One of the great things about baseball, and one of the reasons it’s a far superior sport, is that involves home. On offense, you start out at home plate, and it even looks like a house, but then you make your way out onto the bases, if you’re lucky, or good, but it’s dangerous out on the bases as there are people trying to get you out, and the original rules of baseball had the defense throwing the ball at the batter, soaking them was the term, in order to get them out. But, it’s dangerous out there, and your goal is to get back home, and to be safe, to be safe at home, and isn’t that much more like life? It’s certainly the story we also see witnessed throughout scripture, from beginning to end. It’s the expulsion from the garden of Eden, and even the angel guards to keep Adam and Eve from going back to what had been their home. It’s Abraham leaving what was his home, to go to the promised land. It’s the escape from Egypt, seeking to return home. It’s the exile into Babylon and the desire to return home. It’s the prodigal son leaving home and then seeking to return, and that’s to name just a few of the stories in scripture that surround the loss of home, or the search for home, and then there is even Jesus himself saying that the son of man has no place to lay his head.
Now we know that there were times that Jesus was living without a roof over his head, but there were other times when he was sleeping inside, including when he makes this comment about not having a place to lay his head as they had just been in Peter’s house. But there is a difference between having a place to stay and having a home. You can be homeless and still have a place to stay. I was hoping to get the testimony of a member of the congregation who lost their job and was homeless for a while, even though they always had a place to stay, but it was not their place. They were couch surfing, as its sometimes called, and were technically homeless, but our schedules couldn’t match up to make it happen. But it happens a lot. Many of the people we see on street corners are homeless, even if they might have a place to sleep that night.
The definition of home is “the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.” I think we can all understand the difference between a house and a home. A home is where we feel comfortable and safe, a place where we belong, and it can be more than just the place where we live. While Linda and I lived in Boston, we always considered New Mexico to be home. We loved Boston, but if people asked where we were from, or where we lived, we’d say we live in Boston, but we’re from New Mexico. I always wondered how long we would have to be there for that to change, and we were there for 8 years, but fortunately we didn’t have to find out because Linda said, “I want to go back home,” and so we came back to the land of enchantment. But not having a home, a place to call your own, is a difficult place to be…
I was struck when talking with Juliette about her perception of what happened, versus that of her mother, and in that she never thought they were homeless, that it was just an adventure for them. Now perhaps that was just a justification for her, or for Juliette and her brother, but it reminds us that different people can have totally different feelings about exactly the same situation, and even see them in totally different ways. We can certainly see that in scripture, especially the way that Jesus is seeing things and the way that the disciples are viewing things. The passage we heard from John is part of what is known as the farewell discourse, in which Jesus is instructing the disciples about what is to happen, and what they are to do, and the disciples ask him a series of questions, and Judas, not Iscariot, has just asked Jesus how he would be revealed only to some and not to the world, and so Jesus says that it’s about love, and that when we follow his commands that will demonstrate our love for Christ, and the Father will in turn love them, and come and make “our home with them.” So, two things. The first is that the command that we are to follow, is to love one another just as he has loved us, and we know that because that command comes at the end of chapter 13. Secondly, at the beginning of chapter 14, Jesus has said that in his father’s house there are many dwelling places, sometimes also translated many mansions. The word translated as dwelling places, is the same word translated as home in verse 23.
For the past few weeks, we have been hearing passages from John about God abiding in us, as we are called to abide in God. I love the word abide, it’s not one we use enough anymore, but it means to dwell in, and so it makes perfect sense to talk about abiding in God and God abiding in us, as we think of making a home with God. And so, notice that Jesus says that God and he will make a home with us. It’s not that we are having to go somewhere for this to happen. God is coming to us, when we open ourselves up to God, and seek to live a life of love. And so I asked Juliette where she saw God in her dealings with homelessness….
Abide in me as I abide in you, Jesus tells us. And how do we do that? By keeping Jesus word, by living into his commandment to love one another, and when we do that then God will come and make a home with us. But, we don’t do this work alone, because Jesus also says that we will receive the Holy Spirit, the advocate, and when we receive the Holy Spirit what do we receive? Power, you’ll have to remember that because Pentecost is right around the corner. I don’t mean to downplay the concerns and needs of those who are homeless, because they are serious and urgent, but I want to remind us all that we can have a home, even if we don’t have a literal home. That God is present for us, and cares for us, most especially in the worst and darkest moments of our lives, when we feel alone or lost, when we feel ill-at-ease, when we feel like we don’t have a home, because God says I will dwell with you and make a home with you. So, come and let God abide in you, live a life of love, call upon the Holy Spirit, and do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid, for God is with us when we call upon God to live and love in us. I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters. Amen.
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