Homecoming

This coming Sunday is Homecoming at Mt. Bethel. I'm told that it's a big deal every year, but this year is special. We are celebrating 175 years since the founding of the church. That's a lot of tradition and heritage that makes up the foundation of who we are as a church.

Typically, a past minister of the church comes and preaches that day, but because they're all either otherwise serving churches or too old to make the trip and occupy the pulpit, the honor has fallen to me. As I'm preparing my sermon for Sunday, a few things have hit me:

Homecoming is important. No, not the day each year that everybody comes to church and brings a casserole. Homecoming, as in Coming Home, is what's important. For Mother's Day, yesterday, I preached on the perfect parent and used Jochebed, Moses' mother, as the example. You can read the story here. To sum it up in a sentence or two, Moses' mother was the one who out of love for her child, was willing to let him go. Rather than control or manipulate the situation, she let the providence of God dictate the outcome. In the end, she was rewarded and her son was returned to her so she could be his nursemaid.

You find a similar story about a parent letting go in the New Testament. Read it here. When we read Jesus' story of the Prodigal Son, we tend to focus on the actions of the two sons - the one who wasted his inheritance and the other who was mad at his brother's return. What about the father? What were his actions in the story? What did he do when the younger son wanted to receive his inheritance early? Did he refuse and try to control his son? He may have tried to talk him out of it, or give suggestions on how to use it wisely, but he gave his child the freedom to make mistakes. He let him go.

This is what it means to be the perfect parent. It's not giving in to the ultimate desire to control the child - it's simply loving the child, providing a place for him (or her), and encouraging the child to live in a way that will foster love for God and love for others. It's up to God to soften and change hearts, we don't have that power.

This is also the role of the church. When we allow the desire to control those who are a part of the community, we will end up with more people rebelling and dropping out. Our faith must be of our own choosing and not something imposed or mandated. As the church, we have to provide a safe place for people to explore their faith, ask the tough questions, be encouraged, and "nurtured in the way that leads to life eternal." This is what it means to make disciples.

On the other side of the coin is the call to the child. As homecoming approaches, we are reminded that God is calling each of us to return home. Not to our hometowns necessarily, but to a relationship with God. The Prodigal Son had to return home in order to be received by his father. We have to experience a homecoming in order to be received by God. My prayer is that everyday would be a homecoming. Each time we stray from God, for whatever self-centered reason, we have the opportunity to return. Each time, we are welcomed with the love, acceptance, and celebration that the father showed for his returning son.

Do you need to experience a homecoming?
Do you know of someone else who needs to have that experience? What can you do to provide that opportunity to them?