Journeying...Home

"And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city." Luke 2:3

Day Five, of the journey to Bethlehem...

As a missionary wife, one of the questions that I have learned to dread is, "Where are you from?"

(By the way, it's a sneaky question for my kids as well.  If we have an occasion to meet in the US on furlough, please don't ask them this.  Blank stares invariably follow.)

As someone with an obvious accent in my French, it's an inevitable question.  Many times people are just curious.  They know that I'm not "from around these parts," and they are trying to "figure me out."  Other times, this question is met with veiled hostility.  People want to know where I'm from, so they can launch into a diatribe of all the ills of my "home" country.  

(You don't have to lecture me, by the way.  I know my country is messed up.  France is pretty messy at times, too.)

I knew when I left my country in March 2000 to come and live and work and minister in France, I would have to accept the role of a foreigner.  Most of the time, that's okay.  At least, now it's okay.  When I first arrived, I was a hot mess.  Doing what God calls me to do requires me to change locations, and accept that my "differentness" is inevitable.  

As I was re-reading the passage in Luke 2 this morning, I was thinking about Joseph and Mary and the reason behind their journeying.  

"And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city." Luke 2:3

This verse made me scratch my head a little.  After all, Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth.  I don't know if Joseph had ever lived in Bethlehem.  He certainly wasn't when the time came for the Roman census.  Yet, because of his family birthright and tribal heritage, he was undertaking a long journey to return...to his "own city," because that is where his family line came from.  It was his identity:  "because he was of the house and lineage of David." (Luke 2:4)

Even  though Joseph lived in a different place, he had a connection to the city of Bethlehem because of his relationship, however distant in the past, to king David who had lived there many centuries before.  He could claim Bethlehem as "his," not through any merit of his own, but because of being born into the king's family.

Joseph was a prince.  A prince many times removed, perhaps, but a prince nonetheless.

This verse was a great encouragement for me today.  No matter how far I am from my "earthly home," I can realize that the area where I was born, was not really my home, either.  I'm journeying in this life towards my "home," because of my spiritual birthright.  I can claim heaven as my home, not from any merit or worth on my part, but because God adopted me into His family.  I am His child, His "princess," if you will, and like Abraham, I am looking "...for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:10).

No matter where we are today, whether we live close to home or on the other side of the globe, may God encourage us today as we remember that we are His children, and that we are merely journeying through this life, on the way home. May this truth comfort us as we enter the holiday season.  It's never easy to be separated by distance from the ones we love, but at times it is very necessary.  

One day we will be in our heavenly home, and will look back on our present lives, so thankful that we made the journey.  Until then, let us make the place where we are living today resemble as much as possible to our final destination.