Homecoming Sunday
Title: Back to the Basics
Text: Romans 5:6-11
I. Introduction
Home
There’s no place like home. Vacation is great. Visiting friends and family is great. Going on adventures is great. But there’s no place like home. Home has a way of bringing you back to reality. Whenever you move away and start you own life, coming back home has a way of reminding you of who you are.
Going to college
I can remember when I first went off to college. I was so excited that I was going to be independent. I didn’t need my family anymore. I was now ready to fly the nest and do things on my own. Well, I had been at school an entire two weeks when I went back home for the first time. I hugged my mom like I hadn’t seen her in 10 years. I was so glad to be back home. At school, everything seemed so complicated. At home, everything made sense. Jade and I are now 10 hours from home. However, we always stay in touch. We stay in touch with home because it keeps us grounded. It keeps us connected to our roots. We were made into the people who we are and home reminds us of who that is. Home has a way of simplifying things. Whenever we get in over our heads, home has a way of reminding us of what is important. When life gets complicated, home has a way of taking us back to the basics.
Bank Teller
There was a woman who got a job as a bank teller. She was really excited about her job and she wanted to do a great job. So her boss gave her some instructions. He wanted her to make sure that every person that came through got a piece of candy in there envelope with the money. She really wanted to please her boss so she really took this serious. Every person that came through she made sure that she put candy in the envelope. She even put two pieces of candy in some envelopes, just to go the extra mile. Well, her day ended and she was proud of her work. Before she left, her boss called her into his office. Then he told her “Sorry to tell you this, but you are fired.” “Why? What did I do? I made sure that I followed your instructions correctly and put candy in every envelope, sometimes two pieces. I did exactly what you asked!” “Well, you certainly did put candy in every envelope and I applaud you for that. However, I’ve had 15 people call saying that while they appreciated the candy that you gave them, what they really wanted was their money. While you put candy in all, you left money out of 15!”
Rediscovering the basics
Sometimes, I think we can be a lot like this bank teller in the church. I think that sometimes we can get so busy with activities in the church, working hard for the church, preparing lessons from the church, that we can sometimes miss the point. We can learn deep theological ideas, learn biblical languages, philosophy, etc., and all of these things are great, but sometimes we can put so much focus on these things that we, like the bank teller, forget what’s most important.
It’s good to go back to the basics. It’s good to be reminded of God’s love. Above all, understanding that God loves you is what’s most important. We can never be told enough that God love us.
Now to understand the extent of God’s love, we must understand a few things.
II. We are helpless
One thing that we must understand is that we are helpless. Romans 5:6 says that “for while we were helpless, Christ died for the helpless.”
The hardest thing to accept
This is the most difficult thing for us to understand. So many of us want to do things on our own. We want to be the hero. However, we are incapable.
Our cover-up
Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t show ourselves to be helpless. The greatest critique of the church is that we think that we are in some way morally superior to everyone else and to be a Christian, you must be like us and think like us.
Bill Clinton
Dependent
Just like a little child, we must be dependent on Christ.
III. Christ died for the helpless
While we are helpless, Christ died for the helpless. Romans 5:8 says that “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
Demonstration of love
Valentine’s Day
Let me brag on myself for a minute. I’m usually not good at keeping things from Jade. We usually exchange Christmas presents 10 days before Christmas, because we just can’t wait to see what we got each other. We’ll, this past Valentine’s day I planned a trip for us to spend a night in Savannah. I wanted to tell her so bad, but somehow I managed to wait until the do of the trip to tell her where we were going. I planned this trip, one because I wanted to go, but also because I love my wife she had always wanted to go. It was a demonstration of my love for her.
Christ’s death
This is why Christ died. Christ died to demonstrate his love for us. Sometimes we treat Christ’s death like it’s some kind of transaction.
Sharing our Faith
Whenever we share our faith, this is what we should communicate. So many times we communicate judgment to people.
Sign
Everyday when I’m driving back home from campus on 85 I see this sign that asks the question “Where will you spend eternity?” While I’m certain that the people who wrote the sign meant it for good reasons, this is another example of the world seeing the church as superior. We aren’t called to scare people into heaven. We aren’t even called to tell people who knows Christ and who doesn’t. That’s God’s job. We are simply to share the love of God with people and the message of Christ’s sacrifice.
IV. We rejoice in our reconciliation
We are helpless. Christ died for the helpless. Because Christ died for us, we can rejoice in our reconciliation. Romans 5:10 says “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through Christ’s death…”
Because of Christ’s death, we are reconciled with God and with one another.
Heaven
I don’t know much about heaven, but I assume that, once we are reconciled people, we are experiencing it. I’m certain that we are living in heaven even now as we are reconciled with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We experience heaven when we embrace a stranger. We experience heaven when hug a family member that we once didn’t get along with. We experience heaven when we embrace our neighbors of another race. I don’t know much about heaven, but I’m certain that it will be a place of reconciled people.
V. Conclusion
Welcome Home!
So, Welcome Home! I don’t know what you were looking for when you decided to come home. But I hope that as you fellowship with people that you have known for years, you are reminded of the essentials. It’s my hope that, in this place, as you fellowship with you past, as you reminisce, you are reminded of the love of God, which is our true home. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
