Last year, I went to Ethiopia with one of our missions
teams. We flew back afterwards and touched down at Dulles very early in the
morning. This was my fourth trip abroad for a mission, so I was used to the
travel involved.
What I found striking was that each and every time we’ve touched down on American soil after a trip abroad, most of the plane breaks out in cheers and applause for finally being home. It never fails. The land of the free and the home of the brave just causes an impromptu cheer for those of us returning to loved ones, families, and our homes.
It makes me wonder what heaven will be like when we finally get there. Some of us have been waiting for a long time, you know. Seventeen hours in the air can make one start to wonder if their new living room is going to be the flight attendant’s prepping station next to the bathrooms.
I remember one trip across the Atlantic after a mission trip to India. We hit turbulence somewhere around England, and endured it the entire way across the Atlantic till we landed in Washington. I was more relieved than excited to finally get off the plane and touch the terra firma. The flight was a disaster, but the end had come. The journey was over. We were home, citizens in our own country.
Paul writes in Philippians 3: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Aaron, in his part deux on Community, touched on the concept of being citizens of heaven. We are bonded together. We are fellow citizens, brothers and sisters in arms, having the same distinction as well as direction. In the far flung corners of the world, others who are fellow citizens with us can become close partners simply because of that common affinity.
So how much more do we owe it to forge the same kind of alliances with those with whom we are bonded to because of Jesus? Frankly, it should be a top priority while we are on earth to develop significant connections and relationships with others who are following Christ.
We are, in a sense, in a far flung corner of the universe, far from home. We owe it to ourselves, as well as our fellow travelers, to link up as early and often as we can, and to live our lives together in such a way that the world is drawn in to notice – not really us, but the presence of the God whom we serve.
I spent one summer in Bangkok, Thailand, which included the fourth of July. It was, frankly, the only time I ever got homesick that entire summer. Missing the celebrations I took for granted every year only deepened my desire to spend that time with others who’d want to celebrate our country's freedom with me.
The international school near the American Embassy hosted a day-long celebration culminating in a fireworks display at night—all for us lonely, home-sick Americans stuck on the opposite side of the globe who happened to live and work there. I never enjoyed an American hot dog as much as I did that day in remembering the home of the free and the land of the brave.
May we have forged in us the heart-felt desires of celebrating and sharing our joy with others who dream of arriving in the eternal land of the free and the home of the faithful.
What I found striking was that each and every time we’ve touched down on American soil after a trip abroad, most of the plane breaks out in cheers and applause for finally being home. It never fails. The land of the free and the home of the brave just causes an impromptu cheer for those of us returning to loved ones, families, and our homes.
It makes me wonder what heaven will be like when we finally get there. Some of us have been waiting for a long time, you know. Seventeen hours in the air can make one start to wonder if their new living room is going to be the flight attendant’s prepping station next to the bathrooms.
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| New citizens being sworn in... |
I remember one trip across the Atlantic after a mission trip to India. We hit turbulence somewhere around England, and endured it the entire way across the Atlantic till we landed in Washington. I was more relieved than excited to finally get off the plane and touch the terra firma. The flight was a disaster, but the end had come. The journey was over. We were home, citizens in our own country.
Paul writes in Philippians 3: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Aaron, in his part deux on Community, touched on the concept of being citizens of heaven. We are bonded together. We are fellow citizens, brothers and sisters in arms, having the same distinction as well as direction. In the far flung corners of the world, others who are fellow citizens with us can become close partners simply because of that common affinity.
So how much more do we owe it to forge the same kind of alliances with those with whom we are bonded to because of Jesus? Frankly, it should be a top priority while we are on earth to develop significant connections and relationships with others who are following Christ.
We are, in a sense, in a far flung corner of the universe, far from home. We owe it to ourselves, as well as our fellow travelers, to link up as early and often as we can, and to live our lives together in such a way that the world is drawn in to notice – not really us, but the presence of the God whom we serve.
I spent one summer in Bangkok, Thailand, which included the fourth of July. It was, frankly, the only time I ever got homesick that entire summer. Missing the celebrations I took for granted every year only deepened my desire to spend that time with others who’d want to celebrate our country's freedom with me.
The international school near the American Embassy hosted a day-long celebration culminating in a fireworks display at night—all for us lonely, home-sick Americans stuck on the opposite side of the globe who happened to live and work there. I never enjoyed an American hot dog as much as I did that day in remembering the home of the free and the land of the brave.
May we have forged in us the heart-felt desires of celebrating and sharing our joy with others who dream of arriving in the eternal land of the free and the home of the faithful.
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