Hello,
When my wife and I moved to Pennsylvania a year and a half ago and built
a house, we dreamt of the day when our three sons, now spread across the
country, would fill it and make it the place where their lives can find an
anchor. That dream came true this
Thanksgiving. From Denver via
plane, and New York and Chicago by car my three twenty-some year old sons came
“home” for Thanksgiving. Along
with them came a girl friend, a daughter in law, and a dog.
The house that has calmly rested with just my wife, my dog and me in it
came alive with an elevated heartbeat as the floors clicked with heels and
paws, the perfectly kept rooms were strewn with clothes as if a tornado had
passed through them, and laughter and memories radiated with greater warmth
than the roaring fireplace.
As a pastor who has moved around quite a bit as my kids grew up our
family never really had a place that we could call “home”. Sure, every place that we lived we made
of it our home, but we always did so in the shadow of the lurking future of
leaving it behind. But not this
time. We have set down our roots
here in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, roots from which a strong trunk will
rise up, and from that trunk branches of love will extend as far away as New
York, Denver, and Chicago so that even when my kids are not under the roof of
this home, they will be under the shade and shelter that reaches out from this
place. This Thanksgiving my kids
came home…… our house was full….. and so was my heart.
I know the joy that swept over my soul to have my kids come “home”, so when
I say to you that joy sweeps over the soul of God when his children come home,
I speak as a father whose soul has tasted such a joy. God has built his church on earth to be a place where people
can find an anchor for their lives.
Sunday after Sunday he throws a Thanksgiving feast (Eucharist means
“thanksgiving”), and he sets his table overflowing with his grace and mercy in
hopes that all of his children will come.
If you are “home” every Sunday taking your seat at God’s table, know
that God never tires of your presence, rather he delights in it. And if you have been away for a while,
don’t let your absence keep you away, for as long as you are not “home”, God’s
“house” is a little empty and there is a hallow bubble in God’s heart.
So, if you are wondering if you should go to church this Sunday, or any
Sunday, instead of asking what it will mean to you to go to church, why not ask
the more important question, “What will it mean to God?” What will it mean to God to see his
children reaching out to one another in care and concern? What will it mean to God to see
forgiveness being practiced between his children? What will it mean to God to see smiles and tears carried on
the faces of his children as they come to his table? What will it mean to God to embrace his children more deeply
than with a hug as he shares himself with them in Holy Communion.?
I don’t know for sure what it meant for my kids to come home for
Thanksgiving, but I do know what it meant to me. It meant the world to me. Likewise, I don’t know what it will mean for you when you
come “home” to church on Sunday mornings, but I do know what it means to
God. It means the universe to him.
This Sunday, and every Sunday, God hopes, and I hope, that you will be
“home”.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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