Home is where the heart is
Sermon preached in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews on 9th May 2010 by the Rev. Lezley J Kennedy
Readings: Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 and John 14: 23-29
I was 18 years old when I came to St Andrews University, to make this town my home for 4 years. I arrived with a couple of suitcases and a little apprehension, and I left having felt at home here, having made good friends here, having enjoyed formative experiences here, and having gained a theological education here, and thankfully a degree! I arrived thinking about ministry - I left, part-way through my training for ministry - I return today after being ordained 10 years - serving in my second parish and now heavily involved in the work of selection and training for ministry in the Church of Scotland. Time has certainly passed quickly, but there will be part of me that always feels at home, here in St Andrews.
What is it that makes you feel at home somewhere? Home is where the heart is they say….. I felt at home in the States after leaving here - taking only one suitcase and some photos - I felt at home returning to Scotland and moving to Edinburgh - I felt at home moving from there to Dundee - and now I feel at home back in Edinburgh. Home is where the heart is.
The heart beats in our bodies, regularly and unnoticed most of the time - unless we have been exercising and feel it pounding away. But its gentle beat pulses unrecognised most of the time - but brings us life. Perhaps for us, there is a godly parallel here - that the heart beat of God, the life of God, beats and pulses through our life and world, often unnoticed and unrecognised, but bringing life - in fullness - in faith.
Home for me, has been a changing place over the years, just as it is for many of us, or will be for many of us, but what doesn’t change is the God who travels with us - often going before us, preparing the way for a time of transition and transformation - and the gentle whispering of the Spirit that leads us to places new, which will become home, because God is there first.
"If anyone loves me, Jesus said, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Home is with God, home is in God, home is where the heart rests in God, and in God’s peace, and in God’s love - home is a place of shelter, a place of relaxation, a place of contentment - home is where are hearts are at peace.
There’s a story of an artist trying to paint the perfect picture of peace - a commission given to him by a wealthy man. After a great deal of thought, the artist painted a beautiful country scene. There were green fields with cows standing in them, birds were flying in the blue sky and a lovely little village lay in a distant valley. The artist gave the picture to the man, but there was a look of disappointment on the patron's face. The man said to the artist, "This isn't a picture of true peace. It isn't right. Go back and try again.
The artist went back to his studio, thought for several hours about peace, then went to his canvas and began to paint. When he was finished, there on the canvas was a beautiful picture of a mother, holding a sleeping baby in her arms, smiling lovingly at the child. He thought, surely, this is true peace, and hurried to give the picture to the man. But again, the wealthy man refused the painting and asked the painter to try again.
The artist returned again to his studio. He was discouraged, he was tired and he was disappointed. Anger swelled inside him, he felt the rejection of this wealthy man. Again, he thought; he even prayed for inspiration to paint a picture of true peace. Then, all of a sudden an idea came, he rushed to the canvas and began to paint. When he finished, he hurried to the man and gave him the painting. He studied it carefully for a while before saying, "Now this is a picture of true peace."
And what was this picture of true peace? It showed stormy seas pounding against a cliff. The artist had captured the fury of the wind as it whipped black rain clouds which were laced with streaks of lightening. The sea was roaring in turmoil, waves churning, the dark sky filled with the power of the furious thunderstorm. And in the middle of the picture, under a cliff, the artist had painted a small bird, safe and dry in her nest snuggled safely in the rocks. The bird was at peace midst the storm that raged about her."
This seems to be a portion of the picture of peace that Jesus gives - not a worldly kind of peace
- the peace of a spot in nature - beautiful and serene
- the peace of a mother and child - tender and gentle
- the peace of an absence of conflict - where there are no storms or violent waves, but rather a peace of knowing that in the midst of turmoil there is a rock which can shelter us, a place we can feel safe, a place where we can feel at home in God.
It was Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz that clicked her heels together and said, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home,” and here in our Scriptures we find Christ telling us of the home that is found in God, as we love. And speaking to his disciples who feared all that lay ahead, Jesus spoke words of comfort and peace, about the gift of the Holy Spirit to counsel and guide, and the gift of peace he leaves - not as the world gives. Do not be troubled or afraid.
There is great power in these words of Jesus - there is great comfort - and there is great promise - that our home is in God - that our hearts can be at peace with God - that our lives can still be guided by God.
And when we turn to the words of Revelation that were read earlier, there is something prophetic about that life and home in God, that is different from the reality we know now. As church goers perhaps, as church members, as church minister’s we find ourselves normally gathered within a building, within a structure, and indeed governed by structures that might be unrecognised or quite restrictive, but when we see the vision of this Holy City, there is no temple - because God is the temple - there are no lights to be switched on and no doors to open and shut - because God is the light and the gates stand open - and the river of life flows - and the people are in God, and God is in them. It is a picture, a prophecy, a promise of a different way of being in faith - a perfect picture of peace where the hearts of those who would follow after Christ are found at home in God.
The church, as it tries in its myriad forms, to be the body of Christ, fails and falters in many ways, particularly when it thrives on structures and systems, more than the heart of God which is love. And for you and me as we live our lives of faith, and try to follow the Christian path, we mustn’t let ourselves be distracted from letting the message of God’s love and welcome and forgiveness, revealed in Christ, live in our hearts and show itself in the actions of our lives.
As we love God with our hearts, each of us needs to find our home in God, so that our faith can flourish. Your spiritual home may be one denomination or another, but your heart must remain in God. And all of this talk of heart and home, must not mean we live insular Christian lives, focussed only on an internal spiritual journey, but we must let our faith become the heartbeat of our daily lives, so that what we say and do, and how we act, flows from the faith that is living and beating and pulsing in our veins.
Faith only flourishes truly as it is lived out in communities, as part of the church in its widest sense, in communion with one another, and in action. This Christian Aid week, we see that faith in action touching the lives of many who are yet to know the love of God, and helping many who have yet to experience the fullness of life that many of us take for granted.
Life and faith are both adventures to enjoy, even when there are great changes and challenges along the way. But if your heart is full of God’s love and your home is secure in God, then the freedom to grasp the gift of each day is released. It was Amelia Earhart, the early American aviator that said, "The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding”.
The more we are able to do, in faith, in love, in service - the more we are able to feel and share the heights and depths of the experience of our neighbours in the world - then the more genuine our appreciation of our God, and the gift of life and love found in him becomes.
If home is where the heart is, then I pray that your heart is found in God. May you know his promise, presence and peace, day by day.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.