The first Sunday of May is a pretty special day here at Eastern Meadows! Yes, it’s special because it’s the Lord’s Day, but it’s also special for us because it’s our Homecoming. In the past, this exciting day would launch a great Gospel Meeting, it would involve a superb congregational meal, and it would be filled with many special visitors for our Sunday services. Overtime, the Gospel Meeting went, but the delicious meal and the many special guests remained the same. While this year’s Homecoming will be slightly different, it’s going to be a great day, nonetheless.
Homecoming Sundays are traditionally very exciting times for congregations. It’s a great day to remember where the church has been and how far it has come, it gives church members of yester-year an opportunity to return and visit with their former church home, and it causes us to reevaluate God’s plan as we strive to move forward into the future. I like Homecomings, but what I like the most is the idea of coming back home. There is no happier time than those occasions when the wanderer comes home!
Luke chapter 15 records one of the greatest coming back home stories in the entire Bible! This entire chapter is a continued parable to illustrate the value of those who are lost and God’s desire to see them reclaimed. The final verses of this amazing chapter present the memorable story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). This young man demanded his father’s inheritance even though his dad was still living. He went out to a distant country and wasted these funds on reckless and sinful living. Finally, he found himself at an all-time low—he was friendless, fund less, and foodless. But just when he was starving for food and entertaining the thought of eating the food of pigs, this young man remembered home. In sorrow and penitence, the prodigal returned home to be a slave in the father’s house, but the father welcomed him home as a beloved son. This, of course, is illustrative of the Heavenly Father! It doesn’t matter how far we may wonder, God always stands ready to welcome us back home!
Brandon Baggett is a former Pulpit Minister for Eastern Meadows Church of Christ.
