Why should we become someone who’s able to return home?

Prov 27:8
A man who wanders from his place is like a bird that wanders from its nest. Wandering seems enjoyable, but this enjoyment lasts temporarily. No matter what we do, we have to return back to the nest in the end. That’s why Chinese say: even though there may be a silver or gold nest outside, it’s incomparable to your own nest

Humans need a place to rest. Your home is somewhere that allows you to do so. Returning home is a habit that each person should have everyday.

A saying: when the sun rises, you do your work. When it sets, you rest. Unless you’re a workaholic and choose to work all the way.

Even when we’re physically outside, we’d think of home in our hearts. But there’re some people who don’t wish to return home.

At the void deck of the speaker’s appointment, there’re round tables and chairs for people to sit down. It’s common to see young people studying there; they don’t wish to return home. Some may have issues; they gather in groups of 3-5 and refuse to go home. Late in the night at about 11, they start to make lots of noise and smoke. It’s not the same group of people, there’s more than 1 group who does this. Why? Each household is different. Some have their problems which causes them not to want to go home. Or they have made friends who cause them not to want to go home.

It’s not so simple. Not everyone who wishes to have a home has a home. If you want a home, you need sufficient money in your CPF account. If you don’t have savings, it’s impossible to buy your house. You also need money to decorate your house.

You may be working at the moment. You may not own a house now, maybe you’re renting.

Some people have homes but they don’t want to return.

A saying: each family has things that’s difficult to talk about

When Man lives with other people, there’s bound to be friction.

There’re songs where people say they don’t want to go home. There’re also songs where people long for home haha Singapore National Day song ‘home’.

If we have a warm and loving home, we’d want to go home. It’s blessed and full; full of people we love.

Our home is ultimately our refuge. No matter how much we’ve suffered outside and been scolded by our boss; toiled and suffered at work, when we lie down at home, we finally have physical rest. Our hearts also have joy. Even though we may have such a blessed house/family, does it mean we’ll always be able to return to such a home? Not necessarily.

There was a Christian who had a wife he loved very much. Unfortunately, his wife contracted pancreatic cancer. The husband encouraged his wife. The wife very optimistically fuelled her situation; she accepted treatment regularly. Those who have contracted pancreatic cancer needs to be injected regularly with drugs. Once she accidentally overdosed herself. She felt discomfort. She went to the hospital. The doctor discovered she injected herself with so much of the drug it was impossible to save her. The patient herself didn’t know her condition was so serious, because going in and out was common. The doctor told the husband though that his wife was beyond saving. The husband loved his wife and persisted in telling the doctor to save her. There was only 5% chance of saving her. It would be very difficult and painful to save her. But the husband didn’t want her to leave him. Because the family of the patient wished so, the doctor will abide by their wishes, and undertook the seemingly impossible task. 2min before she was being willed to the operating theatre, she passed away. The husband was shocked. He couldn’t understand why this happened. She didn’t know she was going to die until the very last moment. But actually this may not be a bad thing. Actually humans are not really afraid of dying, but afraid of waiting for death. Death is something we don’t want to think about.

The woman departed. The husband was very reluctant to see her go. After he made the necessary arrangements, he went home. When he opened the door with his key, he felt a strong surge of emotions in his heart. “Today my wife is unable to return home…..”

Being able to return home is something we take for granted. But have we thought that there’s one day we won’t be able to return home? Or we’re in our homes and we leave? Once we say goodbye to this world, we’ll have nothing to do with this home anymore.

We may have the keys to our house but not the keys to life. Once we say goodbye to our loved ones and this earth, we become someone unable to return home.

When we’re sick and in our hospital bed, almost everyone will have this strong thought in their mind that they want to go home. The speaker remembers that his mother who was hospitalised made a big fuss about going home. The doctor told her she could go home in 2 days. But before the 2 days passed, her condition took a turn for the worse and she passed away. The speaker was in Thailand at that time. Because of technological advances, he was still able to talk to her. She was in a semi-conscious state. Later the speaker’s wife told him that she was holding on to wait for the speaker to come back. When she heard the speaker’s voice, she let go and passed. Thank God she was baptised and the precious Holy Spirit. Even though she wasn’t able to return home on earth, she was able to return to the home Jesus has prepared.

To be able to return to our heavenly home should be the hope of every Christian!

But what we see is that many Christians want strongly to return to their earthly homes. They don’t feel so strongly about wanting to return to their heavenly home because they miss their earthly home. If you tell people “heavenly home is very nice”, they’d answer “yeah but wait a whole chotomateh”

But there’s a circumstance where we would want to go back to heaven.
Eccl 12:5
When our physical body deteriorates. Have you seen the expression on the elderly when young kids dash past them? It’s when our bodies are ailing and deteriorating that people cry out to Jesus they don’t want to be here anymore and want to go to heaven. It’s rarely the case when their bodies are fit. This is among many reasons of why people don’t want to go home.

What we need to worry about is whether we’ve prepared; someone ready to go home. Can we guarantee we’ll be able to go home?

But some Christians neglect this. Why? Because some Christians regard their earthly homes as their eternally homes. That’s why they don’t want to return back to their Heavenly Father. We need to be vigilant about this.

If we’re a Christian and may not be able to return to our heavenly home yet, we may not be able to always return to our earthly home, but when we go to church God’s house we can be connected to our heavenly home.

Consider the prodigal son who had a home but didn’t want to return to it. Only when he was in destitute did he think of home.

Who’s the protagonist in the parable of the prodigal son? Younger son? Older son? Father? The context of this parable was that the Pharisees looked down on the tax collectors. “If a sinner repents, there’ll be rejoicing by the angels in heaven.” We see a crucial point. A father is very willing for his children to return home. Even though the tax collectors and sinners sin against and left God. But in seeking Jesus they return to God. And the Father is willing for them to have a path to return home. What about the oldest son? He was very displeased to see the younger son return. He felt that he had been working hard so long and it went unrecognised. A teaching for us: the oldest son thought he was loyal and faithful to the father and sacrificed much. Just like the Pharisees. They thought they were worshipping God and served in the house of the Lord but what they kept wasn’t pleasing to God.

In the parable when a Pharisee and tax collector was praying: Pharisee regarded himself as a righteous person and despised the tax collector. They think they are people who can return home. Jesus rebuked them for being white washed tombs. Looks nice outside but inside is a dead body. Ever smelt a dead body? In Thailand they have the custom of exposing the body for one last look before burying it. Once they lifted the cover, the speaker couldn’t help but take two steps back because the stench was so bad. At that time it was summer some more. The body had been there for about a week. The chemicals they used to preserve the body may not have been working properly. He felt the stench enter his nose and into his lungs. And he felt unwell throughout the day. Because there’re germs. That’s why undertakers have to wear masks because they breathe in these germs.

If someone is described to be a white washed tomb by Jesus, how is this person able to return back to our heavenly home? Let us not be like the Pharisees. Not all who say Lord Lord are able to return to the Kingdom of Heaven. In the future there’ll be many people who say “I know You Lord. I’ve done work for You.” But they’re not able to return home. They’re in the outer courts instead where there’s darkness and gnashing of teeth.

The Lord Jesus also spoke a parable that the wise man builds his house on the rock. We just be vigilant and watchful to be someone able to return home.

The prodigal son was wrong in the beginning but he was able to come to his senses. He was willing to return to his father’s house as a servant. What can we learn from the younger son? He was able to return home because there was a change in his heart. He was willing to be a servant. Willing to humble himself and willing to serve his father.

Are we someone who is remaining at home and think we’re able to return home? Or are we someone who has awoken and become willing to humble ourselves to be in our father’s house as a servant? Being willing to return home reflects a willing heart willing to do the will of our father.

Like the younger son who confessed his faults and was willing to return to serve his father. No longer daring to ask for his inheritance. Today if we look at this inheritance, it is the blessings God has given us. But if we receive God’s blessings but don’t properly use them to serve and repay God, we would have fallen short and owe God something.

We see this change in the younger son’s life. He was willing to be a servant. Willing to give and sacrifice for the household.

As Christians even though we’re willing to return home, have our actions and thoughts transformed? We’re only able to be an esteemed son but not a humble servant who gives and sacrifices.

As Christians are we one who goes out to enjoy ourselves after receiving the blessings of God? Some people don’t lead that terrible lives after leaving God. They’re quite blessed. They have their own houses. They’ve taken their inheritance but don’t have any relation with God. They take their blessings; they freely receive the grace of salvation but only remember this on the day of their death. It’s okay if such people realise their wrongs and come back. But the most dangerous is when they don’t realise.

What about the older son who didn’t leave the house of his father? When he saw the younger son receive grace, he started to murmur to his father. He said that he was willing to sacrifice and give to the household. He complained that even though he toiled for his father all these years, at no point was a feast laid for him by his father. Why did the younger son get a feast and this grace? Why was the father unfair? Man is often like this. We make noise when we see something is unfair. It’s very apt to describe the older son in this way. Even though it appears he was very faithful because he didn’t waste his father’s inheritance. He worked diligently. But was what he said reasonable?

Sometimes we feel God is unfair. When we do God’s work, do we feel this same sense of dissatisfaction? When someone doesn’t perform well do we start to compare. Man are weak. We compare to others. We forget how God has served and blessed us. Jesus the son of Man came to serve but not to be served. It’s more blessed to give than to receive.

Who wants to be at a loss? Who wants to give up something and lose something?

Are we willing to sacrifice?
Our time. Our lives. Will we be like the older son who murmured about what he sacrificed in the house? He forgot his father bore him, raised him, took care of him. Later on the father said “all I have is yours”. The older son could only see what he had given and didn’t see what the father had given him. If not for what the father gave him, he wouldn’t be able to do all this.

Do we worry our children will be like this? They just stretch out their hands. They only ask for physical things and aren’t willing to contribute to the household. When the parents don’t give enough they get angry and ask why the parents brought them to this world. Some even beat their parents.

It’s important to be concerned about the things of God’s house. Let’s not be a wanderer only concerned about the things of the world. Let’s not compare our service. Let’s not make a big fuss. When we have a humble attitude to serve in His house, when we have the realisation that what we will inherit is the heavenly home, we won’t regard this home as our permanent home.