Advent Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Reverend Wayne Palmer "Homeward Bound" for The First Sunday in Advent, 30 November 2014

Advent Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Reverend Wayne Palmer "Homeward Bound" for The First Sunday in Advent, 30 November 2014
Read Psalm 122: A Pilgrim Song of David
1-2 When they said, “Let’s go to the house of God,”
    my heart leaped for joy.
And now we’re here, O Jerusalem,
    inside Jerusalem’s walls!
3-5 Jerusalem, well-built city,
    built as a place for worship!
The city to which the tribes ascend,
    all God’s tribes go up to worship,
To give thanks to the name of God—
    this is what it means to be Israel.
Thrones for righteous judgment
    are set there, famous David-thrones.
6-9 Pray for Jerusalem’s peace!
    Prosperity to all you Jerusalem-lovers!
Friendly insiders, get along!
    Hostile outsiders, keep your distance!
For the sake of my family and friends,
    I say it again: live in peace!
For the sake of the house of our God, God,
    I’ll do my very best for you.
I was glad when they said, "Let us go up to the house of the LORD." (Psalm 122:1)
"Come on up for Thanksgiving!" Did you receive a Thanksgiving invitation this year? I guess all of us who regularly have the chance to gather with family and friends for the holidays take it for granted. The wonderful smells of holiday meals, the laughter filling the house, and everybody catching up with events in each other's lives are what make the day so special.
But today Thanksgiving weekend comes to an end and all those happy get-togethers must break up. Roads are packed with travelers scattering their separate ways. Of course in a few short weeks, we'll hear a new invitation: "Come on up for Christmas!"
Your church is sending out its own invitation this Advent. In the next few weeks many volunteers will be decorating the church, learning their parts for the Christmas program, and practicing their anthems for the choir. Your brothers and sisters in Christ are going to all this effort because they want to invite you to come on up for Christmas as together we go to worship and celebrate our Savior's coming.
But there is another come-on-up-for-Christmas invitation unlike any other. When you reach this home you won't find yourself sitting at the little kid's table or crammed into a crowded pew. And the festival won't end too soon like Thanksgiving and Christmas always do. The Lord Jesus Himself is inviting you to come up to His heavenly home and stay there with Him--forever.
That's what Advent is all about, and that's what these Advent devotions are all about. We will recall why the Lord Jesus came down from heaven so long ago. We will recall that the only way we can call heaven our home was because Jesus took our guilt and sin upon Himself and suffered and died in our place. Then, putting our faith in Christ, we will join our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ in joyful expectation as we journey on together.
So light the first Advent candle, and accept our thrilling invitation: "Let us go up to the house of the Lord!"
THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for calling us home to share Your eternal celebration through Your Son Jesus Christ. Help us to truly value Your forgiveness in Jesus and our eternal future, which He won for us by His life, death, and resurrection. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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