Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, December 9, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
What joyful news! At long last, after years of being forced to live far from home, God’s people are told they get to return, and rebuild the temple, the center of Jewish spiritual life. King Cyrus proclaims that their God “is the God who is in Jerusalem.”
Of course we know that God is not confined to a house built by human hands in a city built by human hands. We know that God had been with the Israelites no matter where in the world they happened to be living. Jeremiah had encouraged them to live their lives wherever they happened to be, and to not forget who they were.
But there is something about “home.” Something about a place you feel you belong, where you feel more able to encounter God. I’ve lived a few places in my life, and no matter where I’ve been, I’ve learned to “bloom where I’m planted.” But it’s always been nice to live in the city where most of my family is. It’s also nice to have a community of worship that I consider my spiritual home, where I can return again and again, and engage in the life of this Christian family. We always have to remember that our church is not God. That our home city is not the only place God dwells. But we can allow ourselves to let down and be ourselves in the places we feel most comfortable, and relax into the arms of our loving God.
What is “home” to me?
