Homebuilder
John 14:1-14
There’s something about home that strikes a chord with most of us. It doesn’t really matter where we’re from or where we’ve been, Dorothy’s closing line in The Wizard of Oz resonates with poignant truth. “There’s no place like home.”
Folgers’ Coffee capitalized on the yearning for home with their 1987 classic commercial “Peter Comes Home for Christmas.” This commercial combined the best elements of Christmas into a clever coffee advertisement. Peter came home from college on Christmas Eve bearing gifts and was greeted by his excited younger brother. Together, the two brew a hot pot of coffee to wake up the rest of the family on Christmas morning. This ad continues to tug at the heart strings over thirty years later.
Home, it’s more than a house or location. It goes deeper. It’s shared life experiences with those you know and love. It’s a place where we can be who we are without fear of rejection. The poet Maya Angelou understood the appeal of “home.” She wrote, “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
Today we turn our eyes toward home and our wonderful homebuilder, Jesus Christ.
The setting of this text is Jesus’ farewell address at the last supper with the disciples. It is a time of uncertainty, confusion, and sadness. Jesus had washed their feet and had explained to them what it meant. Jesus announced his betrayal by Judas who had slipped out into the night. He told his disciples that he would be with them only a little while longer, and that where he is going, they cannot come. Is it any surprise they were anxious?
Jesus responded to their anxiety by telling them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” He reassured them, “It’s going to be all right.” The tense of the Greek word for “believe,” used twice here, implied “Keep on trusting me.” Jesus was going back to God, which was incredibly good news for them. Then, he talked about home. There are many “dwelling places” in my Father’s house. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
Can you imagine how they felt hearing these words? The world, as they knew it, was falling apart. Nothing made sense. In the middle of troubling times, Jesus spoke about home. There are many dwelling places in his Father’s house, and he goes to prepare a place for them. This is about more than just the “dwelling places.” This is about being with God through Jesus. It’s about sharing in that close, personal relationship. I suppose, simply put, it’s about going home.
There are some important things to recognize about going home. First, you must know the way. I’m always amazed at the stories we hear and read about dogs who’ve been separated from their owners who will go long distances just to get home. Every dog lover has heard a variation of the miraculous lost dog story. The pup who slipped her leash then made it home before her owners could get there. The dog who ran all the way home across town from the sitter’s place. The rascal who disappeared into thin air, then showed up two weeks later. The 1993 movie Homeward Bound is loosely based on true stories of dogs that travel hundreds of miles to reunite with their owners. I am intrigued by how dogs can do that. How can they make such a long trip to reunite with owners?
They know the way back. Research suggests a couple of different ways dogs do it. One, of course, is by smell. The other is by using “compass runs” or sprinting north and south to establish their bearings. Then, according to the website “the dogs’ incredible ability to find their way home seems to spring from an ability to detect magnetic fields.”
I’m glad that’s not how we find our way back home. For us, the way home is simple and direct. We don’t get there by doing enough good works. You can’t stack enough good works together to build the bridge that leads to home. We don’t get home by paying the fare. Money has nothing to do with our ability to go home. It’s not based on connections or standing either. Who your father-in-law is and what he does for a living has nothing to do with you getting home. How do we get home? Jesus answers that. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” The road home leads through Jesus.
What makes home special? For some, it’s the comfortable place you knew growing up. For others, it’s familiarity. It’s where you know everyone, and everyone knows you. For most people, home is special not because of how fancy it is, but because of who is there. That’s especially true of the home Jesus promised. He told them, “You know me,” so you know my Father, too. You’ve seen me, so you’ve seen my Father. Jesus was, I believe, speaking in relational terms here. The apostles had a close, personal relationship with him for nearly three years. They knew each other. Knowing Jesus is to know God. Even when Philip expressed some doubt, Jesus reassured him. “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”
Imagine being in a place where there is perfect love. There are no secrets, guilt, or shame. All is known, forgiven, and released. The freedom that must accompany has to be exhilarating. The sheer exuberant joy that must accompany living in such freedom has to be overwhelming. To quote Bart Millard, “I can only imagine.”
When I think of home, I don’t really want a big, fancy house. I am not really interested in a swimming pool or garden fountains. I’d rather have the home Christ built for me and for all God’s People. Amen.