On our way ... Home!

In my family, ‘home’ was important. When Bev and I became a family, we tried to make our house a ‘home’ for our kids as well.  The goal is to create a welcoming, safe, nurturing place. As a teen, I loved going home. I knew Mom would have a great meal prepared for supper, that there would be affection. I still love to go  to my  ‘home.’ Yes, it’s a lot different since Bev went to her eternal home. I miss her welcome, our time together, the beauty she brought to our ‘castle,’ but none the less - after a day full of conversations and work, I love to kick off my boots, grab a glass of ice tea, and flop down in my place.

Every child of God has a home waiting, a place prepared. Jesus teaches that this fact keeps us from being fearful and unsteady. On the night of the Last Supper, when He was telling His disciples that He was leaving them, that the Holy Spirit would come to be their Counselor, He also said - “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3, NIV)  

Jesus referenced ‘the Father’s house.’  Those first hearers heard it differently than we do. Most of them lived in multi-generational settings. When a son was getting married, there was an addition made to the family place to which he would bring his bride. The family was more important than the individual.  There was a sense of belonging that gave identity and security.  God, our Father, tells us that He has prepared for us to ‘come home,’ where we will be secure forever!

There are a lot of largely baseless ideas about heaven that persist, fanciful inventions of our imaginations based on snippets of Bible passages. The ONE enduring fact is that Heaven is HOME. The second fact is that we are invited to live there eternally, not because we earn a place, but because Jesus gives us His welcome.

Are you ready to go home? Nobody likes to talk about life’s end and so that question is hard to ask and answer. And yet, we are mortal and a moment will come when this journey will end. What’s your destination? If you know Christ Jesus as Savior, by faith, then there is a title deed on a Heavenly Home, a place prepared. It is my prayer that this will be your great and enduring hope that eclipses every earthly joy and steadies you through every sorrow.

Here is a word from the Word. Let it help you to anticipate the Home that waits.

“We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven.” (Col 1:4-5)

"Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives." (1 Peter 2:11-12, The Message)

______________

Home

This world is not what it was meant to be

All this pain all this suffering

There's a better place waiting for me

In heaven

Ev'ry tear will be wiped away

Ev'ry sorrow and sin erased

We'll dance on seas of amazing grace

In heaven in heaven

I'm goin'

Home where the streets are golden

Ev'ry chain is broken

Oh I wanna go oh I wanna go

Home where ev'ry fear is gone I'm in Your open arms

Where I belong

(Home)

Lay down my burdens I lay down my past

I run to Jesus no turning back

Thank God Almighty I'll be free at last

In heaven in heaven

I'm goin'

Blinded eyes will fin'lly see

The dead will rise on the shores of eternity

The trump will sound the angels will sing

Hallelujah hallelujah

I am goin'

Where I belong

I'm goin' home

I'm goin' home

I'm on my way home

I'm goin' home

Chris Tomlin | Ed Cash | Scott Cash

© 2016 S. D. G. Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Sixsteps Songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Worship Together Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Alletrop Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

McTyeire Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

CCLI License # 810055

How could you?

That person sitting there across from me was crushed, broken, beyond tears with a sorrow so heavy you could feel it in the room. Was it death or sickness? No, it was betrayal! His spouse walked out of the home to be with another love, abandoning the family.  Who has not experienced a friend’s treachery, a colleague’s rejection, a failure of a relationship?  I know personally that ache that follows the failure of a relationship. How many millions have wondered, “How could he do that to me? Why did my friend walk away?”

Jesus, as He faced the anguish of the Cross, also suffered betrayal! At the Passover meal, the night of His arrest, John tells us the story.  "After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant." (John 13:21-22, NIV)  It hurt the Lord to know that a man close to Him, one of the Twelve, was planning to sell Him to those who would crucify Him.  He was ‘troubled in spirit.’  We have an image of a serene Jesus, living in perpetual calm, but He was fully human and in truth He knew the same kinds of emotions that we feel. That night He felt the terrible loss of betrayal!

Let me turn this thought in two directions. The first is obvious. 

Are you faithful to the Lord? Is your aim to love Him, serve Him, and live for Him – through it all? A hundred temptations would pull us away, inviting us to turn away.  “Not me,” you may say.  I wish we could be so confident in ourselves. We need the strength of the Spirit to remain faithful.  Sometimes spiritual betrayal is not full abandonment of all things godly. 

Sometimes it is like that of the Laodiceans of the letter called Revelations. "Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God’s creation, says: “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless." (Revelation 3:14-17, The Message)  Yes, we can betray Jesus by just letting our zeal die, replacing passion with dutiful religion.

Now, let’s make it personal. 

Are you struggling with betrayal? Has a spouse left you, a friend forsaken you, a colleague failed? Will you choose to forgive?  Jesus was direct in His words about it. Unless we forgive others, we cannot find the full forgiveness of God! Hard, isn’t it?  In the prayer He taught His disciples we say, “Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.”  Will we make that prayer a reality?  When we are betrayed, it is human to want to exact a price, to make the other person see their perfidy! But, revenge is not the way of the godly.  We hand the debt to God who judges. We let it go, for Jesus’ sake and we find His peace.

Said General Oglethorpe to Wesley, “I never forgive.” 

“Then I hope, sir,” said Wesley, “you never sin.”  

 As much as we might hate to admit it, we have all failed – God, family, friends – at one time or another. May He give us the grace to offer the forgiveness that we will most certainly need.

There is this assurance. Live in this word from the Word today. We are secure, made whole, confident for eternity in the promise. 

God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?” (Heb 13:5-6)

____________

One Thing Remains (Your Love Never Fails)

(worship and find renewal with this song)

Higher than the mountains that I face

Stronger than the power of the grave

Constant in the trial and the change

One thing remains

One thing remains

Your love
Your love
Your love will never change

Your love never fails

It never gives up

Never runs out on me

Your love

On and on and on and on it goes

It overwhelms and satisfies my soul

And I never ever have to be afraid

One thing remains

One thing remains

In death in life I'm confident and

Cover'd by the power of Your great love

My debt is paid there's nothing that

Can separate my heart from Your great love

Your love

Brian Johnson | Christa Black Gifford | Jeremy Riddle

© 2010 ChristaJoy Music Publishing (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Vineyard Music USA)

Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

I’ll pick up your trash

 A recent article pointed out the terrible state of many public restrooms in America compared to those in some other nations. I will spare you the more gross descriptions of the sorry state of some of those places!  Apparently, we are not very conscious of our shared responsibility to help keep those ‘public’ places clean.  What if we were committed to making sure to keep litter off of the floor, to wipe off the sink, out of respect for others?  A public restroom which is  'shared' by everybody is felt to be 'owned' by nobody so paper towels get tossed in the corner, paper thrown on the floor next to the commode. The point is that some will feel none of the sense of responsibility that helps make life better for all.

I hear you asking, “Jerry, is there a point here?”  Yes, there is. Selfless service is a mark of the true disciple’s life. As a culture we are increasingly careless in the use of words and in actions that diminish life's beauty for others.  The feeling that we are ‘community,’ that we share in making the world better is lost to a Self-centered view.  One response is to create governing bodies that make more petty laws to compel us to do what we should do just because of common sense.  What has happened to those inner discipline that tell us where the 'boundaries’ of life should be and that cause us to give up some of our 'space' for the benefit of our neighbors?

Jesus took on the idea that Self is supreme on the night before His ultimate sacrifice. In a dramatic moment told in the Gospel, He got up from the table, took a towel and basin and knelt to wash His friends feet! Here's the story.  The disciples were fighting with each other about their relative importance.   "Jesus loves me more than you."  Can you imagine a group of adult men acting so silly?  It was the custom of the time to provide a servant to wash the tired, dirty feet of those who visited your home.   But, this group had no servant, and none of them was about to take that role voluntarily.  Jesus, though He was first in rank, set aside His status and  personal advantage to serve.

When He finished the task, He said, "You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life. " (John 13:13-17, The Message)

Are you prepared to serve, starting with something like picking up the trash, absorbing unfair criticism, doing what needs to be done even when there is no direct benefit to you?

What should be a ‘no-brainer’ in our churches is often forgotten in favor of self-interest, doing what is ‘best for me.’  Many fellowships are torn apart, not by outside attack, but by strife on the inside.  If we bring Self-interest to church with us we will never ‘take up the towel of service.’  Where this person says he wants only a certain kind of music used in worship, that person wants all the church's attention focused on a specific ministry, and another wants only to hear sermons about prophecy, you will find a church that is hampered by power plays, people pressuring those in leadership offices to do what they want done - now.   The Word tells us that "where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." (James 3:16, NIV)

Jesus taught the ideal of community life and mutual benefit in a homely way.    Let me encourage you to forget about yourself and to start being a servant.  Pick up your neighbor's trash.   

• When you're about to say something, think about how it will sound to the ones who hear your words. 

• When you're ready to take action, ask yourself, "Who benefits most?  Me, or We?"   

• When somebody trespasses onto 'your' space, steps on your toes, fails to notice your needs - pray for the Holy Spirit to change your response from defensive reflex to authentic love.

Here's a word that challenged me this morning.  Let the Spirit use it to speak to you.

"If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.

No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior:

Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!

If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back?

Run-of-the-mill sinners do that." (Luke 6:29-32, The Message)

______________________

Lord, you've handed me a tough assignment,
asking me to be a servant.

Everything in my human nature screams
for soothing and I love to be served.

The 'big lie' about being served as the way to happiness is so seductive.

I cannot consistently be a servant in my own strength, or by my own resolve.

So, I pray-  change my very nature, O Spirit of God.

Break the grasp of selfishness in me.

Let me see again the depth of Your suffering for me,
suffering I caused by my willful rejection of God and good.

Then, convict me and compel me, by the lessons of grace,
into a life of Loving service;  that allows Your beauty to be seen in me and
in the world which I help to create by my words and actions.

For Jesus sake, I pray.   Amen.