Home for the Holidays?

If I were to say the word Holiday to you I do believe that word association would lead many of you to words such as Merry or Happy.  There may be some who would even associate the word Thankful when they hear the word holiday.  I do believe that these words should come to mind and one more if you will, Family.  All of these word associations come to mind when you think of being “Home for the Holidays!”  Sadly though, there are some who when they hear “Home for the Holidays,” they associate words such as Loneliness, Loss, Sadness, or Regrettable Memories.  Words such as Merry, Happy and Joyous are overshadowed by words such as Death, Divorce and other avenues of Sorrow or Stress.

After some twenty years of pulpit ministry and an additional five years of ministry as a Hospital Chaplain I have seen more families face the loss of a loved one more during the Holiday months than at any other.  This actually gives new meaning to the phrase “Home for the Holidays,” especially after experiencing the passing away of a loved one.  This is so, because home will not seem like home to them anymore since their loved one will no longer be there.  That thought alone is enough to bring some down into the depths of depression.  Yes they are not here but they are where they will ever be happiest, for they are safe in the arms of the Lord.

A typical conversation that starts up after a loved one passes around the holidays is that the holidays will never be the same again.  You find that people will begin to fret over the next time that the family gathers for a Holiday gathering.  We often find that unresolved grief will also cause an increase in the stress level of people.  They will become prematurely saddened because their loved one that passed away earlier will not be there at home leaving an awkward void in the holiday festivities.  I am led here to say that the truth of the matter is, they are home; they have gone home to Jesus.  Those of us who are left behind are just that, we are left behind.  We are but strangers in a world that is not our home.  When they took their last breath they were home with Jesus.  We are confident in this because the Scripture assures us that we can.  “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (9) Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” (2 Corinthians 5:8-9) Not only do we find this truth in the New Testament but in the Old Testament as well, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 2:7) Once our traveling’s here in this world are over we go home to be with the Lord.  What causes grief to escalate into holiday despair is found in the lack of forgiveness and closure.  This in turn increases their selfish desire to hold onto the past causing them to remaining emotionally stagnant.  Having an understanding and trust in God’s plan helps us to grasp a firm hold upon the truth that our loved ones are with the Lord.  Our desires need to be readdressed to the truth of the Scriptures which let us know that as David said of his infant son who passed away, “And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? (23) But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (2 Samuel 12:22-23)

The Lord has warned us not to get to familiar with this world in which we live; we are told not to get too comfortable in this world because it is not our final home.  We are not to get too attached to the things of this world but that is a hard lesson for all men to learn.  That which we love in this world beacons us to long for and cling to it.  Love is one of the most precious gifts that God has given us and it is an emotion that cries out to be given to others.  There is nothing wrong with loving life nor that which life brings us.  The rift that a lost loved one leaves in our lives causes many struggle or spin out of control as they try to repair it.  At the same time we need to remember that this world is not our final destination; it is just a temporal place to journey through.  God has prepared a place for us and one day we will go to that home.  “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. (13) Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (14) For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” Hebrews 13:12-14  We also see this truth in Peter’s writings, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; (12) Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:11-12)

So if we are strangers here on earth then we are to be at home with the Father and in His house.  The things in this life are just temporal and fleeting.  Those who have gone on before us have realized this and they now wait for us there.  It is the place where our hope is turned into reality, a place where we are to be at home with the Father.  Jesus said, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3).  With this in mind let me say that the next time you sing “I’ll be home for Christmas,” you can assuredly sing the last verse which says, “If only in my dreams.” 

For only those who have gone on before us are truly, “Home for Christmas.”