Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’
I’m too tired to offer much tonight, friends. But here’s what I know:
It’s the end of a full weekend, and I’m grateful to be at home in my pajamas. My heart is full, overwhelmed with joy and outright awe. A Sunday School Christmas Program will do that to you!
But at home here with my family, my heart also hurts for the ones without a home, the ones who are cold tonight, the ones who are defeated, the ones without hope.
My heart hurts for the ones who are far from home, the ones who would give anything to be with their families, the ones who feel they have no family, the ones who’ve been rejected, the ones who’ve left.
My heart hurts for the ones whose homes have changed, even though the walls remain the same: the ones grieving, the ones who can’t see through their tears, the ones lonelier than they could have ever imagined, the ones begging to return to better days.
These are the ones with whom God dwells.
We are the ones with whom God is at home.
And in God’s presence every tear is gently wiped away. In God’s presence, the day is coming–it surely is–when death and mourning and crying and pain will be no more. It can’t come fast enough, friends. I know.
If your heart hurts tonight, I pray you would be powerfully aware of God at home with you–holding you secure, tending to your tears, bringing you a kind of comfort and peace that not even fuzzy pink pajamas can match.
If your heart hurts tonight, know you’re not alone.
Come, Lord Jesus, come. Make your home with us. Amen.