Returning Home | John 15:1-17

This week I looked for a definition of "home" to work with as I prepare for our last Sunday of our "Quest" worship series. We are "returning home" this Sunday and reflecting on Jesus' last conversations with his disciples before he "returned home," so to speak.

There are really powerful reflections on the definition of home that can be found on the website for Habitat for Humanity--an organization that helps people who need affordable housing build a home they can call their own. Not only does habitat for humanity help build houses, they invite those who will live in them to be a part of constructing a home. Each person who has a Habitat house has put their own sweat-equity in their home.

Here are a few reflections on what home means from folks who have benefitted from the work of Habitat for Humanity:

“Home means a future... Home is the base where everything begins.” - Kelly

“Home means a new chapter in my family’s lives, a fresh new start, safety, security, unity.” - Betty

"I think that home is simply wherever you’re surrounded by people who love you.” - Mary Kate

Safety. Togetherness. Love. Those things sound like home. Much more than just the place where we sleep, home is a place where we know we are loved. Sometimes where we sleep isn't home. Sadly, sometimes even the families we are in are not home for us. 

And as a congregation, I think this is invitiation for us the wonder whether or not our church is home. Are we a community where safety, togetherness, and love are available to those who show up? Are these things only for a select group of people? If Jesus is our vine and branches, is our fruit the love Christ calls us to have for our neighbor? 

Every day, we can strive for our church to be a place where anyone who shows up will feel like they are returning home. We can make our worship, our fellowship, our learning, and our work a place of safety, togetherness, and love for the stranger among us. May it be so.