When Jesus Is In The Home

WHEN JESUS IS IN THE HOME LUKE 4:38-44

Sermon by Don Emmitte

Today is Mother’s Day! I hope you all have made your purchases and special arrangements to honor these important women of your life. If not, I have a bit of advice taken from an article I read some time ago in Reader’s Digest, written by Herb Forst of Cross River, NY. It was titled “What Not to Buy your Wife.”

Although the only person a man usually shops for is his wife, the whole experience is a stressful one. Many a man has felt extreme frigid temperatures for a long period based on a poor present decision. As a veteran of these wars, I'm still not sure what to buy my wife, but I'll pass on what not to buy her:

 Don't buy anything that plugs in. Anything that requires electricity is seen as utilitarian.

 Don't buy clothing that involves sizes. The chances are one in seven thousand that you will get her size right, and your wife will be offended the other 6,999 times. "Do I look like a size 16?" she'll say. Too small a size doesn't cut it either: "I haven't worn a size 8 in 20 years!"

 Avoid all things useful. The new silver polish advertised to save hundreds of hours is not going to win you any brownie points.

 Don't buy anything that involves weight loss or self-improvement. She'll perceive a six-month membership to a diet center as a suggestion that's she's overweight.

 Don't buy jewelry. The jewelry your wife wants, you can't afford. And the jewelry you can afford, she doesn't want.

 And, guys do not fall into the traditional trap of buying her frilly underwear. Your idea of the kind your wife should wear and what she actually wears are light years apart.

 Finally, don't spend too much. "How do you think we're going to afford that?" she'll ask. But don't spend too little. She won't say anything, but she'll think, "Is that all I'm worth?"

Herb Forst in Cross River, NY, Patent Trader, in Reader's Digest, p. 69.

If you have already made your purchase and you’ve broken one or more of these rules, plead ignorance! It’s your only hope of survival! And, after all, survival is often the best hope for our homes! There is a better way though. God wants our homes to do more than survive. He wants them to thrive. Today’s text gives us a keen insight into how we may be able to do just that. TAKE YOUR BIBLES PLEASE AND TURN TO LUKE 4:38-44…

Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah. At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:38-44 NIV).

The site of Peter’s home is one of the sacred locations of Christendom. Every Holy Land pilgrim is taken to Capernaum where the home is reported to have stood. The ruins of an old church that was built on the site of the home are still much in evidence today. The thing that makes this site so sacred is that Jesus spent a great deal of time in this home. The things he did in this home are the same things he desires to do in our homes.

It is fitting that Luke chose to place this incident immediately after Jesus’ experience in the synagogue. A careful reading of the Gospel will indicate that Jesus did much of his ministry in a home setting. He felt as free to work in a home as he did in the synagogue or the Temple. This is exactly as it should be. After all, the home was established long before the church.

We should be cognizant of the fact that the presence of Jesus in Simon Peter’s home was a part of the incarnation. Jesus was physically present in the home. In our day this is not possible. Because of his ascension to the Father, however, there are no such physical limits to his presence. He can equally be present in each of our homes at the same moment. And, if Jesus has indeed found a place in our home, there will be some differences.