"We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 5:8
Christmas is a time for thinking of home. All of us have a lifetime of memories intimately connected with home and Christmas. We remember the way our parents decorated the house for the holiday, what the Christmas tree looked like, what the traditions were. We remember specific Christmases as well, like the Christmas I finally got a stereo system, or the Christmas that my grandmother from Miami first saw snow.
So strong is the connection between our home life and Christmas that it has flowed into popular culture as well. In the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” one of the most powerful moments in the movie is when George Bailey’s younger brother Harry surprises everyone by venturing through a blizzard to be home with his family. It is especially poignant in that it was during World War II, when so many soldiers desperately desired to be home for the holidays. In fact, the song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” was recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, when America was in the depths of the struggle against the Axis powers in World War II. That song became the most requested song by servicemen at USO shows during that dark Christmas season, and it has remained a seasonal classic ever since. In December 1965, having completed the first U.S. space rendezvous and set a record for the longest flight in the U.S. space program, the astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell hurtled back to earth aboard their Gemini 7 spacecraft. Asked by NASA ground support if they wanted any particular music piped up to them, the crew requested Bing Crosby's recording of “I'll Be Home for Christmas.”
That song has always perplexed me, though. The lyrics go “I’ll be home for Christmas; you can count on me.” Throughout the song, the singer is assuring his longing family that misses him so much that he will certainly be home for Christmas. But then, in the final line, he says “I’ll be home for Christmas—if only in my dreams.” That line seems like such a letdown… but it got me thinking about our true home, namely our heavenly dwelling place. Christmas can be especially painful not only for those separated from their homes by distance (soldiers, missionaries, students, etc.) but also for those separated from loved ones by death. There are so many reminders of the departed person, and it’s not surprising if a widow or widower may sit down and cry several times in the days leading up to Christmas—maybe a photo, maybe an ornament, maybe a favorite Christmas decoration reminds the lonely person of their loved one.
"We ought to say 'I’ll be home for Christmas… if only by faith in the promises of God.'”
The Apostle Paul puts all of this into a healthy perspective, however. In 2 Corinthians 5, he is talking about living life in view of the future—the coming Judgment Day and our eternity in heaven. He says that every Christian who is absent from the body is present with the Lord. But he also speaks of the longing all of us should have to be free from the worldly suffering we all undergo here on earth and to be “at home with the Lord.” What a phrase that is!! “At home with the Lord” means that Christ truly is our home. It is very much like Moses’ statement in Psalm 90, as they were wandering through the desert from place to place, and Moses wrote “Lord you have been our dwelling place from generation to generation.” This world is NOT our home, though we can make comfortable temporary shelters to dwell in while here. Instead, we ought to set our hearts on things above, where our true heavenly home lies. There already are our departed brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a place free from all pain, and there especially is the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to say “I’ll be home for Christmas… if only by faith in the promises of God.” Not merely “if only in my dreams.” Thus Paul says “We are confident”… confident that someday we will be truly home to enjoy the consummation of Christmas—our salvation in Christ!
Merry Christmas to all of you!
