Our True Home

They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:14-16

Home Away from Home
By Rev. William Dohle

It's moving day at the Dohle household. The moving truck is here and all our earthly possessions are being loaded on the truck. It is, in one way, a happy day.

It is also potluck day. The congregation here is throwing a potluck in which all are invited to say their farewells. In another way, it is a hard day.

We leave Columbus, Montana, our home for the past five years to journey to Peoria, Illinois, a place that is to become our home. But neither this place, nor that place is, in the end, our true home. Neither is Ogden, Utah where I grew up. Neither is Mesa, Arizona where my wife grew up. Neither is any of the other places we've ever lived.

No, our true home isn't on this earth. Our true home with with God. This passage from Hebrews has always inspired me on my journeys through life. For, though we call a place "home" for a little while, we know that we are but pilgrims here on earth. There is another place, a heavenly city, prepared for us by a God who is not ashamed to be called our God.

We are but foreigners and strangers here in the world. We seek to bring Christ to life here. We seek to make a difference. But we do so knowing that our citizenship is not of this earth. This is not our true home. Nor is any other place we've ever lived. Our true home is with God who loves us, claims us, makes us His people. We live now by faith, confident in God's grace. Confident in his amazing, outstanding, awesome love for us.

God has, after the hard labors of life on earth is done, prepared a city for us to live in. A place that we can truly call... home. May this give us strength and hope as we continue to labor in the fields of this our earthly home. Amen.

God of the wanderers and strangers, your people have moved from place to place for countless eons. Reminds us of our tasks here on earth. Give us strength to complete the journey. And bring us at last to our destination, your Holy City, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.