Can you really ever go home again?

I had the privilege of worshiping at the First Presbyterian Church, Klamath Falls, Oregon yesterday. It is the church that I called "home" from October 10, 2004 until March 11, 2012.
Yesterday was my first time back in 15 months, 12 days...
I used to be the "Pastor"...
Now... I am the "former Pastor"...

I was a bit nervous and excited and very emotional all at the same time.
The question before me was the same question that has been asked by others year after year...
"Can you really ever go home again?"

My iWitness...

Here's my take...

Over the last 15 months I have undergone some significant changes in my life.
So have others
Over the last 15 months I find myself in a different place in my spiritual walk with God.
So have others.
Over the last 15 months I have aged in ways that are obvious and in some ways not so obvious.
So have others.
Over the last 15 months I have had a host of incredible experiences.
So have others.

When we all come together again 15 months later and expect everyone and everything to be the same as it was 15 months ago then the answer to the proposed question is a big fat "No."

However... if we all come together recognizing that things have changed, people have changed, life circumstances are different, experiences on spiritual matters have matured or digressed or disappeared altogether... if we can all come together with that perspective then the answer to the question "Can you really ever go home again?" is an emphatic "Yes!"

But things will be different you protest.
Yes, they will.
But, who ever said that "home" had to remain the same as it was in a previous existence?
"Home" is dynamic, changing, moving, flowing, evolving and transforming.

With that idea in mind I entered the First Presbyterian Church's sanctuary yesterday and found myself at "home" once again.

And let me tell you...It was wonderful! No, strike that... It was more than wonderful...
It was "Home"... and I laughed, I sang, I hugged and hugged, I cried tears of joy and sadness, I worshiped our God, I was loved upon and lavished upon with great words of grace and love and I remembered what the ol' days used to be like and I looked forward to what the days ahead might hold for my "home" church.

As I was one of the last people to walk out of the church yesterday, which was always my custom, I thought to myself...

"Yes, you really can go home again..."

And so can you...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91. 1-2)