Coming Home: A Christmas Meditation

“He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” John 1:10-11.

 

Which of these statements is true?

When Dorothy returns from her whirlwind trip to Oz, she realizes that "there is no place like home." She was already home. All she had to do was realize she was, click her heals, and he was home. She discovers that home truly is where the heart is, and she revels in her the love and nurture of her family.

In a contrasting bit of proverbial wisdom, we have the famous novel of Thomas Wolfe, informing us, "You can't go home again." You might be able to return physically to the place of your birth, but nothing and no one, including yourself, will be the same. The "home" of your memory no longer exists.

The Wizard or Wolfe? Who does have it right?

 Let us look.

 All of us yearn for "home" -- a powerful word that stirs up deep emotions. If you ask people of any age to describe the home where they grew up, they will be able to provide a lengthy and detailed description. Undoubtedly, they will remember details like where they slept, what mealtime was like and who sat around the dinner table. Being the only boy and oldest child of five, I had my room in the basement of one of our many homes of my early childhood. I discovered many years later than my mother felt sorry for me because it was the basement. I told her that for me, it was special. What I remembered was that it was my private space. As we got older, schedules became difficult. However, I knew I was to be home by 5 PM, ready for a meal together. Sunday after church was usually the meal dad prepared. Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, with oyster stew as part of the celebration, still lingers with me. For better or worse, home, and the memories of home, become part of our very being and travel with us throughout our lives.

"Home" is supposed to be a safe haven, a port in the storm, a place where the door is always open, and you can count on being welcomed. Home is supposed to be that place where people will accept you just the way you are. My sisters still remember my habit of playing strat-o-matic baseball in my room. I guess they accepted that about me, and still do.

 Nevertheless, what would happen if we did not have a home to which to go back? What if there were no one and no place that welcomed us?

Christmas is the celebration that Jesus did indeed come home again. The Word, who "was with God ... and was God" came back to dwell among God's people whom he had known from the very beginning. "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (v. 14) -- that is the miracle of Christmas. Jesus is home!

 The next miracle is supposed to be the celebration of Epiphany when we rejoice that, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it" (v. 5).

However, there is a problem. Jesus "was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him" (v. 10). It seems that Thomas Wolfe was right -- you really cannot go home again. The homecoming celebration fell flat because, when the guest of honor showed up, it turned out that no one recognized him. Or even worse -- if they did know him, they did not open their hearts to him and welcome him.

 It is one of the saddest verses in the Bible -- Jesus comes into the world that he has known even before the world knew itself and the world ignores him. They "did not know him" (v. 11).

How could his own people not recognize or acknowledge him?

Why can Jesus not go home again? What is going on here?