We’re the time of year that is typically so special for so many,
especially around our homes.
For our family, our tradition has been after the day after Thanksgiving,
on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so, so, Black Friday,
we go out and we cut down a Christmas tree.
And we bring it home, and we decorate it, and we have a lot of fun doing that.
And then the rest of the weekend
my wife works really hard to make our house into
a Christmas home.
That makes it feel really special.
Home is a pretty important place during the holidays, and that's one of the reasons for
the next couple of weeks as we get closer and closer to Christmas,
we’re going to be journeying through the book of Deuteronomy because Deuteronomy is all about God’s people coming home.
After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, they’re at the doorstep of the Promised Land, the
land that God had promised to give them; their, their home. It’s a, it’s a homecoming.
And Moses gives them a lot of good instructions on how to enjoy it,
and how to savor it,
and how to remember God and the wonderful blessings that he gives us every step of the way.
The book of Deuteronomy is a homecoming in another way too.
It wasn’t just a homecoming for the israelites who were about to enjoy the home of the Promised Land.
It was a homecoming for Moses in a different way.
Remember, Moses wasn’t going to be going into the Promised Land,
but he was still going home.
At the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is taken to heaven.
He goes to the better home,
the one that our hearts are all longing for every day.
In the book of Deuteronomy is really Moses’ final words to the Israelites,
helping them remember the past,
appreciate the present,
and not be scared of the future.
But if Moses was going to be gone, that meant something for the Israelites who were going to be walking into the Promised Land.
It meant that what was normal
wasn’t going to be around anymore.
That the present and the future were going to be very different,
in a way that was probably a bit uncomfortable.
And I think that’s probably a trait that, you know, something that’s going to characterize
many of our holiday celebrations.
It's going to be different. It’s not going to feel normal.
And for any number of reasons,
your holiday plans might be changed.
You might not be able to see friends and family as easily as,
as you previously did in previous holiday celebrations.
I know that for many of you
this is a holiday when you will feel kind of like the Israelites did
in relation to Moses.
And someone they cared about, and somebody who was so strong for them,
wasn’t going to be there
to celebrate with them.
And that can make the holidays really hard,
which is why the book of Deuteronomy is such an incredible blessing.
In just the very first verses, as it begins to introduce the scene,
as Moses steps in front of the Israelites
and they’re about to enter the Promised Land, and it says
that Moses began to speak his words
after he had defeated Sihon and Og, those were some of the kings who were standing in the way of their Promised Land.
And there’s an important word in that section that needs a little bit of explanation and that is the word
“He.”
Who is the “he”
that defeated Sihon and Og, the enemies who were standing in the way
of them enjoying their new home?
You might think it was Moses,
but it wasn’t.
It was God.
Remember how Moses, time and again, told the Israelites that God was fighting for them?
God took responsibility
for getting them all the way home,
just like he does for you.
There might be a lot of enemies getting in the way of you feeling like you’re,
you’re really at home this year.
It could be the reminder that you, you don’t have as much control over things as, as you’d like to have.
This could be a season of grief,
if you’re missing someone or something really important.
Or maybe guilt,
if you hurt someone or if you messed up in some really big ways recently.
It could be pain.
It could be sickness.
It could be loneliness.
It could be anything.
All these enemies getting in the way
of you feeling
like you’re at home,
the place where you want to be.
But every one of those enemies has an enemy.
It’s the God who fights for you.
It’s the God who fought for you on a cross,
who shed his own blood to win a victory that we could never win for ourselves;
the one that guaranteed that one day you will be home,
in the home of perfection that God has already prepared for you.
The one where God wipes away every tear from your eye.
The one where there’s no more death,
or crying,
or pain,
or loneliness,
or pandemic,
or anything that makes our hearts feel sad.
God fights for you.
He’s fought for you in the past,
he fights for you today,
and he will lead you all the way
home.
He will not fail.
So rest well tonight, my friends.
God is fighting for you.