“In the end, what makes a home truly welcoming is the host who answers the door when we knock, who immediately lifts our weary spirits with a warm smile and a hearty ‘come on in’… Psalm 23, one of the most familiar psalms in the Bible, describes a God who is an exquisite host. The God of this psalm believes in abundance – we will lack nothing once we enter her house. This God invites us to rest our weary bodies in his fragrant green pastures” (Debi Thomas, A Faith of Many Rooms, 173).
Our collective home is in God. As the writer of Psalm 90 proclaims, “God, you have been our dwelling place, our home, in all generations.” The promise that God is our home is a thread that runs throughout the Bible. The promise that God has made God’s home with us is deeply needed in our lives and world today.
This year we will ponder the stories of home in the Bible, in our shared lives and in prayer. Home may be a place, a person, or a moment, all the possibilities where we experience the “come on in for you are welcome, no exceptions” that connects us in love.
As we gather to worship, grow in faith, care for the vulnerable, and respond with generosity, we are dwelling in God’s promise of home. What an invitation for us in these complex times to ponder stories of home and grow in faith together.
Perhaps these closing lyrics of the choir’s anthem at the 10:30 a.m. service give voice to our yearning for home:
There’s a voice I can hear
That will lead me home.
Rise up, follow me,
Come away, is the call,
With the love in your heart
As the only song;
There is no such beauty
As where you belong:
Rise up, follow me,
I will lead you home.
-Michael Dennis Browne
In gratitude for the ways you seek a home in God,
Pastor Peter