Hi! This is my first entry…
At first, I was going to write a blog about the apathy I was experiencing just a few hours ago. I knew the source of my apathy. So with hopeful faith, I laid my head on the table in front of me, my arms stretched out on the table, my eyes closed towards the wooden coffee table. And I just, simply put, talked to him about what I was going through… And I told Him that I needed Him. With God’s grace, which continues to surprise me, I was able to overcome that dreadful feeling.
First, I would like to share with you the sermon that has inspired me to write this blog (and I hope many more inspirations will come). This is the link to Patricia Hill’s sermon, titled A Voice From Heaven. In it she discusses the homeless that her youth group was serving. What stuck out from me was this excerpt about a homeless man named Mario:
“His parents were deceased. He was an only child. Unable to care for himself, and having no family to care for him, he became homeless and lived on the streets for the next 30 years.”
After reading this, I instantly felt so grateful to have my family. We’re not the model family, but we still had each other, despite our hard times. I can’t imagine living my life without a family, blood related or not. To not have such a rooted foundation in your life can never really be sympathized. I believe, that something this profound can only be experienced if we were to ever understand it.
Anyway, back onto the topic.
The word homeless struck me the most.
What does it mean to be homeless in our world today? We may think of it simply as someone who doesn’t have a house or apartment, or even a part of an apartment! Perhaps their family is too far away to help them; perhaps they no longer have a family. Perhaps no one, including their friends, would help them in times of need. Perhaps, even, they refused help from their family and friends. That, I do not know, and will not claim to know. Everyone has their own story.
But even with a physical house, a roof, walls, stove top, etc., can someone be homeless?
There are two very similar words that mean different things – house and home. They both discuss where you live or where you grew up. To get down to the nitty gritty, a house is just the physical place where you grew up, or are growing up in. It’s where you go to when you’re done with school or work. You drive to your house to rest – to sleep. Its boundaries are defined by private property lines…
But a home is something greater than that. A home is some place where you feel you belong, no matter what kind of person you are.
My family knows all the bad parts of me. My sister and I used to fight violently a lot over the smallest things. I can’t remember who started it or ended it but it doesn’t matter anymore. My family still took us in at the end of our fights, even with disappointed and punishing voices. I also had days were my family would just get on my nerves and I would even push them away for no good reason at all. They still told me to go eat dinner, and to just get over myself. And even when I pushed them away, they never pushed me back. Sometimes they just got too frustrated with my attitude – but in a day or two we were our normal reckless selves.
This is the type of home that I think God wants for all of us, where we can really be who we are, share who we want to be, and to see with clear eyes the true selves of others… And despite the storms, trials, and tribulations, they will understand and still call us their family members.
As this verse states:
“And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the Promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians 1:13
Just like my family, Jesus knows the bad in me. He sees me fall from His grace. He sees me walk away from Him every day. He stumbles back when I push Him away. But at the end of the day, He still calls me over to tell me to “go eat dinner with us”. “Spend time with us”. For He is my family… Not only is God my Father and creator of me, Jesus is my Saviour. The man who saved my very soul from terrible death, so that WE could live again – what sacrifice. Thank you, Lord. The very least I can do is to be with him, to love Him just as He loves me.
And we’ve all heard the sermon about community and how we are all socializing and living with God’s family. Each one of us, followers of Christ or not, are His children. Just like Patricia’s sermon states, we can – and do – lose faith in the word of truth. When we block out God’s voice, we lose our way because where is the love then? Only when we believe in God and His love do we really act out love.
So what do we do to our fellow family members? Do we, as God wants, accept people as they are and love them anyway? Or do we hold high expectations of them and only criticize them (internally) when they fall short of our assumptions? Do we exclude them? As for expectations… They allow us to become better people but what matters more than the destination is the journey to it. How we treat people when they fall short shows whether we are a family or not.
Family includes. A home should be inclusive. God gave us the earth as our house, and these people as our home. We are not neighbors – we are family and we should treat each other as such.
Of course this is asking a lot from us. We judge quickly, we act out of self-interest instead of love – it’s a continuous battle, but just don’t forget! Put your hearts and minds in the right places and the rest will follow.
