Sermon Sunday December 28, 2025
Where is my home? Where is your home? I know that we all have a house and we
have an address and we have a place we call our home. But there is something about the restlessness of a human heart that continues to seek our true home. The scripture tells us that we are pilgrims. All of us, we are pilgrims. And
even as my dad, you know, my dad always wanted a small little white house. He said, “Once I find that small little white house, then I will know I have the house of my dreams.” And he found a little small white house after many years. And I asked him, “Dad, are you done? Is this the house of your dreams?” And he says, “No, there’s still something missing and there always will be.” You see, this is the reality of the human heart. We are not made ultimately for this world. And so there’s always going to be an
element within us that’s going to want more, desire more. Where is my home? Where is my heart? What do I need?
In the Christmas story of Jesus today, we are presented with the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in which we see Jesus trying to find a home for himself. And Joseph is being given clear directions from God through an angel to continue to look for a home for Jesus and the blessed mother. And it’s all based on safety. Safety for the baby Jesus. Safety. Where will he be safe? They have to run away from Herod and so they have to go to Egypt. Then they have to come back. But Herod’s son who is ruling Bethlehem and Jerusalem is even worse than Herod his father. And so now they have to settle in Nazareth. And even after Nazareth, Jesus will say as he continues his public ministry, he will say of himself, “The son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” In other words, he’s on the move. He’s always on the move, looking for safety and looking to fulfill the will of God. Herod was a very vicious king. Upon his inauguration, when he became king, he executed 300 noble men to make sure no one is threatening his power. He executed his favorite wife and his sons again because he didn’t want anyone to threaten his power. So the fact that he went as far as executing between 20 and 30 babies, young children in search of the child Jesus was small potatoes if you will compared to what he was known for. And yet this is the kind of reality Jesus is born into. Do you ever hear people say, “Things are so bad today. They’ve never been this
bad.” Want to bet? Study history. Study history. Things were always bad and sometimes
even worse than today. Realize Jesus the minute he enters the world is on a run for his life. Even as a child, he’s surrounded by death, by this huge division between the rich and the poor, by the Roman occupation and a Jewish king who is so corrupt that he will kill without even thinking about it. This is the world Jesus enters. And so for us as we look around and see all kinds of imperfections around us, poverty, difficulties, challenges, wars, insurrections, divisions. This is nothing new. And yet Jesus enters so that he can save his people, save us. The connection here is very clear. You know, the Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah. But how will they know that Jesus is the Messiah? They had one test. And the test was the Messiah had to be the new Moses. This was a very clear prophetic teaching. He had to be like Moses. And they will test him on this. And in the Gospel of Matthew constantly you see the connection between Jesus and Moses.
Jesus goes to Egypt. He is called out of Egypt just as Moses called his chosen people out of Egypt into the life of freedom. Jesus is the one who will give the true bread from heaven just as Moses was given bread from heaven in the desert. Over and over again we see this connection Moses and Jesus as the new Moses as a fulfillment that he is the Messiah. He is the one who is to come. The second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew ends with Jesus and the holy family settling in Nazareth, a small town but an important town where they will live quietly for 30 years until Jesus reaches his uh public
ministry. Very little is known about the private life of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. But what we do know is enough that Jesus grew up with really good parents. Jesus grew up with principles of life with hard work and with simplicity of life. Jesus grew up in seeming seemingly un insignificant surroundings. But during that insignificant time, very significant things were happening. And that’s often how God works. God works in our very insignificant daily activities. You know, when Tom comes here in the morning and removes the snow and gets the church ready, God is at work. No one sees it, but God is at work. When a baby is crying in the middle of the night and dad or mom have to get up, God is at work. When we choose to be kind to one another, forgive one another. When we choose to bring the light of Christ into the darkness of our sometimes family gatherings around Christmas, God is at work in the quiet insignificant moments
of our life. God is preparing something that will be very significant. And I think that’s our takeaway when we reflect on the Holy Family in spite of the evil that surrounded them. And there was much evil surrounding the Holy Family all around them. We read about it
with Herod and the murder of the innocents and all kinds of evil things. They remained innocent, holy, faithful, and quiet. Quietly living their life just as we gather here today, quietly praising God. and God does the rest. And so I pray that as we continue to celebrate Christmas themes in the season of Christmas, we don’t have to worry about doing amazing things, but simply doing simple small activities in our daily life with amazing love, amazing faith and faithfulness to Jesus who is ultimately our true hope. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.