Home for Christmas

A Reflection for Tuesday, December 3, 2024 by Rev. Bronwyn Murphy

Lectionary reading for 12/3/2024: Psalm 90; 2 Samuel 7:18-29; Revelation 22:12-16

Selected passage for reflection: Psalm 90

Read

Psalm 90 NLT

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place    throughout all generations.2 Before the mountains were born    or you brought forth the whole world,    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust,    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”4 A thousand years in your sight    are like a day that has just gone by,    or like a watch in the night.5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—    they are like the new grass of the morning:6 In the morning it springs up new,    but by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger    and terrified by your indignation.8 You have set our iniquities before you,    our secret sins in the light of your presence.9 All our days pass away under your wrath;    we finish our years with a moan.10 Our days may come to seventy years,    or eighty, if our strength endures;yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.11 If only we knew the power of your anger!    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.12 Teach us to number our days,    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?    Have compassion on your servants.14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,    for as many years as we have seen trouble.16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,    your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor[a] of the Lord our God rest on us;    establish the work of our hands for us—    yes, establish the work of our hands.

Reflection

I remember the first Christmas I spent away from “home”. I had been married for a few years and my husband and I were spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in a new place for the first time. In 25 years, I had never spent a Christmas Day away from my family, and I found the whole experience to be disorienting. No sign of my grandma's Christmas pies on the counter,  nor the lights that my grandpa had carefully hung on the awnings outside, nor a present under the tree that I knew without fail was a LifeSavers candy gift box from my aunt. In fact, I woke up not feeling like it was Christmas at all. 

I wonder if that is how Moses and the Israelites felt in Psalm 90. These Israelites, who spent 40 years in the wilderness away from “home”, away from all they had ever known. The Israelites spent 40 years, almost two full generations, disoriented in a foreign land. They complained, despaired, and feared what was unknown and uncomfortable. The wandering Isrealites lacked a place and space to claim as their own, a place to anchor their belongings and anchor their weary souls. 

But Moses, the author of this Psalm, knew their anchor was not their presence in a particular physical space, but their anchor was God’s presence with them. The Maker of Heaven and Earth had always been their home, though their ties to their physical home had been disrupted. The Creator God, who made the very land on which the Israelites wandered, had never ceased to be their home. In this home, Moses says there exists an unfailing love that will remain all the days of his life and will remain all the days of the lives of the wandering, disorienting Israelites. 

Psalm 90 acknowledges that though the human lifespan is brief in comparison to the influence and power of the God who created the mountains and the flowers, God’s unfailing love is present always, regardless of location or circumstance. God’s love is always home, even when we wake up on Christmas morning and cannot seem to get our bearings. God’s love is always home, from now until forever, even when we feel like sojourners in a foreign land. 

Respond 

Pause for a moment and close your eyes. Picture yourself in an open field. Where do you see yourself in relation to God as you stand in that field? Does God feel particularly far away? Is He close? What colors do you see around you? What feelings might be stirring up inside of you? Pay attention to how you are breathing at this moment and note if any muscles in your body feel particularly tight or tense. Take a few deep breaths and whisper “God, you are my anchor. God, you are my home”.

Rest 

God, thank you that your unfailing love is always with me, no matter where I am. Thank you that you are my home, even when I feel like I am wandering and unsure of where to anchor. I pray that each day of my life, I will be reminded of the power of your endless and magnificent creation, and find joy in anchoring my soul in your great, unending love. 

About the Author 

Rev. Bronwyn Leigh Murphy is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church and serves in a variety of ministry settings in Northern California and within her denomination. Bronwyn is a frequent guest preacher, speaker, and writer and has been patiently waiting since 1995 for the San Francisco 49ers to win another Super Bowl.