A House is Not Always a Home
By Michelle Ting
MOSAIC Team
Home is where I flew back to recently from a medical mission trip to Lebanon, where we had provided aid to the displaced and refugees affected by war. When the wheels of the plane grounded into the familiar tarmac of Changi Airport, and I exchanged the wind and cold of the middle eastern winter for the tropical heat and humidity of Singapore, I knew I was home.
Home was something many of the displaced and refugees did not have in Lebanon. Home was a place that could be destroyed at any time, a place you may have to suddenly run away from. Home was a place, outsiders with big bombs could detonate and take over at any time; it was not a place to take for granted to exist from one day to the next. Home was not a place to assume your children could grow up safely and in community; it was no longer a place of rest.
Home, to us, is more than having four walls and a roof over your head. Home is a place where you dream of your future and plan for that of your children's children. This future for the displaced and refugees in Lebanon is the eternal hard grind of barely surviving, and for some, means that children have to assume the burdens of adulthood too early.
Home, however, was what Jesus came to restore all of us to. The first sin rendered humans displaced from the perfect safety and protection God had in mind from the very beginning. The war for our minds and souls was relentless. Yet, here was where Jesus came to stand with us and die to secure our eternal home. Because of this, home is now a place we can all look forward to.
Home, however, was what Jesus came to restore all of us to.
But beyond that, this home is a place we are called to invite others to. During this lunar new year season, we will be gathering with family. We will be arming ourselves with chopsticks and tossing food in the air, in a ritual that celebrates life and abundance, and wishes health and prosperity to others. As we enjoy the blessings of home and security that others have lost, let us seek to enfold them in the home that Jesus came and paid the price for.
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