12-04-22 “There’s no place like HOME”

Scripture                                                  Matthew 2:1-11

          The Wizard of Oz is one of the greatest movies of all time. Why? L Frank Baum was a storyteller and over years told a story of a magical land to his children and especially to his niece’s Matilda, and Alice who was young and dying and needed a story of hope as she was stuck in bed at home. There was a 3^rd sister and niece to Baum who died at 5 months old – her first name was: Dorothy! As he told the story to children, he gave them a little piece of hope, even in the face of death. The Wizard of Oz is about one thing – Dorothy’s unrelenting desire to find something better, something more, something magical other than what she has experienced at home on the farm being raised by her Aunt and Uncle with some very ordinary hired hands working the farm.

          She gets a bump on her head and has a magnificent dream about traveling to the magical land of Oz. In the end, more than the magic, the beauty, and the triumph over evil, Dorothy finally realizes that the best possible thing was right in front of her the whole time and wished her way back by clicking her heels 3 times and repeating the phrase 3 times = “There’s no place like home! There’s no place like home! There’s no place like home!”

          What should the image of “home” be like? SING:

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir. And folks dressed up like Eskimos

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe, help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight.

HOME by Stephanie Mills from the Wiz

When I think of home I think of a resting place, A place where theres peace, quiet, and serenity. And thats where some of my friends have gone. Friends who have traveled with me through my wonderful experience in Oz.

A journey Ill never forget. When I think of home, I think of a place where there’s love overflowing. I wish I was home, I wish I was back there
With the things Ive been knowing, wind that makes the tall grass bend into leaning
Suddenly the raindrops that fall they have a meaning
Sprinklin the scene, makes it all clean
(When I think of home)
Maybe there’s a chance for me to go back. Now that I have some direction
(Maybe there’s a chance I’ll get home)
And oh, if you’re listening, God, please don’t make it hard
To know if we should believe the things that we see
Tell us should we try and stay or should we run away?
Or will it be better just to let things, let them be, oh Livin here in this brand new world
Might be a fantasy, But its taught me to love, oh, yeah, And its real, its so real, its real to me
And I’ve learned that we must look inside our hearts to find a world full of love
Like yours, like mine, Like home, Like, like home

          When I Think of Home       by Bryan Duncan

There's a saying: 'Your home is where your heart is'
My heart believes it's true, And my home's so far away
But the seasons and the scenery keep changing
So I'll make my home with you, 'Til I'm finally home to stay

When I think of home, When I'm tired and feeling homeless
I come to you, You're where my heart is

There are places on this journey I'll remember,

Many faces are so dear, They can always bring a smile,

But no matter where I am or where I'm going, In my heart you're always near
You have made my life worthwhile

When I think of home, When I'm tired and feeling homeless
I come to you, You're where my heart is

          Home can be that idyllic safe space filled with joy and love that some of us experience in our houses that have become our home.

          Home can be that place where heaven and earth meet, where we recognize that all good gifts in this life come from above.

          Home can be that place where God is – yes one day in heaven, but for now, in your heart. God is never far away when we turn to him.

           The Bible tells us that Jesus’ first home (and his second for that matter) were a home away from home. That first home was in a village called Bethlehem Ephrathah That would be like saying Oregon, Jerusalem township, but most get where you are talking about if you just say Oregon. And so most people understood the area when it was simply referred to as Bethlehem. It was an ancient settlement, first mentioned in the Bible in connection with Rachel, who died on the wayside near there (Gen 35:17-20  And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for you have another son." As she breathed her last — for she was dying — she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb). Bethlehem is the setting for most of the Book of Ruth and was the birthplace, and home, of Ruth’s descendant King David; In Bethlehem, David was anointed king of Israel by the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 16:1  The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king").

           When I think of my trip to Israel, I think of Bethlehem as the place that would feel most like home. It is amazing to go to the church of the nativity and down into the grotto/cave that is believed to be the sight of the birth of Christ and has been since 150 years after Jesus. Maybe that is why it feels like home, because Bethlehem is the place where Jesus was born which reminds me that my heart is also the place where Jesus came and I was reborn. He brought new significance to my earthly family and home. He is the place in my life where heaven met earth in me. And Jesus is now and forever my eternal home – it is not where your heart is there is home, it is where Jesus is, there is my home.

           There were two brothers living in their Father’s home. One was the good son and one was the bad son. The good son worked the farm and did everything his Father asked. The bad son felt entitled to half of his Father’s wealth that he would one day receive when his father died. That bad son, unbelievably and unashamedly asked for his share of the inheritance while his father was still very much alive. His father liquidated assets and gave the bad son half his wealth. The bad sone went to foreign countries and spent every penny on reckless living and invested none of it till he found himself, as a homeless-penniless jew forced to feed and clean up after pigs hoping they would leave some scraps for him to eat.

           Exactly like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, he realized that no matter how far he went, no matter how much he had or anything he experienced was as good as what he had back home with his father. He went back, knowing he wasted his inheritance and only hoped his father would, not see him as a son, but bring him on as a hired hand so he could have a roof over his head and food to eat. Shocked and surprised, his Father was standing on the portal – the great place of welcoming to the ranch, and ran inside to instruct the servants to get ready for a party. He ran out to welcome his bad son home who was broken and contrite and willing to become a servant. Instead, the father restored him completely to his rights as a son and threw a lavish party to welcome his son – no longer labeled as the bad son – just HIS son whom he was overjoyed to welcome home.

           The good son heard about all this and complained to his father that it wasn’t fair. The father reminded him that he and the father were always home together and that was a gift in itself. The other son forfeited that for a time, but now is the time we both welcome him home forever!

           What about you? Have you been at home with God your father for a long time? Or, have you strayed and wasted some of your inheritance and it’s time you recognize that ALL IN with Jesus, “There’s no place like home!” “There’s no place like home!” “There’s no place like home!” Do you hear Jesus calling to you right now – he is saying to you “Come Home!”

ENDING SONG “Softly and Tenderly / Come Home”

Matthew 2:1-11

           Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

          When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"

          Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

          After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.