The Holiness Of Home

Home is one of my favorite places. It’s my space with my people, a sanctuary of sorts. In these days of shelter-in-place I am so grateful to have this shelter in place, a space to call Home. Home has recently taken on a new meaning: it’s not just where you go at the end of the day, not just where you lay your head at night. Home is now the classroom. Home is now the workplace. Home is now the coffee-shop. Home in now the church sanctuary.

For many of us, all of life and ministry is taking place at home. Could it be that God is using COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions to reveal to us once again the importance and the power of Home? The solace and security of Home? The sacredness of Home? Home was always meant to be a sacred place, a holy space where fellowship and discipleship and worship begin, where generosity and forgiveness get their start. But for too many, we have failed to see Home as a holy space. We think that because so much of the mundane happens in our homes, it couldn’t possibly be considered holy. Set apart would certainly mean separate, right? I mean, The Holy Place in the Old Testament Temple was a special room that only the high priest could enter. That was where the presence of God was found. And the Most Holy Place was only accessible once a year! So who are we to think that the place where we eat and sleep and take care of business could ever be thought of as sacred?

We are children of the new covenant. The veil of the Temple was torn in two when Jesus died, giving us all access to a holy God because of His perfect atonement. The death and resurrection of Christ has given us the power and the presence of God at all times and in all places. Because of Jesus we now have a holy place right in our own homes. Not even quarantine can keep us from Him. God longs to be a consistent part of our everyday lives. And He commands us to be holy as He is holy. We have taken advantage of His gift to us and have allowed too many opportunities to pass us by. Could it be that in His infinite wisdom, God is working even in the midst of a worldwide crisis to restore some of the brokenness in this world? Bringing families back together? Reintroducing family dinners as the norm? He has already slowed down the pace of our lives, something many are thankful for. He is reminding us what is most important by taking away much of what isn’t. We are seeing with greater clarity that the things of this world are fleeting, and only the holy things of Christ will stand.

The Home has been ordained by God from the beginning to be a space of love and learning, care and community, work and worship, prayer and praise. A place of sanctuary. As we do life under quarantine, may we always remember this incredible gift God has given, and may we never forget the holiness of this place.