Dec 14th Homeless

Ive spent a good chunk of this week with a team of people from church renovating a council house for a young couple who have been struggling with some very difficult circumstances and find themselves having to move out of their privately rented house just ten days before Christmas.   Before I met them the only thing I knew was that they were not from the UK and had no family around to support them.  And that they had a young family.     I am ashamed to confess that my first thought was that they would be refugees or migrants from somewhere like Syria, that they probably wouldnt speak English and that they might take the help that we were offering for granted.   I could not have been more wrong.    They are from Spain.  Both speak very good English.  They are employed.   They definitely are deeply grateful for the help we are offering them and are keen to muck in and do whatever they can within the confines of looking after children and working.   They are stressed and overwhelmed by a recent family tragedy followed by a need to move house.  It has been a joy to be able to help them by removing the nicotine of the previous owner from the walls and ceilings with a fresh coat of crisp white paint.

Yesterday afternoon driving home from a stint of painting I heard an article on the news about the dramatic increase in homelessness in the UK.  And it made me think of Jesus being born in a stable and then having to be a refugee in Egypt - presumably with no fixed and permanent home for quite a long time.  And then I realised that not only was Jesus born into a somewhat precarious situation in terms of not having a roof over His head, but He actually chose to be homeless as an adult.

I wonder why He decided to live a wandering, homeless life.  Presumably He didn't need to do that.  He could have lived in one place and travelled back and forth. Commuted  😊  But it seems He chose to wander the highways and byways, staying on friend's sofas, falling asleep in boats.  As I pondered this today I had a sudden thought.  Maybe having a home wasn't important to Jesus.  And perhaps it shouldn't be as important to us as it has become over recent years.

Here in the UK home ownership is still the goal of most people and renting is somehow seen as a ' less good option'.  Being in local authority housing is seen by many as being almost shameful.  And being homeless is, of course, deemed to be terrible and tragic.  Where did such a ridiculous hierarchy of value judgements come from?   Why should it be better to be up to your neck in mortgage debt than living simply in a caravan with no debts?   Who dictated that owning property gives status?

It is ironic that I am having these thoughts today as we currently own four properties and a building site and two of those houses are up for sale!!!!   What would I do if God said ' sell everything you have and give it to the poor and follow me into a lifestyle of owning nothing and having nowhere to call home' ?  The heart part of me would want to say ' sure Lord, no problem'.   But the head would really struggle.

Of the four properties we own, three are rented out at below market rents to people who need a home.   We have always considered that providing people with good quality affordable houses is part of our work for God rather than a for-profit business we are running for gain.  ( the fact is we barely seem to break even once mortgage payments and insurances and vacant periods are  covered)  But nevertheless, we have way way way more assets than most people.  Are we storing up treasure on earth?  We certainly are thinking about what we might be leaving our boys into the future.  But is that God's way of thinking or man's ?    Several years ago I remember being super challenged by a friend of mine who had actively rejected saving into a pension plan because he felt God say that He would look after him in his old age and that he should put his trust in Jesus rather than in a pension scheme.  

It's hard isn't it?  This following Jesus thing.  

I've got a friend who is a monk.  He owns nothing.  He receives a very small amount of money from his order so that he can live.  He has spent decades praying for the peace of Northern Ireland and for healing for the sick.  He is an ordinary bloke with lots of human failings but he is anointed and has authority and walks very closely with Jesus.  I wonder if part of the reason his life is so focused and fruitful is because he is totally unhindered by stuff.  

So today I am challenging us all just to have a little think about the things which we prioritise as important.  Especially our homes and our future plans for homes.   Let us bring those things before God and just double check that our attitudes are righteous, that we are not holding onto anything as a ' right',  that we are deeply grateful for what we do have and not envious of what we don't, and that we do not judge anyone as being any better or worse than us because of the house they do or don't live in.