What Does 'Home' Mean?
(Posted May 5, 2020)
“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.” -- Anonymous
“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” -- William Makepeace Thackeray
I’m going to give you all some homework in advance of this Sunday. I’d like you to sit back and think, back to the days when you were a child. If I say to you, “think of what ‘home’ meant to you when you were young,” what comes to mind?
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When you were heading home late in the day or when you were older and were allowed to stay out after dark, what was it that you were looking forward to when you got there? What were the sounds, the scents, the remarks, the flavorings of what home meant? Who did you expect to encounter there when you went home? We’ll touch upon these experiences Sunday.
This weekend the resurrected Jesus is, in essence, preparing his disciples for his departure -- a group of men and women who, for all their eagerness, still don’t quite understand what he’s asking of them. Jesus is clearly telling them that he goes to prepare a home, a place for them in the presence of God the Creator, and yet Thomas says he doesn’t know the way there. Phillip seems to demand proof of God, even after Jesus performed miracles and rose from the dead.
Clearly they haven’t completely comprehended what Jesus has waiting for those who have lived their lives in loving discipleship. He’s going to have to remind them what the best of home looked like when they were young. And this week, this Mother’s Day Sunday, we’ll also recall where the heart of home really is, and how it has shaped us. See you on Sunday! -- Pastor Pat Kriss