When family is unavailable, nothing highlights that empty place like the holidays when every movie and television show is marked by gatherings of friends and families sitting around a roaring fire or a large family table lined with happy people anticipating an amazing holiday meal together. Some of the most poignant stories orbiting the Christmas season embody the return of a prodigal on Christmas Eve or the restoration of some long-lost relationship. Those stories seen to be the ones most filled with hope.
I think in our hearts we all long for reunion. Solomon said that God has placed eternity in each person’s heart. Whether we recognize it or not, out on the edge of our consciousness, there always seems as if something is missing that we can’t quite put our finger on. What we are missing is our home in heaven. In quiet moments when we are alone, we all have a very vague or not so vague feeling that something is incomplete… as if we have been alienated from someone we love or from a place we belong. I believe that longing is God calling us home to our spiritual family where there will never again be a sense of loss or alienation or an empty place at the table.
Christmas reminds us that our Father in Heaven has made a way to gather us all back home. Without the birth of Jesus there would have been no sinless life, no sacrifice, no merciful high priest, and no resurrection. There would be no hope. But God came in search of us and Christmas heralds that truth every year. He came to gather us into a spiritual family that will last forever.
Matthew records a moment when Jesus speaks about this reality. “While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are mybrothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:46-13:1). Our biological families are temporary unless they are all believers. Our spiritual family, created in Jesus, will be eternal.
The good news is that I can lose my entire biological family but still find another family in Christ that will never dissolve. Will it be a perfect family? Heavens no! How boring would that be? On this side of eternity, we are all flesh and blood, weak and weary, and are all in a process of becoming like Jesus. Even the best of families disappoint. Sometimes they fight. There are critical bossy sisters and annoying little brothers. In the best of families, siblings can be very different which often leads to misunderstandings. Communication is hard. Problems aren’t always solved. But what we hope for is that time and maturity will allow us to love one another and have each other’s backs when needed. What we want is to gather for Christmas and feel safe and at home. Spiritual family is no different.
What I hope is that if you have abandoned the “organized church” or stepped out during Covid and have not returned, you will choose to come home for the holidays and then continue to reconnect with your eternal family afterChristmas has passed. I’m not sure it is okay with Jesus if you spurn his bride. I know many have church hurts so find another church. The idea of a walk with Christ that does not include other believers in a local church (big church or house church) is foreign to the scriptures. How can we love one another, serve one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, or even forgive one another if we are not together. Jesus died for the people you may be rejecting.
You won’t find a perfect church because every human is imperfect. All the churches that Paul, Peter, Luke, and John wrote to in the New Testament were filled with problems. What we find is a perfect Savior who is working in his imperfect church to make it better. But the glory of the church is just that…God loving, saving and maturing people whose lives are a mess because the blood of his Son has covered their imperfections. God has gifted every believer and if you are missing from the ranks, the picture of Jesus presented by the church to the world will be incomplete. The amazing synergism of God’s people working together will not bear the fruit it could have born. Without you being present and plugged in, the body of Christ will have to function without your assignment being fulfilled.
As Christmas and the New Year approaches, I encourage you to reconnect, to reconcile, and to actively become part of your spiritual family again. Don’t stay home. Don’t stay away. But come home for the holidays.