At Christmas - Celebrating Homecoming

"Today's Devotion" For December 23, 2005

Read: John 14:1-6; Psalm 90

AT CHRISTMAS - CELEBRATING HOMECOMING

"Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God." (Ps. 90:1, 2)

In two days God's people will once again celebrate Christmas. You may have noticed that this year, 2005, Christmas Day also falls on a Sunday, a day each week when we regularly gather for worship and remember Jesus' resurrection, which we celebrate each week as a reminder that Christ's sacrifice for Sin is complete and He has overcome death and the grave for us, thus assuring us of eternal life in heaven. Part of our celebration of Christmas is the simple, yet profound truth that Jesus left His home in heaven to become a stranger and pilgrim with us on earth. In His sojourn here He lived for us in obedience to the Father and then suffered and died for our sins so that we might have a new life with our Father in heaven. His resurrection assures us that as He lives, so also shall we live.

In some ways it's ironic that Jesus' left His home to bring us home. From a human perspective, "home" is where we are. Of course that's one definition of "home." At Christmas, at least in our culture, there's a lot of celebration of homecoming. Troops who have been stationed on foreign shores, in war zones, and on ships at sea look forward to having the rare opportunity to come home at Christmas. For parents, Christmas is a time of "homecoming" as many of them eagerly await their children's return from being away at college, in the service, or living and working in another place. For parents, who are also grandparents, Christmas is a time of "homecoming" as their children bring their children to visit.

Of course, it's also true that each of us develops a different sense of the meaning of "home" when we start new families, develop new friendships, and engage in different careers and activities in our lives. I remember the first time my wife and I were far away from either of our childhood homes at Christmas. We were living in San Diego where I was a chaplain at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. As a junior officer, with little leave time on the books, a short pocketbook, and assigned duties for the Christmas break, I apologized to her that we wouldn't be able to "go home" for Christmas. I did offer to send her and our daughter "home" (Yes, it's true! At one time there was only one child in our household) for Christmas. Her response was quite definite and firm, "Home is where we are." While that had been my attitude all along, having been on my own away from "home" for a number of years already, it was good to hear her say that.

Last weekend I had a conversation with a mother of six children (I'm not lying! There are still some families out there like mine). She shared with me that a few years ago she and her husband had realized that their older children had their own lives and their own homes. One of their sons is married. As a result of that realization they no longer ask their children if they'll be "home for Christmas" but whether they'll be able to come for a visit at this time of year. As she was sharing this insight with me, I was reminded that I no longer consider my parents' home, my "home." My home is where I live with my wife, and when I wonder if our children will be "coming home" at Christmas, I'm wondering if they'll be with us, not their grandparents.

As of last night there's only one of our children that's not "home" for Christmas. He's still out in California. While he's got liberty for Saturday through Monday, he told me the other night that he'd probably work on Monday after spending time with a friend on Christmas Day. His perspective on "home" has already changed. Last year at this time he was in Iraq. Coming home meant staying alive and returning to the United States.

There's no doubt that Christmas invokes all kinds of thoughts about "homecoming" and seeing family and friends. Yet, at Christmas, we're celebrating more than being with loved ones. At Christmas we're rejoicing that our Lord left His heavenly home and lived among us so that He could take us to our true home with Him in heaven. Jesus' own words to the disciples as recorded by John make it clear that our place is with our Father in heaven, with our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, "In My Father's house are many rooms... I am going there to prepare a place for you...I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am" (Jn. 14:2, 3).

At Christmas we celebrate homecoming - our homecoming. We celebrate the wonderful gift of "God made flesh" as the very Son of God came into the world so that He might take us our real and eternal home with our Father in heaven. Jesus' birth in Bethlehem reminds us that we aren't at home on earth because Sin has separated us from God. Earth is a "desert drear" as the hymn writer said so eloquently over a century ago. As each of our families celebrates the various "homecomings" of this Christmas it's good for us to be reminded by the Birth of our Savior in Bethlehem, that He came to bring us home, as forgiven, redeemed sinners in Him, to our true and only real home – heaven. What a wonderful gift from God, that our Lord left His home in order to bring us home.

Prayer: Father, too often I get so attached to life on earth that I forget my only true home is with You in heaven. By Your grace, mercy, and love given to me in Jesus, You have touched my life so that I might truly appreciate that "heaven is my home" and that Jesus has prepared a place there for me. Help me to celebrate Jesus' birth as a reminder from You that You want to come home to be with You forever. Keep me focused on heaven as my true home so that I might be a true and winsome witness for You and Your salvation of the world in Christ so that others might also truly know and believe that heaven is our only true home because it is being forever in Your presence. Father, grant me the power and presence of Your Holy Spirit this Christmas that I might truly give thanks and praise to You for arranging and paying for my journey home to You with the very blood of Your Son, the Holy Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the world.. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright @2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.