A Homeless God

Our gospel reading for today tells us of how Angel Gabriel came to Mary saying she would bear a son. He was to be called Jesus and as the Son of the most High God, he would reign as King of Kings forever. He came to live among us and in us but in many ways we have rejected him and made him a “Homeless God.”

Let’s talk about him for a moment. The greatest man who walked this earth is Jesus. He had no servants, yet people call him master. He had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. He never went to medical school, yet they call him Healer. He had no army, yet Kings feared him. He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified him. He was buried in a tomb and yet he lives forever. Today most people ignore him while his children call him their Savior and friend. They look for his coming again and I can assure you that his children will not be disappointed.

Friends, we are living in very challenging times. This world is not what it was. Matt 24:8 says what you are seeing now is only the beginning of birth pains because there is more to come. Yet it is in such a time as this that every true Christian should be watching and waiting for the imminent return of our Lord. What about you my friends? Are you waiting for him! Do you have a home for him in your heart?

I read an article couple of weeks ago in the Jerusalem post that said the City Officials in the town of Bethlehem have ordered all Christmas decorations to be taken down this year. They are removing all festive appearances in honor of the martyrs and in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Just at a time when we need the Lord the most, humanity wants no remembrance of him at this time. He is being driven out of the very city in which he was born 2000 years ago. They did not want him then and they do not want him now. For many, he was and is an unwelcome and homeless God.

At his birth, there was no room for him in the Inn. He was sent to his own but his own did not want him. He was from Nazareth but he could do no miracle there because they rejected him. A few wanted to finish him off by pushing him over a cliff. While he lived on earth Jesus said “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” Even at his death, there was no place for him. He was laid to rest in a borrowed tomb.

Today he is being driven out of public places, schools, government offices and even from our homes. It’s not so much Merry Christmas anymore as it is Happy Holidays or Seasons greetings. We have made him a homeless God. In our OT reading for this evening from the book of Samuel it says: When King David was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent."

It was great that David realized God was left out in the cold and expressed intentions to build him a house but God did not want David to do it. You know why? God does not desire to live in house made with hands, he desires to live in us. In the book of Isaiah 66:1, God says, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is my footstool; Where then is the house that you will build for Me, and where is the place of My rest?”

As king of kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus should have really been born in a palace instead of a stable but the truth is he came not to separate himself from us but rather to be one of us. He came as Emmanuel which means “God with us.” He lived an ordinary life like any of us experiencing hardships, hunger and thirst. He was despised, beaten and mocked and we are told (phil 2:8) for our sakes he even humbled himself and became obedient to death on the cross so that we have might have a chance of everlasting life.

So the question is “where is the rightful place for a homeless God?” In writing to the Corinthian Church the apostle Paul says don’t you know that you that your bodies is the temple of the Living God.” God has the entire universe for himself but he is saying I do not want a physical structure but rather I want you to make in yourself a temple so that I can come and live within you. That is where I want to live forever. The homeless God can have a home this Christmas if you allow him to live in your heart. Is he living in your heart my friends?