I’m sure you’ve already heard the familiar tune, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” as we move closer to the most wonderful time of the year. When it comes to celebrating Christmas there is something within us that desires to be home. The fact that some of the busiest travel days of the year fall during this time can attest to that. We love the memories, the traditions, and the fellowship that we can find at home. Christmas means home to many of us but to Jesus Christ it meant the very opposite. He left all that was familiar to Him. He gave up everything to be away on Christmas day. We’d have no Christmas to celebrate without this act but in doing this Jesus has given us the gift of an everlasting home to look forward to with Him.
The Lord instructs through Paul not to do anything out of selfishness but rather to pursue humility in our relations with others. We are to regard them as more important than us (Phil. 2:3-4). The reason why God is commanding this is because this is the attitude that Christ took when leaving heaven. Paul states in Philippians 2:5-8, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus left everything. He emptied Himself of His home, His fellowship, and His glory. In John 17:5, we see that Jesus longs for the fellowship and glory that He once had with His Father. Jesus pursued humility when it came to His relationship with His Father and with you. He obediently regarded the plan of His Father and left home because He desired a better home for you. It took His death to accomplish this for us and He was obedient to that point that He might “bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). So now with the Saints of old we too may “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).
As we work to get home this holiday season rejoice in the fact that Jesus has purchased for you a new home, a heavenly one, with Him. There will come a day when you will celebrate the joys and realities of Christmas in the presence of the Almighty God. Jesus purchased that home and that opportunity for us with His blood. Trust and rejoice in the magnificent work that He has done. “Born that man NO MORE may die!” God and sinners are reconciled and look to be reunited all because One decided not to be home for Christmas. I pray that this Christmas season will be a wonderful occasion for you and yours as you make lasting memories, cherish old ones, and rejoice in the birth of Christ. We are happy to have a home with you at Pike this Christmas and we look forward to the heavenly home to come.
Merry Christmas To All, Pastor Rudy