Chapter 7 The Beautiful House
Where there is hardship, there is also spiritual beauty. The Christian's home is a beautiful place of spiritual beauty. He finds Prudence, Piety, and Charity that he has not encountered on his pilgrimage. There he is rested, but he is also spiritually rearmed. In that beautiful house, I received a priceless gift from God. At every meal, I received the life of the Lord Himself. It was a moment of realization that transcended my gratitude for my daily bread, that I had the eternal life of the living Lord within me.
Christian traveled to a beautiful house to spend the night. Arriving at the beautiful house, Christian knocked on the door. "Are you there?" The doorman came out and greeted Christian.
"May I ask what brings you here?"
"Yes, can I stay here for the night?"
"The people here are here to support you and give you strength. Please come in."
"I lost a scroll on my way here, and I've been trying to find it, so I've arrived this late at night."
"Then let me call for the lady of the house."
The three virgins, named Prudence, Piety and Charity, met Christian.
Prudence welcomes pilgrim Christian (2020)
"What made you leave your home and come this way?"
"A tremendous fear arose in me that everything around me would be destroyed. I'm just so grateful that the evangelist told me about the narrow gate that I came this way. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have found this path."
"Doesn't that remind you of the city of destruction?"
"I think about it often. But that's why I'm ashamed of it. I'm afraid that I'll never be free of the world's thoughts. I'm just thankful that those worldly thoughts are a shame to me, and that they are no longer a pleasure. My pleasure now is to look toward the kingdom promised to me."
"Did you not have a wife, and why did she not come with you?"
"I had a wife, but she could not let go of the world as she knew it; she thinks the things of this world make her happy."
"Did you do everything in your power to bring her with you? Did you do anything to mislead her about your motives?"
"No. I was very careful to make sure that all my words were spoken in love. What my wife found rather frustrating was how careful I was not to sin, and that we should love everyone, even our enemies. She found these things silly."
"If your wife turned away from you because she didn't like the way you loved her, I can't help it."
Christian finished his story, was treated to a delicious dinner, and was able to rest for the night. In the morning, everyone woke up. After huddling together and talking some more, they allowed Christian to see some of the many curiosities that were preserved in the house before they set out on their way. First, they led him to the study, where they showed him books that recorded events from a very long time ago.
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets.... By acts of faith, they toppled nations, did justice, and received what was promised. They fended off attacks from lions, fire, and swords, turned weakness into strength, won wars, and defeated foreign armies. Women welcomed loved ones who had died and come back to life. Some have been tortured and refused to give in and be released, hoping for a better resurrection. Some were willing to be abused and flogged, chained and imprisoned in dungeons. Others were stoned, sawed in two, murdered and turned into cold corpses. Others were wrapped in animal skins and left without home, friends, or power. The world was no place for them! They traveled to the edge of this harsh world and made their way as best they could (Hebrews 11:32-38).
Christians in the early church who were martyred by burning at the stake(2022)
They took Christian to the armory and showed him the various weapons (swords, shields, helmets, armor, and shoes) that the master of the house had provided to arm the pilgrims. They also showed him some of the tools that the Lord's workers had used to do amazing things. For example, Moses' staff (Exodus 17:9), the stakes and bats that Jael used to kill Sisera (Judges 4:21), the empty jars, trumpets, and torches that Gideon used to fight the Midianite army and defeat them (Judges 7:16-23), and the sword with which the Lord will destroy sinners in His future judgment (Jeremiah 21:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
It was the next morning. Christian was guided by the three virgins to the top of the roof. As Christian looked to the south, he saw the Delectable Mountains unfold in the distance, very beautiful and pleasing to the eye.
The Delectable Mountains (2020)
Dense forests, vineyards, orchards of all kinds of fruitfulness, beautiful flowers of all colors, springs and fountains that never stopped gushing... It was a beautiful and wonderful sight that is hard to describe. The land was named the land of Immanuel, and it was also the land of Christian's next journey. Finally, Christian put on the full armor of God (Jas 6:11) and set out on his pilgrimage. Christian's body was already equipped with the belt of truth, the spectacles of righteousness, the God prepared by the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, and he headed for the Delectable mountain.
The beautiful house I had while studying abroad
If I've ever had a beautiful house in my life, it was in Germany during my study abroad years. Christian spent three days in that beautiful house, but I stayed there for what seemed like six years. If Christian encountered Prudence, Piety, and Charity, I encountered Mrs. Behrendt, my friend Heiner, and Professor Schmidt.
Mrs. Behrendt, my friend Heiner, and Professor Schmidt
Mrs. Behrendt was a generous woman who took care of my parents so that they could marry me in a German church. My friend Heiner, whom I met at the German church, was also my German teacher. He took me to visit professors at various universities and made arrangements for me to meet with them because of my lack of German communication. He was a pharmacy graduate student who grew up in a pious Christian family. Prof. Schmidt was my advisor, a sensible man who got me a scholarship from the German government so I could focus on my research in peace.
If it were not for these people, I would not be a professor of natural scientist in Korea and have a Christian family as I am now. They were all devoted to the Lord without expecting anything in return from me. By God's grace, I have a beautiful house in Germany, a stork village. There are quite a few stork villages in Europe outside of Germany, but the ones I've been to are in Germany and France. The stork village in Rivauvilles, Alsace, France, is one of the most beautiful in the world. What I mean by beautiful is that the storks live amongst humans - how can a stork with a wingspan of 2 meters live amongst humans? Most storks in Europe nest on the roofs of human-built structures. Visitors can look up and see the storks breeding on the roofs, and they don't seem to mind visitors. In the window of the house, a mother can be seen holding and feeding her newborn child, which fits well with the Western proverb "the stork carries the child".
Stork Village in Ribeauville, Alsace, France (2010)
My main stay was in a dormitory run by the German Protestant Church (Evangerische Kirche). The dormitory wasn't built. It was a house that someone had lived in all their life and donated to the Protestant church. It was a great place for an international student like me with no money. Every Wednesday, we had a worship service led by the pastor, who was also the dormitory director. What I found so different from the church in Korea was that in German Protestantism, communion is part of every service. At first, I wasn't used to it, but as I got used to it, I realized that communion was a precious gift from God that gave me spiritual armor.
The Lord's flesh and blood
The apostle Paul says that 'everyone who is a Christian is an invited guest at Christ's table' (Romans 14:4), and that 'when we sit down to eat, it should not be to fill our stomachs, but to share the life of Jesus' (Romans 14:21). Jesus tells his disciples to commemorate him at every meal by breaking the bread and saying, 'This is my flesh' and then passing the cup and saying, 'This is my blood'.
The Last Supper (2022)
The story of the Eucharist in the Bible is the story of Jesus, "who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:6-8).
The bread is not just a sign of His desire to be our food; the cup is not just a sign of His desire to be our drink; the bread and wine become His body and blood through His giving. In fact, the bread is His body given for us and the wine is His blood poured out for us. Just as God is fully present in Jesus for us, Jesus is fully present to us in the bread and wine of the sacrament.
Jesus comes to my house now and says, 'Your table is not my last meal in that faraway country with my disciples.' I am reminded of the sacrament of his presence at every meal. The Apostle Paul wrote, 'For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you, as Christians, reproduce the Lord's death in word and deed' (1 Corinthians 11:26). When the Lord finished this meal and went to the cross, He promised to give new life to this body born in sin. He is now bringing this sinful body of death into a life of endless and unending life. What does this outpouring of God's gift through Jesus Christ bring us? 'There is no comparison between that sin, which brings death, and this gift, which brings an abundance of life, for the verdict on that sin was death, but the verdict on the many other sins that followed was a sentence of marvelous new life' (Message, Romans 5:17). The Bible says, 'Life without Christ in me is a life of lifelong struggle with sin.' 'In the end, the pension we will receive is death, but the gift of God is true life, life everlasting, delivered by the Lord Jesus (Message Romans 6:23).' My physical body is now everywhere and I am filled with the life of eternal life from Your precious flesh and blood. With this confession, I am about to embark on my next pilgrimage.
