The ABCs of HOME-MAKING

The ABCs of HOME-MAKING

When Kim and I were married, we moved into a house. We also had a sense that we wouldn’t be living there for very long. We simultaneously had a sense that God was going to send us somewhere on a mission which meant that the house we were in would never really be our home. When we bought the house we now live in, there was a moment when it was transformed from being a house into our home. Homes don’t just happen. They are made. A home can be where one person dwells, a couple dwell, siblings dwell, a parent or parents dwell with their child or children, or even where a group of people dwell perhaps while they complete their university studies. A home is where you can be you and feel safe, secure, and accepted. But a dwelling can only become ‘a home’ when it is made into one and this is where the ABCs of home-making applies.

¶ Even the sparrow finds a home,and the swallow a nest for herself,where she may lay her young,at your altars, O LORD of hosts,my King and my God.Blessed are those who dwell in your house,ever singing your praise! SelahPsalm 84:3-4

HOMES ARE DYNAMIC

When things change we refer to them as being dynamic. When any young couple marries and they eventually move into their new home, the time comes when they long to start their own family. And when a child is welcomed into a home, that home changes. The couple are now parents and they are now presented with increased home-making challenges. They soon discover that a home can only function when everyone who shares it understands three essential things. Thus, their immediate role as parents of their newborn is to begin to teach and demonstrate the ABCs of what makes a home functional. As their child grows, and hopefully even more children are welcomed into their home, their parental role increases in importance.  

1.  ATTITUDE

Homes require a certain attitude for them to be functional. Attitude is about heart. It’s an internal response to external circumstances. For a home to be a home, those who dwell together in it must have a positive, caring, helpful, generous, teachable, humble attitude. A child does not enter the world with these character traits pre-loaded. They must be ‘caught’ then ‘taught’. A child has to learn that even when things don’t go their way, they have to be a person of character with an attitude of thankfulness and gratitude. Every parent knows that when a first child becomes a sibling to a new member of the family, they are prone to developing an attitude of feeling left-out or neglected, and even resenting the arrival of their baby brother of sister. 

This is why it is important for every member of the home to have an attitude that willingly serves each other and contributes to the home. This makes meal-time at the dinner table incredibly important. It also makes the contribution of each member at the time to be important as well. Even two or three year olds can put the salt or pepper on the table. As they get older they can set the table, clear the table, help dad wash and dry the dishes, and put the condiments away. 

This kind of humble, servant attitude is modelled by Dad and Mum and is soon caught by their children. I’m not suggesting that this is easy or that family members won’t default to resistance to be helpful. But in order for a home to work well, there has to be a heart-felt culture that is sincere and positive.

2.  BELIEFS

For a home to be happy there has to be a set of commonly held and correct beliefs. Parents should begin teaching their children about God and His Word from the outset and invite challenges to and questions about these beliefs in a way that demonstrates to their children that these beliefs can sustain scrutiny. Because we now live in a world which mistakenly believes that all ideas are equal, homes must be the place where truth becomes the foundation for ideas and reasons become the grounding for opinions. When parents present their child to the Lord in an act of dedication, a part of the ceremony contains the words “that the child will most naturally come to put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour”. This declaration is built on the home life of the child having their beliefs shaped by the truth about God and His Word.

3.  CONDUCT

The kind of conduct needed to build a strong and happy home is built on the foundation of a heart that produces an attitude of love and servanthood, and is grounded in true beliefs. The desire to do right does not come pre-loaded into the heart of a child. This is why rules are needed to shape and inform right conduct. Parents would do well to continually teach the 10 Commandments to their children and show how these are taught in the New Testament. These commandments are basis for the legal systems of all civilised nations and would be at home in any home as well. 

THE ABCs OF HOME-MAKING FOR A CHURCH

When the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about what to look for in prospective elders, he concluded by stating that they must first have their own homes in order. Apparently Paul regarded the church as being like a home.

for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
First Timothy 3:5

For our church to be a home, we need lots of spiritual ‘mums’ and ‘dads’ who know how to help raise spiritual children. These spiritual mums and dads, just like the Apostle Paul himself, may have never had had the privilege of being a parent in the natural, but they can play a vital role in helping us to Legana a spiritual home for our spiritual children. Within our church-home we also need ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ who get alongside these new ones and encourage them. We also need spiritual Opas and Omas (Grandfathers and Grandmothers) who can pray incessantly for our young ones in the Lord to grow to maturity. Above all, for our church to be a home in which we regularly welcome new family members and even visitors, we need an attitude shaped by the attitude of Christ, beliefs that are grounded in God’s Word, and conduct that seeks to glorify and reflect God.     

if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
First Timothy 3:15

Pastor Andrew 

HOUSE (of God) RULES

Our theme for this year is Welcome home and there’s a good reason for it. I pray regularly that God will bring into our church the hurting, the lost, the lonely, and the broken. What these people will need most is: love, care, support, understanding, acceptance, friendship, and rules. These are the things that a good home provides and they are also what our church can deliver. But it will mean that we will have to be very clear about the rules for achieving this because hurting, lost, lonely, and broken people are all too often hardened, bitter, self-pitying, and very negative people who don’t live with ‘house rules’. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians he went to great length to explain to them what the church was, what people could expect  from church, how a church was led, how a church helped a believer to grow and become like Christ, and the rules for living within the ‘household of God’.

So then 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

HELPING THE HURTING,LOST, LONELY, CONFUSED, FRIENDLESS, & BROKEN

If you’ve fostered a child, you’ll understand what I’m saying. Children who are made wards-of-the-State have often been hurt in unimaginable ways and quite possibly have never experienced true love. When foster parents offer to take in such a child, it is often heart-breaking for all concerned. A child who is hurting, lost, lonely, confused, friendless and broken, is hard work—just ask any foster parent who has attempted it!

in whom [Christ] the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:21-22

When Paul wrote to the Ephesians he was writing to a church comprised of Jews and Gentiles who saw the world very differently and came from radically different backgrounds, and often didn’t get on very well to put it mildly. But Paul tells them that Jesus has now “broken down the wall of hostility between them” and brought them together into the church.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Ephesians 2:13-14

While Jewish converts were familiar with God’s moral laws and even His instructions for how a family should function, these Gentile converts in the Ephesians were not. Paul later tells the Ephesians that when it comes to selecting elders, you should only consider the candidates who “have one wife” and “have their household in order”. This gives us a clue that there were possibly many in the Ephesian church who, in typical Roman practice, may have been married to several wives (polygamy) and quite probably had several ‘concubines’ (‘sex-slaves’). In setting the church in order, Paul describes what families should look like: parents who love each other; parents who love their children; children who obey their parents; fathers who teach their children about life and God; and how the family unit is a bastion of spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness. And all the while, this single, celibate, apostle, has an even bigger picture in mind: what the local church should be like. Despite being comprised of people who have just come out of lifestyles of immorality or religious arrogance, he sees the local church as a big family where everyone must learn to live in Christ together (Eph. 2:5; 2:21; 2:22; 4:16).

In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:22

Paul’s strategy for healing the broken was to minister Christ to them by the power of God’s Word. This was because what the hurting, lonely, self-pitying, despondent, really needed was not what they themselves thought they needed — more attention, more popularity, better looks, more money, more wishes to come true — but the True Source of Satisfaction to their deepest and greatest need: Jesus. 

In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit
Ephesians 1:13

That He might sanctify her [the church], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word
Ephesians 5:26

THE POWER OF THE WORD WITHIN THE COMMUNITY OF THE CHURCH TO BRING HEALING

People who are hurting and consequently feeling misunderstood and isolated, often become very bitter. In the Old Testament there is a story about a school of prophets who were served a stew that was very bitter and tasted like poison (bitterness is indeed a poison and it causes hurt people to hurt people). They called on Elisha for help. He instructed them to take meal (a very finely ground flour) and cast it into the bitter stew (2Kings 4:41). When they did this, the bitter stew became safe and savoury to eat. This is a picture of what the Word of Christ does to a bitter and broken soul. He and His Word takes a bitter, lonely, hurting soul and transforms it into a healed, whole, and attractive soul. Thus, Paul told the Ephesians- 

¶ Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Ephesians 4:25-31

HOUSE (of God) RULES

Based on the above passage we can see that the Apostle Paul gave the Ephesians some important ‘house rules’ for their church. We might summarise the house rules of Ephesians 4:25-31 in this way-

• Speak the truth – leaders should not shy away from correcting the wayward
• Don’t withdraw if someone in the church upsets you – if someone innocently offends you don’t let your anger lead to the sin of slander (especially if it was a leader) 
• Forgive quickly – unforgiveness gives the devil an foothold in a church to weaken its effectiveness
• Be a contributor – both within the church community and in the world so that you can share with anyone in need 
• Speak positively about the church – let your words build others up not tear them down
• Cooperate with the Holy Spirit – Christ has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to assist in the outworking of His plan of redemption through the church, therefore resist the Devil’s temptation to be a rebel and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in praying for your church (remember, bitter criticism and slander is your admission of prayerlessness)

In the meantime, please continue to take a moment to welcome those who are new to our church then be on the look out for those who may feel left out. This is what families do, especially church families, and it’s what makes a house a home.

 -Pastor Andrew

WHOSOEVER MAY COME

WHOSOEVER MAY COME

And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.’
Luke 14:23

Many people think that a church is a building. We don’t. Church is a family. Our building is where our church meets – it’s our dining room where our dining table is set each Sunday with a banquet of plenty of food for everyone. And when we say ‘plenty of food’ we mean more than enough. And when we say ‘more than enough’ we mean enough for as many visitors as might turn up. It’s the kind of dining table where everyone is invited, everyone is welcome, everyone is noticed, and everyone belongs. This picture of church is beautifully illustrated by King David’s dining table and who he invited to it.

MEPHIBOSHETH MAY COME

When David became king of Israel after the death of King Saul and his son, Jonathan, he wanted to honour his friendship with his late friend Jonathan. He enquired whether any of Jonathan’s family had survived. 

¶ Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
Second Samuel 4:4

Mephibosheth was a paraplegic. But he was given a place at the King’s table. 

So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
Second Samuel 9:13

We are like Mephibosheth—we are each broken—but we are each given a place at The King’s Table. Our church is a foretaste of The King’s Table. The King invites the broken, the hurting, the lost, and the lonely to come to His dining table each Sunday. 

WHEN THEY COME

I’m praying that the lost, lonely, hurting, and broken are drawn to our dining table. I’m praying that they include the young, the very young, the older, the married, the single, the divorced, the widowed, the confused, the angry, the uneducated, the unemployed, the sick, the injured, the educated, the arrogant, the simple, and the influential. Mephibosheths come in many shapes and sizes. 

This Sunday, please join me in welcoming our Mephibosheths to the Lord’s Dining Room and help them find a seat at the dining table.

FOX HOLES, BIRD NESTS, AND PILLOWLESS

FOX HOLES, BIRD NESTS, AND PILLOWLESS

​Whenever someone asked Jesus where where He lived, He gave two answers. One of the answers referred to foxes and birds, and the other was an invitation to come and find out.

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Matthew 8:20

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
John 1:38-39

After Jesus left His family home in Nazareth, it seems that for most of His public ministry, He had no fixed address. Even though He began His public ministry while living in Nazareth, the dear folk of home-town didn’t like His first sermon there and tried to throw Jesus over a cliff (Luke 4:16-28)! Understandably, Jesus decided to leave Nazareth and relocate a bit south to Capernaum.  

And leaving Nazareth He went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali
Matthew 4:13

Presumably in Nazareth He lived in his small family cottage, but where did Jesus live when He relocated to Capernaum? Quite possibly, He may have camped on the beach there (sleeping in the open was relatively common in those days). If you had been a resident of Capernaum, would you have opened your home to Jesus and His 12 followers? We read in the Gospel accounts that there were people who showed Jesus and His disciples some hospitality. But what did hospitality look like in the first century AD?

JEWISH FIRST CENTURY HOSPITALITY

Last Sunday night we heard from Pastor Tony that sojourners lived among the Hebrews. A sojourner was a temporary resident. God was very clear in His Law to the Israelites about how He expected them to treat sojourners.

¶ “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9

Hospitality was not just a legal requirement for the Hebrews, it was seen as a privilege for an Israelite to host a visitor or sojourner. It was unthinkable for a Hebrew to refuse hospitality to someone in need. 

¶ “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:33-34 

This passage, Leviticus 19, is where Jesus drew the ‘second greatest commandment’ from when He cited, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev. 19:18) which goes on to state how the Hebrews were to show hospitality to a visitor. Thus, hospitality to a Jew meant: (i) providing protection for their guests; (ii) providing meals for their guests; (iii) making their guests comfortable with clean adequate shelter and rest facilities; and, (iv) a place to wash. Thus, people’s homes were centres of hospitality. For a Jew to truly welcome a guest into their home meant showing them this kind of hospitality.

HOW JESUS UPPED THE STANDARDS OF HOSPITALITY

Over time, the principle behind God’s command to the Israelites to show hospitality to sojourners and strangers became distorted. Hospitality became politicised. Rather than, as it was always intended to be, an act of kindness—it became a transaction. Jesus called this out when He taught-

¶ He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Luke 14:12-14

Showing hospitality was not meant to be done with a hidden motive. The only acceptable motive was kindness. Christ saw His Father’s invitation to enter into His Kingdom as the greatest act of hospitality ever in the history of the universe. Yet, He scolded those who were arrogantly rejecting it because they didn’t see what was in it for them! He told the proud religious leaders of that day this parable of the King who invited his guests to come to a banquet he was hosting.

The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Matthew 22:7-10

THE PHARISEE’S INHOSPITABLE DINNER PARTY

But perhaps the starkest condemnation of what hospitality had become in the days leading up to the redemption of all mankind was when Jesus was invited to the Pharisee’s house for dinner. We must ask ourselves why would a pharisee invite Jesusto a dinner party? This Pharisee’s motive is somewhat revealed when a woman entered into the dinner and began to weep over and kiss Christ’s feet.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
Luke 7:39

Perhaps Simon the Pharisee should have thought, “If this man were a prophet He would know exactly what I’m thinking now!” because without saying a word to Jesus, Jesus responded to what he was thinking as if He had heard hi speak out loud. And what Jesus said to this Pharisee was one of the most loving rebukes you’ll ever read in Scripture-

Then turning toward the woman He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for my feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with ointment.
Luke 7:44-46

HOW JESUS REDEFINED WELCOME HOME

We now live in a culture where a ‘home’ is a status symbol. But based on what Christ taught, a home is a centre for hospitality. Hospitality is what the members of a household experience from each other and then, in turn, express to others. Home is where people belong and can feel safe, secure, provided for, and loved. This is the essence of hospitality which Jesus identified with the second greatest commandment. Therefore our hospitality encompasses kindness toward those who are less fortunate to us. It involves courtesy, kindness, and generosity. It is my hope that each Sunday we can welcome people with hospitality and that each of our homes become centres of hospitality. By showing such kindness to others we are reminded of two interesting Scriptures with which I leave you-

¶ Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:1-2

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25:34-40

-Andrew Corbett