Christmas 2025: Home for Christmas

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We all long to be home for Christmas.

We love to feel safe and comfortable, and at peace.

And at home, we are surrounded our family, in our house, in the culture we’re from, speaking the language we prefer, with foods we grew up with.

On Christmas, we don’t have to earn, we don’t have to perform, we can just…. be. No chores, no work, no stress.

It feels like this day is little pocket, a safe haven, a break from our usual, flawed lives.

But even being home is not perfect and it is fleeting

Think about the last Christmas where everything went perfectly, and you were at perfect peace, and you had no issues.

there is none. There is no prefect Christmas and no perfect home. And something always makes it’s way into your little pocket of rest peace.

we know we have emails waiting for us, we know this might be the last Christmas with someone we love, we don’t just stop being sick on Christmas, and we pray that that one relative won’t start talking about that they always talk about.

The feeling of home we get on Christmas is imperfect and fleeting

We all long to be truly home, at peace forever.

Being home is great, but there’s gotta be something more. And we all know that longing we have for that “something more”.

A home with true peace, true rest, and true Joy, that doesn’t end.

And it exists!

In the ancient time of the old testament, God’s people were experiencing a yearning very similar. They were taken captive by another empire. their land was destroyed and they were all hauled away to a different land. They were no longer home. And they hated the brokenness of their situation. And they knew, this isn’t how it was supposed to be!

Because God spoke to them through the prophet Isaiah and gave them a word of promise and comfort. A word about how He would eventually lead them back home to their land, but even more than that, He would send a King, a savior, would would bring something much greater than the comfort of being in a familiar place. He would bring them a true, perfect, and eternal home.

Isaiah 9:6 ESV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

And this Child, this savior and King, is the one we celebrate today! It’s the Child Born on Christmas. It’s Jesus!

So let’s say it like this: Jesus has come to rule over the whole world and bring His Kingdom, where he is the head, and ,in this Home, divine wisdom and comfort abound. His strength is unmatched, allowing us to sleep soundly and live boldly in his care. His doting presence is never absent. And a sense of deep shalom—that “it’s all gonna be okay” kind of peace—fills the air. The great reformer, Martin Luther, reflecting on these words adds, “The peace is not only peace of mind but plenty and soundness of mind and good health of the body.” It’s that good.

Isaiah 9:7 ESV

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end…

There is nothing that Jesus doesn’t rule over. There is no place where He isn’t present. No situation is out of the reach of the peace He gives. And this Home, this Kingdom, unlike our holiday season, will never end.

As jesus comes to us. We realize that the perfect home is not a place or a holiday. Home is a person.

Jesus, the God of the universe Himself, leaves His home of heaven and is born as one of us.

But Jesus didn’t just come to be born. Jesus came to Die.

The reason we are long for true peace is because we are sinful. Everyone is sinful. We are broken, wounded, guilty, and flawed.

And in our sin, we have no place in God’s perfect presence. We have no claim to peace or comfort or a home.

Because our sin is our fault! And if we were left to be good enough on our own, or find our way to God ourselves, we would end up dead forever.

But God loves us, as imperfect and unfaithful to Him as we are. And He wants us to be saved, to live, to be back in our true home with Him forever.

So rather than making us reach up to Him, He steps down into our sin and brokenness, He takes it off of our shoulders and carries them Himself. He lets them crush and kill him. And He tells us that He is doing all of this so that we would be forgiven, restored, cleansed and righteous again. He does it all, so that through Him, we can stand before God and be welcomed home forever.

And In His death and resurrection, Jesus takes away our pain, heals our wounds, free us from sin. And His perfect Righteousness is draped over us. And all this, and our membership in the household of God, comes to us not by our efforts or good works, but by faith in the savior who has done it all for us.

And just as Jesus came to do this work for us, He has promised that He will return to us to fully bring us into this home, restore all things, heal every wound, and wipe away every tear from our eyes.

And until that day comes, Jesus has given us a deposit. A down payment of what is to come.

2 Corinthians 1:21 ESV

And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,

2 Corinthians 1:22 ESV

and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

In our baptism, Jesus has made our hearts his dwelling place. Which means God is always with us. And that means that we are already always home. no matter what our circumstances, peace is ours, forgiveness is available, healing and reconciliation are possible.

Not for a little bit, not just during a little holiday pocket to distract from the world, but everyday single with the power to overcome the world.

and these powerful gifts are more than enough to sustain us for now. But even they are just a deposit of what Jesus will bring when He comes back.

This home is coming, not fleeting, but forever.

Isaiah says that Jesus will be…

Isaiah 9:7 ESV

…on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore…

It’s easy to be focused on the minor aspects of Christmas: the food, the day off work, the presents. But when we focus on the fleeting things, our peace and joy, our comfort are also imperfect and fleeting.

Today is a reminder that what we truly celebrate, and what we really focus on is the main thing: Jesus, The King, the Savior, and our true home being born among us. The one who would conquer our death, defeat the devil, free us from our slavery to sin, replace our fears with peace, and who has made his home with us, so already are, and forevermore will be truly at home with Him.

And when we celebrate Jesus, worship Jesus, focus on Jesus, and have faith in Jesus, we remember that we are already perfectly at home in Him, and that our peace, comfort, hope, and joy, and perfect and will never fade.

And this is our word from God for today.

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