WEEK THREE = You + Me + Jesus: WAITING for Home
Reading: Luke 9:57-62
For a year in my mid-twenties I didn’t have a proper address. I strung together house-sitting, dog-sitting and cat-sitting gigs. I backpacked in Europe for months. I lived with friends and friends’ parents.
I owned little. I lived richly.
During that time I learned some formative lessons…such as people’s pets shouldn’t eat better than you, even if they can; don’t take the Portuguese night train renown for drug deals, even if it is cheaper; be suspicious of Greek all-inclusive resorts for $19, even if they do have showers. Beyond those gems I discovered a couple of ideas about home…ones I’m still endeavoring to embrace.
However before I reflect on those, let’s look at Jesus’ days without a proper address. Jesus lived life on the move, sheltering with friends and strangers during his three years of public ministry.
In Luke 9:58 Jesus responds to someone interested in following him by saying, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
It’s so curious thinking about the Son of Man/Son of God being essentially homeless. Jesus not only left the splendor of heaven, he didn’t even have the comfort and security of a home on earth.
Jesus wasn’t on an anti-home-ownership crusade. However, he did challenge the notion of comfort and security usurping his plans for people.
In the next couple of verses in Luke we see Jesus invite two people to follow him; both request a rain-check due to reasonable reasons. One needs to bury his dad and the other wants to say goodbye to family.
Jesus’ response seems harsh, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Regret, distraction, lack of follow through—these aren’t helpful approaches when it comes to a mission to rescue the world.
Comfort and security can be gifts but not when they hold us back or entice us to look back and miss something greater.
Jesus was driven by a desire for people not to miss out on the best gifts God had–the gifts of relationship with him and service to others.
Anything that got in the way of that needed to wait…including a home.
While Jesus was well acquainted with waiting for home, I suspect it wasn’t easy for him. He had experienced a sense of home like no other on earth. He knew a place where unconditional love, complete understanding and extravagant generosity were the norm.
It was with great joy he promised his disciples the night before his crucifixion that he would go to heaven and prepare a home for them, a true home. But he had to accomplish his mission first. It was a mission of extraordinary sacrifice—striped of comfort and security. It was what had to be done for us to experience home too.
REFLECTION EN ROUTE: Where does your sense of comfort and security come from at the moment? How does comfort and security draw you closer to God currently? How might they be holding you back from doing what God has for you? If you knew perfect comfort and security were in store for you at the End of the Day, in what ways might you risk more to obey God now?
Here’s a confession: I’ve acquired a lot since those backpacking days. I have a heightened concern with my bank account. I have a deeper need for security. I like comfort much more. I don’t think those are all bad desires. But when I put my attention on those things more than on the adventure of following Jesus in the moment, I can find myself battling regret, distractions or lack of follow-through. Ugh!
I mentioned I learned a few ideas about home while going a year without a proper place of my own. These ideas still challenge me…and entice me to live more free:
- Gratitude can make any place feel like home. I decided to say “thank you” when I witnessed a sunset, or encountered a work of art, or hiked a lovely hill. I tried to express gratitude for every beautiful sight, and with that “thank you” I made the place mine.
- Being on the look out for sacred encounters expands your sense of family. I met extraordinary people along the way who have influenced my life, even up until today.
- Curiosity is a form of hospitality. Even if I didn’t have money or much to share with others, I could ask questions and listen to stories about their lives. That was a gift I could give, and the sharing and the hearing enriched us both.
- God goes with me—everywhere. What transcended international borders and a hundred different beds during that time was the rhythm of Scriptures and prayers and God in the midst. That remains, and I am so grateful.
REFLECTION EN ROUTE: Consider a time in your life when you had less, and were perhaps more free. What did you learn? How might any of those lessons influence how you understand home? What did that season teach you about trust in God?
“Spirituality is the art of home-coming.” — John O’Donohue