Memorial Moment: Christ Makes a Home

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (ESV)

Christ Makes a Home

Thursday of Pentecost 17

27 September 2012

Abraham was a man with no home. The Lord only granted him a place in which to bury his dead (Gn 23:17-18) in promise of a home to come (Heb 11:8). Abraham was in a strange place. He had no permanent home, but was the chosen one of God and the forerunner of the world's Savior, Jesus Christ. He was a king and a priest, but without a castle or a temple. This must have caused some unease for Abraham and perhaps more for Sarah. We feel a sense of unease if we live as one who has no place to lay his head (Mt 8:20). Such a one must live by faith, as Abraham did. It seems to be too great a weight for our human frame to be but a wandering Aramean (Deut 26:5), totally dependent on God's care. So we seek a shadow of the coming home of heaven, which is truly permanent because it does not depend on our accomplishments for its existence. That shadow is the places of abiding we build to house our family, pets, and stuff. They are truly just buildings; mere tents, because we will not always live in them. Only the church of Jesus Christ abides forever (Mt 16:18).

My family is moving to a new home. We are now between houses. Our old home has been vacated. The new house remains to be moved into. We are staying with gracious friends as a temporary measure. A house is just bricks and mortar, wood and paint. So why do we feel a deep sadness when the building is empty, when the walls echo, and bits of packing tape waft about the floor? Because the things that made our house a home are still packed in that space and cannot so easily be put on a truck and moved. It is the setting in which Christmas feasts were celebrated, prom pictures were taken, broken hearts healed, and life lived to the fullest because Christ was ever present there (Jn 10:10).

As we packed our home to move, we sold some furniture, sorted through the "stuff," and often wondered out loud, "Why did we keep this all these years?" There were some tears shed because some of the "stuff" evoked memories much deeper and dearer than mere stuff. It pointed to gifts of joy that marked our years as parents and children growing and maturing. Our homes are not places of abiding because they hold all our "stuff." They are places of abiding because the Lord Himself is there granting joy in His Word. Our homes, if they are truly places of abiding, are little churches in which Christ is given and his grace received. Oh, yes, they are beautiful, inviting, cozy, and functional, but these things do not make a home. Christ does.

Martin Luther

"Abraham's house is the true church; for even if other patriarchs were living at that time, nevertheless by the divine Word the church had been attached to the house, descendants, and line of Abraham.

"Accordingly, if you draw a comparison between the house of Abraham and the people of Sodom, you will find everything most pleasant and friendly in the house of Abraham. This is true to such an extent that the very angels of God seem to jest jovially with Sarah when she laughs and then denies laughing. Therefore the voice of God is continually heard there, and Abraham's home is nothing other than a kingdom of the forgiveness of sins and of grace. Yes, it is heaven itself in which dwell the angels of God, whom he receives reverently. In them he worships God, whom He knows and believes in as One in Three. In short, in Abraham's home there is nothing but grace and life."

Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis, 18.21

Prayer

Lord God Almighty, we implore You to bless and sanctify our homes and those who live in them. Drive from them the snares of the evil one and send Your holy angels to guard, protect, visit, and defend all who dwell in them. Mercifully hear our prayers and, when our last hour comes, grant us safe haven in Your heavenly mansions; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

For Jessica and Ross Bartley, that they would be blessed on their wedding anniversary with ever more of the joys that the Lord gives in the family community

For Steve Herrs, who is rejoicing because of a successful treatment outcome for his Sarcoma, that the Lord would fill his days with joy and service to the cause of the holy cross

For those who are homeless that the Lord would extend his care to them, that they would find shelter for the body and peace for soul

Art: DÜRER, Albrecht The Adoration of the Trinity (1511)