“Gloria – We Praise the God of all Homecomings”
Everywhere we look in the Christmas story, we see people coming home. When Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem, where Jesus ended up being born, because they were coming home. Home to Joseph’s ancestral home. Joseph was from the lineage of King David and David’s hometown was Bethlehem. So Mary and Joseph went back home; to the place where it all began. And when they arrived, they weren’t invited into a spacious room inside the roadside inn. Instead, they had to squeeze into cramped space, out back in the stable, negotiating with the livestock for valuable real estate. We go home like this too. Not exactly the same way, but – from time to time -we also go home to the place it all began for us; to visit the house in which we were raised; to the farmland our grandparents settled; to walk the hallways of the schools we attended; to swing on the swings of our favorite playgrounds; and to sit in the pews of childhood churches. Have you ever noticed, when you do that, that everything seems smaller? Back then, they were so large – or at least normal-sized. But now? It’s as though we’ve outgrown them. And it’s true. We have outgrown them. Coming home to the place our journey started shows us how far we’ve come; how much we’ve grown. Of course, it all seems smaller now, because we’ve changed. We’ve become so much more than we were then.
The Wise Men also came home. That is, before they came home they first came to Judea to visit the newborn Jesus. They had been guided by a star and traveled from the East for many days. And when their visit was over, they came back home. But this time they traveled by another road; they took a detour of sorts. They were not up on all the politics going on in Judea at the time. So, they didn’t realize the Jewish King Herod saw the birth of Jesus as a threat to his kingship; and that he wanted Jesus dead. They also didn’t know that he wanted to use them as his own personal GPS system. He told them to come back to him and tell him where exactly in Bethlehem baby Jesus was; that once King Herod had that information he was going to come and put the Jesus to death. But even without knowing any of that, the Wise Men were warned in a dream not to return to King Herod, but to sneak out of town and head back home by another road. So, their journey home took an unexpected detour and unanticipated delays - but they eventually made it home.
Last year during Advent, we asked you to share stories with us about a time when Christmas “almost didn’t happen.” When your Christmas plans unexpectedly changed so much that it seemed like Christmas as you knew it wouldn’t come about. It shouldn’t be surprising that a good number of your stories were about travel. Sudden blizzards, ice storms, road closures, flight cancellations all required a detour to be made, and delays to be endured, but somehow – eventually and overcoming all odds – you made it home and Christmas did happen. Not only that, the ones that almost didn’t happen because of the detours and the delays ended up being the ones that we remember the most.
Then there were the shepherds. They also came home that first Christmas. Or better put, they went home. They were the very first people to hear of Jesus’ birth. The angels who proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest” could have gone anywhere that night. They could have visited palace royals or big city businessmen. They could have gone to the social influencers of the day.
But they didn’t. They went instead to certain poor shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Shepherding was hard work; with long hours; and relentless exposure to the elements. It was a low-paying job, so it was one that anyone with any means would run from. Shepherds were drawn from among the disinherited of the world. They were those down on their luck; on work-release programs; who also met with parole officers and were trying to find a footing in life again.
But it was to them that the angels came that night! The ones overlooked and undervalued; with their backs up against the wall. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was spoken to them first! And after the shepherds visited the infant Jesus in the manger in Bethlehem, they went home differently. They were praising God for all they had seen and heard. They would be the first evangelists! Long before James gave up his fishing nets, Levi left the tax both and John baptized his first repentant, the Shepherds were the ones preparing the way for the Good News of Jesus Christ to inhabit the world. Where everyone else had beaten them down for the past mistakes, God lifted them up for their future potential.
Home is any place that celebrates you for how much you’ve grown and how far you’ve come. Home is any place that reminds you that the detours and delays on your life journey are meant to define you more than defeat you. And home is any place that believes in you; that believes you matter; that no matter how much you’ve been humbled by life, you’re never to be humiliated. For in God’s eyes, you are always worthy of love. And while you can find that place anywhere in the world, we hope that you find it here. We hope that every time you come to Central that you feel celebrated for how much you’ve grown - in life and in faith; that you are reminded that your challenges cannot break the spirit of God in you; and where you feel loved for you are… no matter what!
Blessings – Michael