Atom1 Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14 “Home”
“Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals, yet chosena nd precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual home…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaimt he mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvious light.” 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9
I left home thirty-seven years ago. I was off to college like many of our young people graduating from High School in these days of late May and June. I was leaving home for new learning, and new relationships, and new adventures. I didn’t get home a lot after that – mostly for school breaks, and a couple of summers – but there was always something special about coming home. When I drove up to the house, Mom was watching out the window. When I walked in there were hugs and smiles all around. Later there were meals shared around that same table where we had eaten together all those years of my growing up. Coming home meant finding my place at the table and my bedroom upstairs and in the family. It meant knowing who I was and how I was loved. It meant being anchored and grounded in something real, even if it seemed like a lot of the rest of my life was up for grabs. Coming home was good…even if only for a short time…because at home I could remember and be embraced and refreshed and then launched back into the world.
Some of you have had that experience. Some of you have not. Some of you left home and your parents moved. Not just to ditch you so that you couldn’t find them anymore, but maybe because life changed…their job or their health or their marriage. You didn’t come home to the same house or the same table or the same room. I realize that there are very few my age whose Dad still lives in the house they grew up in, or who can go back to that same home.
But then again, home isn’t really about the house…it’s about the people – the family that loves you and cherishes you, the relationships that shape you and make you who you are. Even if the house changes, home is where your parents are, or, when you are older, home is where your spouse or kids are…even if you move around and change houses and communities, there is still home. Home is a place of security and safety, a place of belonging. Home is a good place to go out from and to return to.
I also realize, however, for some home was not a place of security and love. For some of you, the home you grew up in or the house you shared with your spouse was not a safe place – or a place where you sensed that you were loved and cherished. It was a place of danger or, at best, chaos, and a place you were anxious to escape. My wife, Holly, is a counselor who works with families in crisis and spends a lot of her time in homes that are in chaos. Sometimes there is a strong sense of love in the midst of that chaos…but many times there is not and young people can’t wait to escape.
All that being said, when the Bible speaks of home or of parenting, and of God as being like a Father to us, it invites us to come home to a place of safety and security and love in the midst of a chaotic and often crazy world.
In the first reading from Peter, the author writes to followers of Jesus who are in constant and great crisis. The Roman Empire has come upon hard times economically and politically and Emperor Nero, looking for someone to blame has targeted Christians. “They are the cause of the unrest and disruption in society,” Nero claims. “Get rid of them.” So Christians were hunted, and beaten and killed. Families were broken up. Homes were destroyed. Identifiable places of worship were reduced to rubble. Life was incredibly dangerous…
And in the midst of this danger…this chaos…this brokenness and wonder about the very goodness of life and God…Peter reminds them to hold fast to hope and to continue to gather together even amid the broken buildings and houses that evidenced their troubled life. Though they must meet in secret, in different places, and at different times so as to avoid detection, Peter urges them to maintain a community of love and care – a place for the faithful to come home to: “Come to the One who is living stone – Jesus,” says Peter, “and be living stones yourselves, built into a spiritual home for the searching, maintained by a chosen and holy people.”
I believe that at least one truth coming from this letter of Peter’s is the assertion that it is not the church building that makes the house or home of believers. It is the gathering of Jesus’ followers that makes a church home – a safe place in the midst of change and chaos…a home that receives us with smiles and arms of welcome, and a place at the table…a home that reminds us of who we are – beloved and cherished people of God:
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people…”
Home is not about the house…it is about the people; it is about belonging. It is about being in that place where we are reminded that we belong and that we are loved and that we are safe.
I find it interesting that Jesus also speaks of home in the gospel for today: “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places…”
I believe we might read it this morning as, “In my Father’s home are many dwelling places.” Jesus is speaking here to followers who are increasingly anxious about life – about the chaos swirling around them as the foes of Jesus plot against him – and even more anxious when in the chapter preceding Jesus tells them that he is leaving. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled…” says Jesus. Don’t be anxious. “In my Father’s home are many dwelling places.”
“In my Father’s Home are many dwelling places…If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
“And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to that place…” v. 3
And Thomas – ever blunt and ever honest – says, “No, we really don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Thomas is thinking about a place, of course – a house – and maybe a map showing the way. Jesus instead points to himself: “I am the way…the truth and the life.” I am the way. Stay close to me. When you are with me, you are home. Wherever I am…wherever you are, when you are with me, you are home…
Gerhard Frost tells a wonderful story illustrating this in his little book of devotions called, “Homing in the Presence.” He says:
As I walked down the airport ramp to board a plane, a family of four was in front of me, mother carrying the younger child and father holding the other by the hand. The older girl appeared to be about four and her every step was a bounce. She radiated expectancy and joy. It was obvious that this as the day, the day that had been talked about and planned for. She couldn’t wait!
Her father looked down at her and asked, “Where are we going?”
“To Grandma’s!” she shouted, punctuating her words with a higher bounce than usual.
She didn’t say “to Bismarck” or “Billings,” but “to Grandma’s.” As far as she was concerned, she was going to a person – the place didn’t matter. She was an eloquent witness to the fact that we home in those who love us, in people more than places.
(Homing in the Presence, Winston Press, 1978, p. 81)
This passage from John’s gospel has long been a reading of comfort at the time of death for those trusting their loved ones into God’s eternity…and Gerhard Frost goes on to remind us that Jesus speaks to our desire to know where our loved ones are with the clear word (Slide 16) that “where?” is not so important as “who?” The “who” is with Jesus – the resurrected Jesus who will take us to the Father. “Where” is not nearly so important as “who.”
I would suggest that the same is true for “home” – for those of you leaving home soon and for those of you who left home a long, long time ago. The where isn’t so important as the who. Home is where you know you belong and where you hear words of cherishing and love. Home is where you feel safe enough and grounded enough that you can launch out the next day into the world that may still be in chaos. Home is a place to come to and a place to launch out to.
I would like to hope that you have families where you can home in this way. I would also tell you that whether you do or do not, Jesus invites you to find home with Him, whoever you are and wherever you are.
Young people, I hope you will always sense that you have a home here, among the gathering of believers that is First Lutheran, that here you are cherished and that here you are loved and hear you encounter your Creator and your Savior, your God who says to you, “I have called you by name and you are mine.” I formed you in your mother’s womb, I claimed you in the waters of baptism, I bought you back and forgave any sins you have committed or will commit by the death and resurrection of my Son. You are mine and you belong here. Come and remember; come and be embraced and refreshed…come, so you can launch again into to the future I am setting before you.”
But…if you can’t get back here…to this place, because you are on the move…or the Spirit leads you to far flung places to use your gifts…there are other places…other gatherings of believers that I urge you to call “home.” Pastor Randy Anderson was with our young people this morning for breakfast. Randy is campus Pastor at MSUM. For those “away from home,” campus ministry offers “home where you are” – a place for those who belong to Christ to gather in the midst of their chaotic weeks or chaotic relationships and to remember,
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you might proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
“You are loved and cherished…remember. Now go confidently on your way and live like loved and cherished people who will by your actions invite others to know what you know!”
Whether you are a young person going off to college, or whether you are an older person who has lived through many a house and outlived many a friend and family member, “home” is still a place to refresh you. It is not a “where,” but a “who.” Home is where those who love you are. Home is where you are reminded that you are cherished and cared for. Home is a place where you know you belong. Home is here…and it is there…wherever God’s people gather. Home is where Jesus is. Always. So remember, and know that the home Jesus offers – “I am the way…” remember – this home is always your home…and in this home you are always welcome!
Please pray with me…
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