January 24, 2025
Zephaniah 3:14-20
14 Sing, Daughter Zion;
shout aloud, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
16 On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will remove from you
all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
which is a burden and reproach for you.
19 At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed you.
I will rescue the lame;
I will gather the exiles.
I will give them praise and honor
in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes
before your very eyes,”
says the Lord.
What does “home” really mean? I often read in headlines, book titles, or on little wall hangings that we all long for home. Wallace Stegner's words that say "Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend." or "Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." (John Howard Payne) or the words of Madeleine L'Engle "We are all strangers in a strange land, longing for home."
For many today, “home” is about marking territory, distinguishing “ours” from “theirs.” From this mindset, strangers can threaten our sense of home, prompting us to push “them” out. I know that the causes of war are multi-leveled, still war can often boil down to disputed understandings of home: "who rightfully belongs on which land." We see examples of this today in our world. When there are rival claims to the same place, well the outcome is people feel they must fight for their home.
Another, understanding of "home" is one that is cozy. The thinking here is that home becomes a place where we retreat from the world’s chaos. Home is our familiar resting spot. Home is where we can shut out concerns beyond our own comfort. It is a place of tranquility, safety, and rest. As Maya Angelou put it, "the ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned."
In our reading today we read that Zechariah longs for a different kind of home from these. His is a "home" where outcasts find a welcome, a home where shame changes into praise. These other notions of home that we have mentioned, view "home" rather narrowly, home is only for the familiar, but Zechariah widens the welcome. It is beautiful isn't it? God gathers the rejected to find a home with each other.
You see, this is the kind of home we encounter wherever the Gospel of Jesus is proclaimed, heard, and lived out. The Gospel "good news" is that God welcomes us home by helping us find a home with others.
Thats sound teaching for our community of Jesus, well, all Jesus communities, don't you think. I wonder if perhaps the true test of home is whether we have helped make others welcome in our homes. God welcomes us home, we welcome others into our home space, and the amazing fruit of this is that all find their way home to God the waiting Father.
I pray that we will be known as a church that swings wide its doors, with the welcome Zephaniah longed for, where EVERYONE BELONGS!!
No comments:
Post a Comment