Home Sweet Home

Jesus' primary message was the announcement of the arrival of God's kingdom. Much of the church's teaching these days regarding the kingdom of God focusses on the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel. In quoting Jesus' kingdom manifesto in Luke 4 (which in turn borrows language from Isaiah 61), we speak about preaching to the poor, healing the sick, comforting the broken and liberating the oppressed. These are all important manifestations of the kingdom, but in focussing our attention on these signs we perhaps forget that for first century Jews, to speak of God's kingdom finally arriving was primarily to speak of their full return from exile: they may have returned from Babylon, but they were still under Roman oppression and therefore still in a state of semi-exile, awaiting rescue.

This rescue and return from exile was not just about a return to their home in Jerusalem: it was a return to all that God called them to be and to all that God had called them to do. It was a return to their true 'home'. Jesus' kingdom ministry was therefore a ministry of restoration, with his acts of healing and deliverance (which restored individuals to how God had called them to be) serving as a symbol for what he was doing for Israel as a whole.

This got me thinking: if the ministry of the church is to continue Jesus' kingdom ministry, then perhaps we would do well to recapture this language of 'homecoming'. Our mission is simply to invite people to return to their Father in heaven, through the work of Jesus and in the power of the Spirit. This return is a return to both their true identities (as God's image-bearers in the world) and to their true calling (to extend God's blessing to the world).

It's interesting that numerous people describe coming to faith in Christ as a homecoming experience. I've often overseen how true to the gospel that image is. At his birth (the incarnation) Jesus entered Israel's exile in order to put an end to it (the cross), so that freedom and new life may emerge (the resurrection). Put simply, Jesus entered Israel's pain to heal her and bring her home. And I believe he asks (and empowers) us to do the same: to enter the exile of those around us (their addictions, pain and brokenness) so that by the help of God, we can lead them home!