Based on Philippians 3:17-4:1

Where is home? I know that’s a loaded question for someone who serves in our nation’s military or is a dependent of a military member. You might answer, “Well, it depends . . .”

Where is home? Home could be the barracks; a tiny on-base apartment in the middle of the Pacific; a CONEX container fitted out with A/C in the Middle East; a ship rocking back and forth in the middle of the ocean; or a small, rented home just outside of the gate. Home might mean a house you purchased with your own money.

Home for you—in the back of your mind—is always temporary, isn’t it? As much as you try to bloom where you’re planted, you know that eventually you’ll say, “We’re gonna move.”

And there always seems to be a longing to “go back home,” wherever that is for you—where you’re from, where a good number of friends and family live, and where they’ve lived for as long as you can remember.

For some, there is a longing, a nostalgia to return “home,” but when you go back to visit, it doesn’t always quite play out the way you envisioned in your mind. The time with family and friends doesn’t always go the way you hoped it would. So in this weird twist in your mind and heart, you’re almost happy to be back home where you live: your house, the barracks, that tiny apartment just outside of the gate, the on-base housing.

This longing for home only proves that this place, planet earth, and wherever it is you currently lay your head on your pillow at night, is temporary. All of it. That’s because God has put eternity in our hearts. It’s not just a feeling. God comes right out and says it.

In our reading today, the apostle Paul wrote to Christians who lived in Philippi, which is modern-day Turkey. Philippi was a Roman colony for military veterans, who were very proud of their Roman citizenship. They knew their names were written on a ledger in Rome, which backed up that reality. The Philippians dressed like people in Rome. They spoke like Romans. They incorporated Roman culture into their city. They longed for the city of Rome.

Paul points the Christians in Philippi and us to our permanent eternal home. He writes, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). In your eternal home in heaven, your names are written in the book of life. There you will be dressed like people in heaven are dressed: in the white robes of Christ’s righteousness. There you will speak the language of heaven, singing the praises of him who called you to that home. There the souls of those who have gone before us call it home and are already enjoying that blessed place called heaven.

So whether you are preparing to PCS this summer, ship out to basic training, go TDY, deploy, or redeploy, or if you’re staying put for a while at your current duty station, would you do this today? Pause, look around you, and say, “Lord, here’s where you have put me. I am here at this time and at this place. It is good to be here. But I have an eternal home. Lord Jesus, help me to keep my eyes fixed on that eternal home, where you are, where some of my dear friends and family in Christ have gone, where someday I too will be.”

Yes, heaven is your home.

Prayer:
Almighty God, you see that we have no power to defend ourselves. Guard and keep us both outwardly and inwardly from all adversities that may happen to the body and all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul, knowing that my body and soul are in your protective care until you call me home to heaven.

Lord God, this week we celebrate with our nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, the American Legion, which has actively sought to strengthen our nation since 1919. Lord, we ask that you bless the programs and services of the American Legion so that you through them might enhance the wellbeing of America’s veterans, their families, our military, and our communities. In your name I pray. Amen