Long Talk….

How many of us are willing to admit to being homesick?  After all, homesickness is deeply rooted in a deep longing for security and belonging.  I believe that longing for home is not a weakness, but a strength, and a very much a part of the human condition.  But how many of us realize that homesickness is part of our spiritual journey?  I vividly remember my reluctance to stay away from home as a child, and how I often felt homesick.   I find comfort in knowing that even a great theologian, Dolly Parton, wrote about her dad experiencing homesickness as he left the Smoky Mountains to go to Detroit to work in the Ford factory.  

“Oh, and these Northern nights they’re dreary, these Southern eyes are teary, as I wonder how the old folks are at home.  But I’ll keep leanin’ on my Jesus to love and guide and lead us, Smoky Mountain memories keep me strong.”  

Smoky Mountain Memories, By Dolly Parton

Have you ever wondered if Jesus got homesick?  I believe he did.  Jesus says in John 15:4, “Abide in me as I abide in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.”  We often think that these words are from Jesus to the disciples and to us.  How would it look if we also view these words as Jesus speaking to himself, too?

Jesus spends a lot of time teaching about the need for prayer and community.  I would invite us to reread Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in the gospel of Matthew.  The whole purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to reveal what life in God’s kingdom looks like.  The Kingdom of God does not look like business as usual.  The values and systems are turned upside down.  Perhaps this is where we find the basis of our Wesleyan theology, “the already and not yet.”  

Perhaps it’s just me, but when I see persons, me included, and communities experience healing, restoration, reconciliation, and unconditional love, I see glimpses of God’s kingdom.  In seeing and experiencing the Kingdom of God, I realize this is just a fraction of what heaven will look like.  

I take comfort today in knowing that Jesus, fully human/fully Divine, experienced homesickness.  Again, if we understand homesickness to mean a longing for, then yes, Jesus deeply longed for God’s daily presence, and for an eternal home for all humanity where there is no more rejection and loneliness. How much do we long for God?

So yes, it’s ok to allow ourselves to be homesick if we don’t pitch a tent.  Together, let’s keep leanin’ on our Jesus to love, guide, and lead us all.

Always Remember, Never Forget, GOD LOVES YOU!

TOM