December 19, 2009

• Holiday Homecoming

  At this time of year there is much made of being home for the holidays.  We hear the songs, “There is no place like home for the holidays” and “I’ll be home for Christmas”.  People often ask if we are going home for the holidays.  There is an interesting clash between this expectation of being home for Christmas and the original Christmas.  On that first Christmas, Mary and Joseph were far from home and the Christ had left heaven to come and live on earth as Jesus.  None of the main characters in the Christmas story were home.  I am at a point in my life where I am reconsidering where home is.  The house I grew up in and was owned by my family for over fifty years was sold last summer and I doubt the people living there would welcome me home nor would it feel like home if they did.  Some of us have had the experience of going to our family home and not feeling welcome there because someone there makes us feel unwelcome, perhaps a family member, perhaps an in-law, or step relative judges us and makes us feel unwelcome.  I wonder if this wasn’t a concern of Mary when she traveled to the home of Elizabeth and Zachariah.  Some families in that time, and even today, would have believed Mary had brought dishonor on the family by being pregnant and not married.  It was acceptable for families to stone a family member who dishonored the family.  Elizabeth and Zachariah had a prominent position in the temple and they might well have judged Mary and sent her away.  She must have felt great joy at the warmth of Elizabeth’s greeting and her blessing.  Coming home is about coming to that place where you are welcomed, not judged but blessed.

   

  Coming home is also about coming to the place you are supposed to be.  There is a Shaker hymn that says, “Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free, tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,”  Coming home is coming down where we ought to be.  My family home is not where I belong; even my house in Kalamazoo is occupied by someone else and is not where I belong.  I have learned home is where I am content, where I am supposed to be.  I do not need to be in any particular place to be home.  I think Jesus was home on the first Christmas because he was where he was supposed to be.  The Word of Creation had become flesh and dwelt among us because that is where The Christ was supposed to be.  It is not so important that Jesus was born in Bethlehem fulfilling some ancient prophecy; it is important that the Word was made flesh so that we can better understand our relationship with God.  God came and dwelt amongst us so we could understand this world is as much our home as heaven will be one day.  I am not a fan of the idea that this world is not my home.  It gives us the freedom to distance ourselves from this world and our stewardship of it.  I do not believe God put us here to just bide our time until we get to go home.  This world is our home and we are to be engaged in making it a home, safe and welcoming place for all of creation.

   

  This church is our home also.  Not in the sense that we own it and we can do what we want here because it is our home.  It is our home because God welcomes us here as part of God’s family.  We can come here and not be judged and not be made to feel unwelcome.  This is our home because this is where we come down where we ought to be.  It is important that this place feels like home to us, and it is equally important that we make this place feel like home to others who come here seeking a home with God.  Each time we gather here should be a holiday homecoming for everyone.  Happy Holiday Homecoming to you all.  Amen.

  • 8:05 am
  • 2 Comments