September 15 2019 "Are You Waiting for Someone to Come Home?"

September 15 2019 Luke 15.1-10 “Are You Waiting for Someone to Come Home?” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

==

For most of us most of the time we know home as - home sweet home. God blesses us with homes where we can find comfort and joy more abundantly than any place in the world.  Wherever we are at home is where the heart is. God designs home to sustain us. Home is where we are filled with pleasant memories of laughing together, praying together, singing together, dining together, dancing together, cooking and feasting together, traveling together, playing together, working on issues together and so much more.  Home is where the good days outweigh the bad days.

The evening news most often tells about the bad days that people are living with in homes within all types of neighborhoods. We complain about bad news, but I wonder what we would do if the evening news covered mostly good news. Would we miss the bad news? I decided that the bad news, as bad as it is, inspires us and warns us and challenges us to work at the daily goal of partnering with God to maintain a good home.

When we suffer such things as cycles of poverty, bigotry, promiscuity, hopelessness, despair, or religiosity in our families, whether we act on it or not, we long to break out of the destructive cycle and become free to enjoy prosperity, humanity, chastity, and piety.

From a Christian perspective, a good home has six characteristics according to one Christian Psychologist. A Christian home, number one, has joy, which is different from happiness. Joy is a deep sense of peaceful delight after receiving the love of God in your heart. Joy does not depend on circumstances; it depends on our relationship with God. Second, a Christian home has order rather than confusion. Third, a Christian home is full of grace; it is a safe place to make a mistake.  Fourth, a Christian home is a place of kind deeds and service. Fifth, a Christian home is a place where spiritual disciplines are practiced, like giving, fasting, praying, studying, meditating. Finally, a Christian home affirms that God has a purpose for each member of the family and there are family goals that support Christian values. They are blessed with a shield of faith. 

No matter where we are on the scale, haven grown from exemplifying Christian values terribly or wonderfully, we do well to trust in God.  We do well to depend on God. We do well to keep our eye on God and avoid the temptation to look too long at our blessings or to look too long on our troubles. We do well to keep our eyes on the God who loves us and to whom we can cast every care because God cares for us. If you do not know the love of God, I invite you to look for it until you find it.

It is good to allow the Holy Spirit of a loving God to be a part of our home life. If God is not there guiding and inspiring, then there is only one other source of power that is in our home.

Many years ago, when I was spending an unusually enormous time fasting and praying and seeking God’s will, I felt gently nudged by the Holy Spirit to make sure there was nothing in my apartment that was foul. My attention was drawn to a certain end table that had a little drawer. The nudge was strong enough that I started looking through the drawer. I found a piece of paper with an off-color cartoon, story or joke. I tossed it, knowing that just a little foulness can grow like mold and contaminate our spiritual lives. It mattered even if it was hidden in the drawer.

We want to look like Godly families and signal to others that we are standing on holy ground, a foundation for good works. Even many who would never set foot in a church can appreciate and invest in good works and compassionate deeds. We want to look like good Christians. We want our ministries to shine with the light of God’s love.

We also want to BE good Christians and have the love of Jesus in our hearts.

We know that every home is not equal. This week a report came out that the level of poverty has fallen. That is there are a few more resources in the hands of those who have the lowest income. We thank God for that. The same report indicated that fewer families have health coverage. We pray to God for mercy. The season and reason for prayer never ends.

There is tremendous evidence among us that the Lord has put in our minds and hearts the need to pray and bless families who live in homes where there is lack or suffering. 

We gather food and clothes and money whenever we can. We pray and ponder how we can connect with young people and troubled people and isolated people because we know that all humanity is better together. 

This week I spoke with Ida Parish daughter of Bugsy. She told me inspiring things about his character and influence on the members of Bethel and the community. One of the things she shared was his philosophy of relating to people. He said, “Everybody deserves a decent hello and goodbye.” Acknowledging the presence of others and warmly welcoming them is a blessing. 

Every 40 seconds there is a suicide in this world. That means that any one of us could fall into the abyss of mental illness and despair without a reason to live. When I was in the Air Force, I had a choice of deployments and I chose Georgia. Haven grown up in New England, Georgia was a culture shock for me in the late 80’s. While there, news quietly covered a lynching of an African man. Our trainer openly apologized for racially biased PowerPoints, and if that were not enough, I was traumatized by the threats of a Methodist superior officer who invited me to his office for what I thought was a privileged welcome by a seasoned colleague. It turned out he explained to me the details of what would happen to me if I did not forget about becoming a chaplain in the Air Force – which I think I would have been the first. I was traumatized and cared not whether I lived or died. It took me years to share the agony and pain that was in my heart.

But God’s people loved me when I had no words. A kind couple constantly sat me down and hugged me into the blessed reality that everything was going to be alright, even if I could not say what was wrong. My family surrounded me with warmth and affection. Strangers cared though they knew nothing about me, but they knew God and God used them to make it home from the trauma safe and sound.

Love is a matter of life and death. Perhaps you are waiting for a lost loved one to make it home. Perhaps you are waiting for someone to return home. Perhaps you long for a day of rejoicing as verse 6 reminds us.

 ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 

There is someone in our family circle or our community circle that is lost, traumatized, victimized, rebellious, stubborn, weak, addicted, or whatever. God is calling us to do our part in making sure that our hearts and our lives are sacred spaces filled with love so that others can find their way back home and be safe and sound. Love is a miracle that can happen only when we depend on God.  Amen.