The Place Where God Put His Name
      Became our Home

† I.H.S.†

May the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ sustain you, as It has during His work here at St Paul’s for decades.  AMEN

Our Home

I would like to read one verse from our gospel reading from a different translation.

¹⁴  So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John 1:14 (NLT2)

The New Living Translation uses the word home instead of “dwelt”, and I think the difference is important.  The word in Greek refers to setting up a residence in a community, it talks of establishing more than a house, it speaks of a home. It was used in the Greek Old Testament for the tabernacle, the place where God dwelt in the midst of His people.

More importantly, I believe it is why we are here today, and it is why this day is so hard.

You see, we call places like St. Paul’s Lutheran church our “church home” for a reason.  This is the place were people have come home to God for decades, for generations. It was here we learned to feel at home in the presence of God, it is here where we came to be baptized, to celebrate Christmas and Easter and Pentecost, it is from this place we buried those who left this church home for their heavenly home.

For here God made us feel at home with Him.

You may not have realized why this place became your church home, we may have never reflected upon it.  But it was a church home, and therefore leaving it is a moment of sadness, a moment of sorrow, a moment where we question what happened, what went wrong, why did this happen.

And today, as we move on from this home, we need to realize why this place was our home, where God made His home among His people.

The Place where God Has Put His name

In our Old Testament reading, we see Solomon addressing God at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. In that prayer, even as they dedicate this building, Solomon’s prayer includes the concept that God can’t live on earth.  Yet the temple was the place where he put His name, and people could pray, and know they could be at home with God,

Hear the words again,

⁰  May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive. 

This place where God put His name served the same purpose.  This is the place where God has made you at home in His presence.  He cleansed you, he brought healing to your souls, He forgave your sin and fed you the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

and then, for others, this place was where they found him, even as aliens found God at the temple…again from the Old Testament reading,

⁴¹  “In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name, ⁴²  for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, ⁴³  then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do.1 Kings 8:41-43 (NLT2)

Over the years, the numbers of people baptized in this place is numerous, the number of people who discovered God because their prayers were answered has been significant.  That is why we are here today, to celebrate how God’s mercy has been poured out in this place.

To realize that it is a special place, that it has been a church home, a place where God has put His name.

It is in that name we find out the hope Paul worked diligently, with all he had to preach and teach.  The riches of the mystery of Christ in you! And in the end, Paul’s statement to another church will ring true about this church home, numerous people will be presented mature in Christ Jesus, because of the ministry that has happened here.

The Work Done Here, Has Honored His Name

The apostle Paul once said that the people he wrote to were the evidence of God’s work through Paul.  In the same way, those who came to faith here, and those people whose faith was sustained here throughout the years are proof that this place has been home to God and man, communing together. It is the place where He put His name,

In a couple of hours, after we commune together, after we share in the stories of God’s work in this place, the doors will close, the lights will be turn off, and we will move on.  It may take a while to get used to the new place where God draws you to Himself, these temporary homes on our pilgrimage to our eternal home with Him.

There will be some dissonance, just as when the red hymnal was changed out for the blue, and then the burgundy.  Or when the King James gave way to the RSV, then the NIV, then the ESV or NLT.  Yet the main thing does not change.  The main thing is this: God will continue to draw you to a place where His people can realize the gifts of grace, the forgiveness of sins that testifies that we are safe and at home in Christ.  And that others will pray there and find themselves at home as well.

And until we are all before the throne in heaven, we find ourselves drawn to where God has put His name, that we can come and pray and be forgiven, where unbelievers can pray and have God answer. In such places, we will know God’s peace, a peace beyond all understanding, For Christ will guard you there, keeping your hearts and minds safe in these earthly homes.
AMEN!