June '10 - Pastor to the People
As summer has finally dawned upon us, we find ourselves anticipating long planned trips and vacations. While recently attending my sister-in-law’s wedding I began to notice a curious thing about vacations. Although we plan for them, look forward to them and work hard to get ready for them, there is a moment in every vacation when one begins to yearn again for home. Sometimes this yearning does not kick in until we are driving home or about to walk in the door, but for many this yearning begins when we are still far away from the place we call our home.
In Matthew 13, Jesus, who is the incarnate Word who has become flesh to dwell amongst us (on vacation if you will), begins to speak with haunting familiarity about the place he calls home, the Kingdom of God. And like a person from the Vail Valley trying to explain to a person from the third world what our home is like, Jesus must resort to the parable: “It is like this…” But one parable won’t do and he begins to layer one atop the other. As he does, we soon begin to yearn with him for home. We begin to get the sense that indeed this present world and all of its values is not, cannot, and will not be our ultimate home. We are sojourners through this life with an unsettled restlessness for home constantly nagging at our hearts and minds. The prayer that our Lord taught us even suggests it: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” As quaint as it sounds, heaven is indeed our intended home and Jesus wants to convey to us that there is nothing quaint about heaven. It is a place that is beyond human words, even parables. Like a child trying to view a parade through the quick glances between taller and bigger onlookers, we only see glimpses and flashes.
I like to say at the beginning of worship services, “Welcome Home.” Our church was not only built to intentionally look and feel like a home, but we also strive to be a spiritual home that honors and serves our Lord well. But our church home and all of our ministries are but a peek into the grand parade of heaven, our real home. Jesus says in one of his most powerful promises: “I go to prepare a place for you…and I will come and bring you there myself.”
And so as we all go on well deserved vacations, camping trips, outings and summer, take note of that moment when you first begin to yearn for home. It is actually a holy moment. It suggests a deeper truth which points us back to Jesus’ promise which was fulfilled by the cross and empty tomb. And it points us back to 455 Nottingham Ranch Road in Avon where every week (and on many weekdays) there is a spiritual community that yearns to welcome you home as well.
Blessings, Rob
