JESUS SATISFIES US WITH A BETTER HOME.
In
the name + of Jesus.
The patriarchs “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews
11:13). You probably understand what it means
to feel like a stranger. If you have
ever felt like you don’t belong, you can appreciate how the patriarchs felt. When you don’t feel like you belong, it is probably
because you have different interests than your classmates and friends. When your interests or personality or sense
of humor is different, you don’t fit in like you want to. You just want to belong, to be accepted, and
to be loved.
For Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their families, it was more than
that. They acknowledged that they were exiles. Strangers may not feel like they belong in
the room, but exiles have been shown the door.
Strangers might be tolerated, but exiles are rejected and despised. Why would the patriarchs feel that way?
For one reason, they did not have a country to call their home. They were nomads, moving from place to place
in tents. God had promised them that
they would one day own all the land. In
proclaiming the word of the Lord and the promise of the Savior, they likely
told the peoples around them that part of the promise, too. So, they were not always welcomed where they
went. Some even viewed them as a
threat.
But the truth is that the patriarchs did not try to blend in with the
nations around them. They did not become
like Sodom and Gomorrah so that they would be liked by them. They did not adopt the perverted worship of
the Canaanites. They would have been received
much better if they had, but they refused.
They persisted in their belief that not all religions are the same. They remained faithful to the word of the
Lord. And they proclaimed and confessed
that word, whether it was well received or not.
If you want to blend into the world, you can. To do so, you have to adopt worldly thinking
and worldly behavior. And to do that,
you will have to renounce the words and promises of God. If you do, you will be welcomed, accepted,
and even praised by the world. It will
feel good, and you may even benefit with possessions, prestige, and pride. But this is what the Lord says: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the
Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). So
you can blend into the world, but then you better know at what
cost. Beware.
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and all his family chose not
to be received and praised by the world.
Why? Because they were longing
for a better home. While they enjoyed
some blessings in this world—and God grants blessings to all, even to the
wicked—they also longed to be free from every form of evil. They longed to be free from the fear of
death. They longed to be free from pain
and sorrow. They even longed to be free
from their own sinful desires which favor acceptance from the world over
acceptance from the Lord. They renounced
the world and were willing to be strangers and exiles in it. That produced its own hardships and
challenges, but it was okay. For, they
longed for a better home; and the Savior would satisfy them with it.
Now you, dear Christians, face the same world and the same struggles as
they did. Granted, you enjoy better technology
and nicer houses, but you live in the same wicked world. The attitudes and actions of this world have
not changed. And you battle the same
temptations that they did—wanting to belong, to be accepted, and to be praised
by the world. It is hard to be a
stranger, and even harder to be an exile.
You and I
have been no better than the world we live in.
We, too, are sinners. We prove it
with our willingness to abandon God’s word when we want to be cheered by worldly,
sinful people. To feel like we belong,
we boast about our sins and laugh with others who boasts about theirs. What else is this but to be ashamed of our
Lord and his word?
But, dear Christians, the Lord has not been ashamed of you. He is not ashamed to be called your brother. He does not merely tolerate you. He loves you.
God was pleased to become one of us so that he could redeem all of
us. Even though he created the world, he
was not received in it. He was rejected
and despised by men and familiar with suffering. And it was more than just feeling like he did
not belong. He also was rejected and
despised by his heavenly Father. For Jesus
took up our sins and was crucified and condemned for them. He was forsaken by his Father so that we
would be forgiven of our sins. He was
rejected so that we would be reconciled.
Therefore, now that you have been rescued from the devil, the world, and
your own sinful flesh, you are strangers and exiles in the world. But fear not; for, Jesus satisfies you with a
better home. St. Paul wrote: “You are no
longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with
the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19) At your baptism, God put his name on
you. Since you now bear the family name,
you possess the family treasures—the favor of God, the forgiveness of sins, and
the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom.
Jesus satisfies you with a better home.
He has also given you a place in the Christian church with fellow
strangers and exiles in this world. In
the Church, you have fellow Christians who delight in acknowledging Jesus
Christ and his word, which also means renouncing the devil and all his works
and all his ways. The world adopts those ways and even calls them good. You hold onto God’s word and call them
evil. For this, you are rejected and
despised. So, if
you feel like a stranger and an exile in this world, it is not because there is
something wrong with you. It is because the
Lord has made you lights in the world. In
the darkness, lights tend to stand out.
As it did for the patriarchs, so also for you: It produces
hardships and challenges, but that’s okay.
For, like the patriarchs,
you long for a better home; and the Savior will satisfy you with it.
Until Jesus comes and brings you to that heavenly home, you will continue
to be strangers and exiles here. That is
why you will continue to need to join together with your fellow strangers and
exiles at church. You will need God’s
word and sacraments to keep you faithful.
You will need to pray, a lot. And
you will need the encouragement of your fellow Christians so that you remember
you are not the only stranger and exile here.
Yes, you are a stranger and an exile in the world, but you are a dearly
loved child in the kingdom of God. This
world will pass way, but the kingdom of our God endures forever. This world will perish, but you look for the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Jesus grants all of this, and he satisfies
you with a better home.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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