My Hometown

"Lord, through all generations, You have been our home." Psalm 90:1....."One Road leads home and a thousand into the wilderness." C.S. Lewis

In one of the episodes of the classic comedy "The Andy Griffith Show," a young man comes to the town of Mayberry, and though nobody there had any idea about who he was, he insisted on telling everyone that Mayberry was "his hometown." This unsettled people, and they came to think him strange, and then they became hostile. It was all cleared up when he explained to Sheriff Andy that he had grown up with no real home, and that in the army, he'd met a fellow soldier from the town, and then spent so much time reading the local paper, learning people's names, and soaking in all that he could about Mayberry. A young man who had no hometown was so drawn to a place he'd never been, that he decided that it would be his hometown too.

I think in that 60's sitcom is a message for we who are the Church. It's popular to say that "heaven is our home," but do we actually live as if it is? Are we so deeply in love with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so immersed in His Kingdom that we draw others who have never "been" to His Kingdom? That they might long to be a part of it as well? When we speak of His Kingdom, if we speak of it, can others sense the fire and passion of our hearts about it? Do they get the idea that not only is that the place we want to live eternally, but that it's also where we're living now? The sad tragedy is that this is supposed to be the normal way of life for a follower of Christ, but for too many of us, living such a life would seem abnormal to how we're living right now. We profess to know that this world is not our home, but I think that would be surprising news to too many who are our neighbors, co-workers, and yes, fellow church goers. we seem very much at home indeed.

We are called, indeed commanded to live in the fullness of His Kingdom life, a life above and beyond anything this earthly realm can offer. Yet there will be a risk, a great risk. Like the citizens of Mayberry, the citizens of the world's kingdom will think us peculiar indeed. Christ's presence unsettled many. When we walk in His life, we will too. To live fully in Him will sharply set us apart from those living outside of Him. The more passion we have for His life, the stranger we will seem to many. In some cases, such a life will give rise to fear because we speak of a world lost to our fallen flesh. Darkness always fears the light, for it can't exist in it. Fear can quickly turn to hostility for men always fear what they cannot understand and do not know. Yet, in the midst of it all will be people upon whose hearts He's ministering to. He's drawing them to Himself, and He means to use our lives as part of the drawing. Christ has called His people as His chief means of drawing others to Himself. Sadly, many are called to this, but too few of us are living in such fullness as to be chosen for it.

C.S. Lewis famously said that if we find ourselves feeling like we don't belong in this world, perhaps we need to admit that we were made for another one. His. Like the lonely young soldier, such people are everywhere around us. Our purpose is to so display the wonder of our "hometown" that they desire to live there as well. Can we be such people? Are we being such people now?

When I entered ministry, I had big dreams of ministerial success, recognition, and advancement. Thankfully, the Father (mostly) purged me of such fleshly ambition. All these years later, my heart desire is to minister and live in such a way as to constantly point people to Him not just through what I say, but how I live and who I am. I want people to come and find a home in my "hometown." How about you?

Blessings,
Pastor O