I Have Found Me A Home

John 14:1-7

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

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There's something to be said for wanderlust, that feeling of being elusive and treading from one place to the next. Yet, at the end of the day or at the time our journey draws to a close, our hearts will long for a place to rest, a place that we can call home. Ideally, a home provides shelter, a place to sleep, food, comfort, and any other necessity we could imagine. However, we know that the idyllic home is not achievable for one reason or another, or is the perfect home, so that leaves us to try and find the best possible dwelling place for us in the here and now. Where we end up calling home will say something about us. What we place inside will also say something about us. So if we were to look around the place we call home now, what would we find, and what would it say about who we are? The potential unsettling answer is that what we thought was our home might not be our home. 

What makes home? And what type of home do we want to find or create? 

Environment - We should consider the environment. Of course, we can only change so much about the physical environment, but I'm talking more about the emotional, spiritual, and connectional environment we can control. For example, do we wish to find or create a home that is down at slack tide or one that is caught up in hurricane-force winds? Are we looking for a home where we feel at peace or one that creates the anxious feeling of pacing a cage? These are the types of questions we need to ask ourselves when looking for a place to call home, right? I'm sure that these are questions Buffett found answers to as he called Key West his home. Do we find that our vision of home aligns with the spiritual home God desires for us? 

People - And what about the people who are also a part of the home for which we are searching? Because it's going to be a place where others gather and even live with us. I sometimes wonder how our idea of a spiritual home compares with that of God's home. It wouldn't surprise me if the place that Christ prepared contained more people who seemed like they came out of Jimmy Buffett songs than saints. Luckily, I guess that is why Jesus, our Advocate, is the one who gets to decide who is welcome, and we aren't given that power. 

What are you going to invest in this home after you find it?  

Physical Investment - It takes more than coming to church on Sunday morning. How are you actively living out the ministry of Jesus in your lives? This question of physical investment also begs the question of how are you being a good steward of what God has given you? It takes some hard work to ensure that this home we find in God is a place not only for ourselves, but for others as well. 

Spiritual Investment - What are you doing to spiritual invest in God’s home? Are you praying? Are you reading Scripture daily? All it takes to start is having one informal conversation with God to get the ball rolling. Spiritual investment is a worthwhile investment. And again, it goes beyond the routine activities of things like coming to church. What are you doing that goes beyond?

Our physical and spiritual investment is a response to God’s grace and life and love. It should not be viewed as an obligation, but a joyous response to a great gift that is freely given. 

Let us consider where we call home, the home God has prepared for us and the ways that we respond to this generous outpouring of God's love both and are living with one another, but also the ways that we live in personal relationship with God as well. Amen.