In the Neighborhood

“I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: ‘Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God.’” Revelation 21:3

It is the Thursday after Christmas, which fell on a Sunday this year. Because this holiday is so centered around family gatherings, it is probably the most evocative time of the year. Emotions can range from the thrill of young children ripping open multi-colored paper to a couple sadly alone because family is so far away. Highs and lows are punctuated like staccato notes in the middle of soft ballad.

Perhaps a new baby is born near Christmas-time, and the family is reveling in another grandchild to add to the collection in the hearts. But, if we have lost a loved one during the holidays, that grief is sharper as we are reminded of their absence. Understandably, this time of year can produce a cacophony of laughter and tears, singing and solace, feasting with friends and family as well as lonely out the window at the driveway.

Though the book of Revelation is not really a source of Christmas material, like all of other Scripture, it underlines God’s primary purpose; redeeming the broken relationship between fallen mankind and Himself. The Child we celebrate is the first chapter of a story none of us would imagine: God making His home, not simply upon earth, but in the skin of a flesh and blood, air breathing, food eating, sleep needing, human being.

Too often we jump from cradle to cross and give little thought to the intervening years of Christ’s life. But God had a purpose in living “in the flesh” for those thirty-some years. He grieved as we grieve. He laughed (perhaps out of sheer politeness) at His disciples’ jokes. His feet ached at the end of a day. His sweat smelled the same as any other man’s after working hard. He learned the alphabet, missed a nail or two using the hammer in his father’s workshop, and perhaps disliked vegetables.

And yes, He finally traveled to Jerusalem with the resolve that comes from accomplishing a life-intended task. He shares a final meal with his best friends, there revealing that one has betrayed Him and another will soon deny Him. He tells them He loves them, and they need to love each other the same way. He kneels, washing the grime from the day’s travel off each of their feet. By noon of the next day, He is cruelly spiked to the rough-hewn cross.

Three days He is in the tomb, rising from the dead on that glorious Sunday morning. By the time the day is over, He has connected with nearly all of His disciples, His mother, and a number of the other women who had followed Him. His immediate desire was to be with those who were close to Him.

So, here in Revelation, describing God’s plan at the end of time, we are reminded that God has not changed. He has “moved into the neighborhood, making His home with men and women.” Literally it says that He “tabernacled” with us. The tabernacle was the tent which God had Moses erect wherein He could be worshiped.

God never intended a building, a temple, which could not be moved. His design was a tabernacle because that best represented the nature of Christ to come. People must “go to” a temple, but a tent travels with you. It is an extremely important distinction. God wants to “be with” people, wherever they go. So, at the end of time, God is still using the “tabernacle” language to communicate His affection for men and women of His creation.

We are invited to enter into a relationship with this very God. I am comforted this Christmas season because I know He is not far off, He is near, as near as my most recent fear or latest joy. We are “His people”. He is “our God”. And here, in this quiet week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I wouldn’t have it any other way.