Jesus said: I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved
me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain
intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands
and made myself at home in his love.
I’ve told you these things for a
purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my
command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to
love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you
do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because
servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve
named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the
Father.
You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose
you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit
bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
But remember the root command: Love one
another.
Dorothy said it in The
Wizard of Oz. We all long for
it. We search and try to find it. There really is nothing better than a feeling
of being at home.
Home brings with it a sense of comfort and assurance. It is a place where we can be ourselves and
we can be vulnerable. It is a place
where, as Robert Frost said, when you have to go there, they have to take you
in. Home is a place where you belong and
matter.
If this is your experience, then what do you think it means
to be at home in God? What does it look
like in your life to find comfort and belonging at home in a relationship of love
and support? How do you experience this in
your life?
After much moving, sorting and trying things, I have
discovered this sense of being at home in God and God’s love through my
relationships with others – my urban family, my partner, my children, and, yes,
even in my relationship with my own doubting, searching and questioning faith. It has not always been easy for me to be
vulnerable with others, to trust others, to find home with others. However, in the last few years, I have been practicing
being present in my own life in such a way that I am as honest as I can
be. For me, when I practice interpretive
charity (believing the best in others and in myself), I am at home. When I am home, I am truly joyful.
If you are looking for home, literally and
figuratively, then we welcome you home to Christ Church. Join us this Saturday, May 9 at 9am for
digging in the dirt and starting a garden to benefit our community food
pantry. Working side by side others is a
great way to discover what home means to others. If you find you enjoy this time, you are
invited to worship with us on Sunday, May 10 at 10am.
Christ Church is a place and a community in which you
belong and matter. See you soon!
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