We all want to be home with our families for Christmas. In 1979, I wished I were home in Taiwan, but it was too distant and costly. I was in my second year as a visa student at the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and while all of the other students in my residence at East House in Knox College had gone home, I was left alone. I did receive an invitation to a friend's house for Christmas dinner, but I chose to be alone that year, for I was a bit overwhelmed with grief over the loss of my mother earlier that year to celebrate with others. As Christmas Eve arrived, I began looking for a fine restaurant for my solo celebration dinner. But what do you know? Nowhere was open except McDonald's in nearby uptown Toronto!

Strangely enough, the hamburger didn't taste as good as it normally did, and the Christmas carols over McDonald's speakers didn't sound as joyous as they were meant to be. I had never realized until that moment what loneliness was about and what that feeling did to a person. The more I stayed, the lonelier I became. Then soon, tears were streaming down my cheeks as I yearned for home. "That's it," I told myself. "This is no way to spend my Christmas Eve. I want to go out and look for anybody I can find to celebrate with." So I wrapped up the unfinished Big Mac, threw it in the garbage can, walked out of the door, and landed on Yonge Street.

I looked at my watch, and it was around 6:00 p.m. What really surprised me was how this busiest street in town suddenly had become so empty and quiet. There was neither a single soul walking nor a single taxi running, and not even a bum wandering around. Only when I strolled further to Dundas Street did I find one, a homeless man, who was half-drunk, sitting and sleeping on the sidewalk. So I woke him up and told him, "Merry Christmas, man! Wake up and let's celebrate Christmas at my place." "Who are you? Santa Claus of some sort?" he asked. "Ho, ho, ho!" I said. "It doesn't matter who I am. Just come with me — my treat." He mustered himself up and walked with me. I took him to Chinatown, and luckily, there were some stores still open. I bought a lot of food and drink, enough for the two of us to celebrate Christmas. That night, two lonely people spent Christmas together, and it turned out to be one of the most joyous Christmas Eves I've ever had.

What is it that causes us to yearn for home during Christmas? Tradition? Maybe. For sure, many of our best memories are built around being home at Christmas, and it does give us a sense of belonging and happiness with our family. But there is something more than this. It has to do with a deeper sense of "home" that we feel at Christmastime. Christmas is built around the story of a man and woman who had a Child away from home. The Child was even more away from "home" than His parents, because He had left His heavenly home to be born in a mere stable in Bethlehem. Later, for safety, they became refugees in Egypt.

God purposely sent Jesus to earth to experience a homeless and refugee life. Why? Because He wanted all of the homeless people and refugees in the world to know that He, too, had been there and done that. He came all the way from heaven to make such a statement in order to bring hope to the poor people in the world. Such is the good news of Christmas that people who have no home can have a home in His kingdom.

In today's Scripture, He told us, "In my Father's house are many rooms … I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am you may also be." (John 14:2-3 RSV) We are not going to stay here forever, and He has prepared a home for us in heaven after we die. All we need to do is to take Him as our Lord and Saviour. God intends for the people of the world to yearn for their eternal home, and "home for Christmas" to me is but a rehearsal here on earth of such a belief.

Prayer: Dear God, You are so great and humble that You sent Your Son, Jesus our Lord, to be born in a lowly manger rather than in an elegant palace. Then You announced such news of great joy by the angels to the poor shepherds first, in hope that the poor, the homeless, and the refugees would be able to yearn for home in Your kingdom through their faith in Christ. Hallelujah! We praise You and thank You for the great hope You bring to us in the birth of Christ. Amen.

Just a few months after my arrival at my first posting on a native reservation out on the prairies of Canada in 1987, I was informed that I was to lead the three nights' wake service of a young man who was killed in a gang fight. Then on the third night, while the family and I were discussing the funeral the next day, one of the elder brothers of the deceased person, a rising native movie star in Hollywood, arrived late and asked his parents, "Who's officiating at the funeral?" His mother pointed at me with a smile and said, "He is — our new pastor." He looked at me and said, "No, I don't want him. I want Rev. "X" [my predecessor] to do it."

I had never been humiliated like that in my entire life. His parents were quite shocked by his rude behaviour, but it was too little, too late, for them to undo the embarrassment. I just gave them an "I understand" look with a courtesy smile and left silently. But I went home that night feeling deeply wounded. Well, I am young and inexperienced, and, after all, it's a big funeral anyway, and I'm not even sure if I can handle it. I tried to comfort myself, but down deep inside I was furious with misery and hatred. During my struggle, however, I was more afflicted with disappointment about my pride, than about the insult.

As I prayed to God for strength to overcome my pride, suddenly I began to visualize the scene of the Lord Jesus on Good Friday vividly. I saw the Roman soldiers mocking at Him, spitting at Him on His face, kicking Him, hitting Him with straps, and then nailing Him on the cross to die slowly, horribly, and painfully. How terrible the way He had to suffer that day, and what was my pain in comparison with His? Really, it was nothing but a mosquito's bite.

What amazed me most was the fact that Jesus neither showed anger nor cursed those who hurt and humiliated Him. Instead, He said to God, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34 NIV) That's why He is called the Prince of Peace. The world was hostile to God, but God wanted to make peace by hanging His Son on the cross. He overcame evil with good, and that is what true peace is all about. Peace is not from destroying our enemies but conquering them with good.

I thanked God for showing me how to deal with humiliation and hurt. Peace in my case must begin with me by forgiving the person who wronged me. So I prayed to God for strength to support the family with all my heart, regardless of what happened to me, and I asked God to comfort the mourners.

Two hours later, I received a phone call from the family saying that Rev. "X" could not come, and asked me if I could do the funeral. "Certainly," I replied, "I'll be deeply honoured to do it." I stayed up late that night and promised God that I would do it excellently and do it all for His sake.

Consequently, the family was deeply touched and grateful for my kind response, and although the elder brother never did apologize to me verbally, he exhibited it in his actions. He thanked me and proudly introduced me to every one of his friends as his favourite new pastor and buddy. I had been so close to losing my composure and thus my peace during the experience. Had I followed my sense of resentment, I would have done the funeral with little care or even unlovingly, and the family would have understood it and moved on, but I would never have received that kind of respect, gratefulness, and love from them.

James 4:10 – Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (KJV)

Prayer: Dear God, while the world was hostile to You, by right, You could have just wiped them off the face of the earth, but instead, You chose to make peace with them by allowing Christ, Your Son, to be hurt, humiliated, and then die horribly on the cross. The cross is the price You paid for peace, and that's often difficult for us to follow, but grant us enough of the beauty and power of humility that You may lift us up. May we learn by Christ's example that peace indeed begins inside each of us. In His name, we pray. Amen.

On my way home, I heard Louis Armstrong singing that lovely tune, "What a wonderful world" on the radio. I hummed along and cheerfully said, "Right on, Louis! Sing it out loud, for it sure is a wonderful world and a perfect day for tennis!" I must have been so mesmerized by Armstrong's beautiful, husky singing voice with that great number that I forgot what I was doing. No sooner had I sung along a few lines than I heard the siren of the police car behind me. What's wrong? What's happening? I pulled over. A female police officer approached me. I asked her what seemed to be the problem. She said, "You were driving 75 kilometres an hour in a 50 kilometre-per-hour zone. Can I have your licence, please?" No kidding? I handed it to her, and while she was writing the ticket in her car, I heard Louis Armstrong still singing, "What a wonderful world".

"Be quiet, Louis," I said out of my anger. I was in no mood to enjoy the song any longer. The officer returned and handed me the ticket with a $118.73 fine. The world suddenly turned grey and was not so wonderful any more. But what's so ironic about that day was that Armstrong's voice, singing, "What a wonderful world", kept ringing in my ear for the rest of the day. I could not understand why I couldn't get that tune out of my mind. As I thought it over during the day, something dawned on me. Could it be God telling me through Armstrong that the world is still wonderful even if I got a speeding ticket? The more I pondered, the more the song began to make sense to me. Armstrong seemed to tell me, "Andrew, God wants to say hello to you and to tell you that He loves you through that police officer, because the world is wonderful if you play by the rules. That speeding ticket is just a way of reminding you that you are His child and that you should always behave like one. It is out of His love that He corrects you." The Bible says it well:

Hebrews 12:5b-6 – My child, pay attention when the Lord corrects you, and do not be discouraged when he rebukes you. Because the Lord corrects everyone he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a child. (GNB)

Surely, this world would be wonderful if everyone in the world would behave. But sometimes we misbehave either intentionally or unintentionally. The truth is that we all need to be reminded how to behave.

Behaving, to me, arises out of the attitude that Armstrong had in his song: seeing the world with an eye of gratefulness, appreciating green trees and red roses blooming, perceiving the beauty of the world, being thankful for love expressed through friends shaking hands, and in my case, welcoming God's discipline through the speeding ticket for the sake of making me a better person.

Prayer: Dear God, we thank You for treating us as Your children, and like children, we need Your constant discipline. Give us the courage to accept Your correction, especially when we tend to be led astray, and enable us to appreciate it, since You do it out of Your love. Help us always to enjoy the things around us, and bless us with the ability to see the wonderful world we live in. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.