investing in the only thing that Jesus ever established, the local church. Because I'm not just living for today, I'm living for forever.

17:30 So yes, we keep one eye on the temporal, one eye here on earth, but also we're faithful in the present. A heavenly lens sorts out what matters from what merely feels urgent. And that's a difficult thing to grasp because a lot of things feel urgent. A lot of things feel pressing in our life. I have to do this. I have to do this. Your wife makes you a long list of things that you haven't gotten to a long time. A lot of things feel pressing and urgent, but you have to truly filter everything through that lens of what really matters. What's the most important thing that you can be doing with your time? When life hits you hard and you have this heavenly lens, you don't ask, why me? You ask, what now? What now, God? What do I do with this situation? Paul says in Romans chapter 8, verse 18, our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. That's not minimizing your pain. That's maximizing your perspective.

18:51 It's helping you understand that in the light of God's glory, what we're going through, what we're dealing with now pales in comparison to what God has for us. Think about that old hymn, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. what an amazing song and reminder that what we're going through, what we're dealing with here on earth is just temporary. You're filtering your life through that heavenly lens. When heaven becomes your focus, people become your priority. You see people differently. I love what Pastor Ed says. You've never locked eyes with someone that doesn't matter to God.

19:52 When your heavenly lens sees people the way that God sees people, you treat people differently. You understand that everyone is facing an eternity. You love differently. You respond differently to that coworker, that neighbor, the person you disagree with. When you live in the light of eternity, it changes how you live today. So a heavenly longing, it shapes your heart. A heavenly lens, it shapes your vision. And when those two things collide, you'll have a heavenly legacy. You'll live to leave a heavenly legacy. The truth is, is that all of us will all leave a legacy. It's not a matter of if you will leave a legacy, it's what kind of legacy will you leave? Let me give you some names that I'm sure that you know.

20:49 Edwin Booth. Fannie Davenport, Jay Gould, Leland Stanford, William Renshaw. you're thinking, who are those people? To be honest with you, I didn't know who they were either. I had to Google them. These people, 150 years ago, were the biggest names on the planet. Edwin Booth was the most celebrated actor in America. Fannie Davenport sold out theaters from London to New York. Jay Gould is one of the richest men alive. Leland Stanford, he was a political and economical powerhouse. William Renshaw dominated sports, was considered one of the most greatest athletes of his time. They were the LeBron James, the Taylor Swifts, the Elon Musks of their day. Everyone knew them. They defined success. And 150 years later, nobody knows their name.

22:00 in 150 years, the sad reality is, is that people aren't going to know your name. Their applause died out. Their impact evaporated. Why? Because earthly legacies always fade. You can build a name. You can build a platform. You can build a career. And 150 years later, no one's gonna remember. but a heavenly legacy? See, that's different. Heaven remembers what earth forgets. Heaven rewards what earth cannot see. That's why Jesus said in Matthew chapter six, to store up your treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy. Heavenly legacy isn't built on what you accomplish. It's built on what you invest in.

23:01 what's stored in heaven, it outlasts time, it outlasts your lifetime, and it echoes all throughout eternity. Your heavenly legacy is built on people, the people you've poured into. Your heavenly legacy is built on the lives that you've helped shape, the next generation that you've invested in. your heavenly legacy is built on what you do with the treasures, the things that God has given to you. When you invest in the local church, your legacy outlives you. A heavenly legacy is realizing something huge, that your life can be bigger than your lifetime. if you're investing and pouring into the right things.

23:57 You may not see the full impact of your life until the other side of eternity, but one day, one day you'll stand before Jesus and he'll show you the highlight reel of what heaven did with your obedience. Every act of obedience plants something that God will grow, that will long outlive you. So I spent the night in my friend's camper. It was a rough night. I woke up the next day and went to my favorite place, the basketball court. park outside and it's probably about 8.30 shooting baskets. And my mom drove up. She got out of her car. She didn't yell. She wasn't mad.

24:54 She just said these three words, four words, Derek, you belong home. you belong home. God is saying to you today, your home is not here, but what you do here will determine the home of your eternity. And God is saying to you today, you belong home. My prayer is that you will stop running you'll commit your life to Christ and make heaven your home. Because when heaven is your home, you live with a heavenly longing, you see through a heavenly lens, and you can leave a heavenly legacy.

25:54 Would you pray with me? Father, we thank you for who you are. God, we thank you for what you have done for us. God, we thank you that this earth is temporary, that our home is in heaven.

26:16 God, I pray for somebody right now who has not yet stepped over that line of faith and committed their life to you. if that's you today, you can make this decision right now. You simply admit, you admit that you are a sinner in need of a savior. You believe that Jesus is that savior, that he's God's own son who came from heaven to earth, who lived a perfect life, who died a sacrificial death on the cross and rose again three days later to bridge that gap that separates us in God. And you commit. You commit your life to him. If you want to do that right now and secure your place in eternity, in heaven, you can just simply pray this prayer after me. You can say it silently to yourself, just right where you are. Just say, dear God, I admit that I'm a sinner in need of a savior. I believe you love me.

27:22 and send your son Jesus to die on a cross for me. I believe he rose again three days later. And right now I commit my life to you. Thank you for rescuing me. Thank you for saving me. Teach me to trust you and follow you. Show me the way, Jesus.