Title Toward home
content p; Hebrews 11:13-16
p; Chuseok is coming tomorrow. Chuseok is said to have originated from woven ssamnori during the Three Kingdoms period. It is said that in this weaving game, the weaving game, the Jinpyeon was the winner of the game by giving thanks and sharing with rice cakes and food. This time was so rich and enjoyable that the old saying, 'No more, no less, only Hangawi' was coined. In later generations, this changed to the custom of offering tea ceremony to ancestors with fresh grains and fruits.
p; But now, another custom has emerged. It is the custom of returning home, where families who have been scattered due to urbanization gather together. On Chuseok or Lunar New Year's Day, 20 million people across the country, half of the nation, go to visit their hometowns and relatives and waste their time on the streets for hours at a time. Is it that everyone is so zealous while suffering the hardships of doing things that no one tells them to do? What does it mean to go home, so that everyone returns home almost with the passion of faith? Looking at people on this Chuseok holiday, we come to realize what the original human heart is hidden in human life.
p; 1. The heart of return
The first thing that comes to mind while spending Chuseok is that everyone is looking for their hometown. In this way, you can see the heart of return in the heart of searching for your hometown. It is the desire to return to the roots of life. Returning home is the heart to find the root, and ultimately the heart to approach God, the source of life. That is why the Bible speaks of homecoming.
...and testified that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
When they say this, they show that they are seekers of a homeland. Hebrews 11:13-14
‘Traveler’ refers to a person who has a hometown to return to, not a person who lives in a house. In fact, the sorrow of a person who has lost his hometown must be a pain that only those who have experienced it can know it. It is said that there are 10 million displaced people and separated families in Korea who are unable to go even if they want to leave their hometown in the north.
p; But in life, the true hometown is not in the visible place on earth, but in the invisible but eternal place. Life cannot stay on this earth forever, so it is like a stranger and has a hometown to return to. If you lose your hometown of the body, you experience the pain of cutting your bones, but what a pitiful life would be when you become a soul that has lost your hometown because you cannot find your eternal hometown?
p; I once preached under the title of ‘Three Hometowns’. There are three kinds of homeland for humans. It is the home of the earth, the home of the soul, the home of eternity. They diligently visit their hometowns with the spirit of return, but the more important hometown is the hometown of the soul. What is the hometown of the soul? A place where I go to find comfort and strength when my soul is weary and weary, a place where I want to run to and hug when my soul is sick and lonely, a place I go to when my soul is thirsty and lack of will to drink the fountain of my soul--that This is the home of the soul. Even if there is a hometown on earth, if there is no hometown of the soul, life can only be an eternal other, an eternal stranger, and an eternal loner. Where is your soul home? When your soul is weary and lonely, where do you go, where is there a spring of water to drink when your soul is thirsty and wandering? Isn't the place where the Word is, where there is prayer, where there is worship, where the soul is comforted, and the church is not the home of your soul?
p; Even more important than all of this is home. That is the eternal home. The text says that God has happily prepared a city for believers.
Therefore, God was not ashamed to be called their God.
He has prepared a city for them. 11:16
p; Neighborhood children are playing together. We played drunken games and played land grabbing games. At that time, there was a child who was stubborn and pushed with force. The child grew up without parents, so he was a rough child. However, at the end of the day, everyone followed the calls of their parents and returned to their homes, but this child has nowhere to go. Because I don't have a home. They all looked the same when playing with the children in the middle of the day, and they were able to push it with force, but as the sun went down, the difference became apparent.
p; It is a story created by imagination, but it is a story that shows our life well. It is a metaphor for a person who has no home to return to at the end of the day even though everyone seems to be living the same life while living in the world, and a person who has no hometown to return to even though he wants to go back.
p; The words of this text are about those who have the hope of heaven.
Had they thought of the country from which they came, they would have had a chance to return.
Now they long for a better home, which is in heaven... 11:15-16
All the people of faith in the Bible lived their lives as strangers without being too attached to where they were staying. They always longed for their hometown, and they lived like strangers. If he longed for his visible homeland, he would have been able to return at any time in the days when there were no borders. But they did not put their hope in the sight. Although they cannot see them, their hope was in the eternal kingdom. This is exactly what the saying ‘longing for a better hometown’ means.
p; Humans have such a longing for their homeland. It belongs to the nature of the soul to seek the source of life. In this way, the return home on Chuseok shows the heart of regression (回歸). The heart of this return to return to the hometown is to go to the source of one's life and to find the root of life. Meeting family members, meeting friends, and finding the roots of one's life is the heart to find the deep roots of life if you think more deeply. Even if we do not recognize it ourselves, it is actually the heart of returning to seek eternal home, eternal rest, and the heart of seeking God. The true root of life, the true source is God.
p; Christians should not forget that there is a time in life when they must return to God, the eternal root of life, just as they return home on Chuseok.
p; 2. Gratitude (報恩)
During Chuseok, the word that people use a lot, whether formal or sincere, is ‘thank you’. This kind of gratitude is the heart to know that one's life is not in one's ingenuity, but in the grace of the neighbor and the grace of heaven. Returning to their hometown or holding a grave is in Boeun's heart to repay this kindness. Boeun's heart is an extremely humble heart that confesses that my life has not come from me, but with someone's grace and love.
p; As you get older in your life, you realize that life is not just about your talents. I realize that my life was made with someone's love, interest, and grace. If you look back on your faith, you will realize that it is truly by the grace of God. That's why Paul confessed, "I am what I am by the grace of God..." (1 Corinthians 15:10).
p; Gratitude for the blessings of parents and ancestors, gratitude for the love of neighbors, and gratitude for God's grace--this is the right heart we Christians should have during this Mid-Autumn Festival.
p; 3. The heart of sharing (love)
Another spirit of Chuseok is the spirit of sharing. On Chuseok, our ancestors happily shared fresh grain and fresh fruit with neighbors. Songpyeon was also made and shared among households. Sharing is the Christian spirit. The first change in the early church members because they were filled with the Holy Spirit was a life of sharing.
All the believers are together and all things are in common.
They also sold their property and possessions, and distributed to each one according to his need
Every day we strive to gather together in the temple with one accord... Acts 2:44-46
The two disciples on their way to Emmaus did not recognize the resurrected Jesus even though they walked together listening to the Word all day. But when they invited him to their home and shared food, they recognized him. Through sharing, I was able to experience the Lord's resurrection.
p; As our ancestors have already done, and as our ancestors of faith did, I hope that you will realize the right Christian life through a shared heart and spend a joyful Mid-Autumn Festival.
p; I pray that this Mid-Autumn Festival will be a joyous season where you can truly enjoy the joy of meeting, express your gratitude, and gain the warmth of sharing. And I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become believers of faith who do not forget that there is a hometown of our souls and an eternal hometown in our hearts heading to our hometown.