Dear Friends:

For years, the custom at St. John’s has been to designate the Sunday after Labor Day as “Homecoming Sunday,” to celebrate our regathering after being dispersed during the summer months on vacations or visiting out of town family and friends. We aren’t alone in this; the custom is observed in many churches, and it gives us the opportunity to hear what is planned for the program year, consider ways to be involved, welcome newcomers, and simply enjoy being together again.

And I think it is fitting, as we anticipate our homecoming, that all our readings for today address what it means to be a “home base” that provides a source of shelter, hospitality, and love, through joys and sorrows, highs and lows, thick and thin.

For example, in our reading from Exodus, we hear the well-known story of the first Passover meal that the Hebrew People prepare before they flee from bondage in Egypt. We are told in detail how each household should prepare a whole, unblemished lamb on the 10th of the month, “roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.” But there is a section in these instructions that is often overlooked, and it is, “If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it.”

In other words, be sure to consider those who might be single or alone or have too few resources for a whole feast, and include them in yours!  Isn’t that what homecoming and hospitality is all about? Making room at the table so everyone feels like they are a part of the family feast?

And then, in Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, he reminds the congregation not to get caught up in rules and legalities, because all the commandments (and there were hundreds of them) are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Finally, in our gospel, Jesus shares with his disciples the importance of managing conflict when it arises - not “if” but when - because as with any household we will step on one another’s toes! Rather than avoid confrontation or sweep it under the rug, Jesus encourages his followers to address disagreements “face to face,” directly and respectfully;” the point isn’t winning or blaming, but restoring relationship to build bridges of love and trust within the community, reminding them, that when two or three are gathered in his name – whether it be to sing for joy or hash out a dispute – he will be in the midst of them.

These are but a few ways that we live into our identities as members of the household of God -one that creates a home and finds a home in one another. In the words of the late Celtic author John O’Donahue,

“A home is a subtle, implicit laboratory of spirit. It is here that human beings are made; here that their minds open to discover others and come to know who they might be themselves.”

Welcome home,

Amelie+