Most prophets of the ancient world came to Israel with a word from God that went something like this: I have good news and some bad news. The bad news is that your life has been quite less than an inspiring example of what it is to be a child of God. In fact, you have forgotten how to be a child of God. You do not worship God. You have not cared for the land. You have forgotten to take care of the poor. You have forgotten to take care of the widows. You have forgotten to love the aliens in your land. In short, you have refused to care about the things that God cares about. Because of this, God is going to utterly destroy you. You will have the land you love taken away from you and you will be forced to live as an alien in another land. But, the good news is, God is forgiving and will restore your land really soon!
That right there, in short, is what many of the prophets declared to the Israelites. Jeremiah is slightly different. He too comes with a word of God that says, "I have good news and some bad news," he continues with a list of sins such as not worshipping God, forgetting about the land, etc., he too declairs that because of this, God will utterly destroy the people, they will have the land they love taken away from them, and they will be forced to live as an alien in another land. But, he continues, "The good news is, well there is no good news. God is not going to let you see your home again for generations, so you might as well file your papers, jump through your hoops, work through your red tape, and become a citizen of the land of which you are a part."
No more apartments for the people of God. They are a people who will not get their homes back for years. No more apartments. They might as well build new homes in their new land.
Now, some of the people of Israel did eventually get their homes back. But, others took God very seriously and never moved back to Israel. They had gotten rid of their apartments, bought some land, poured a good foundation, and never left their new home. I am not so certain that all Christians have followed God’s advice and put up their houses. It seems to me that a lot of Christians tend to live in spiritual apartments.
Apartments are OK for a while, do not get me wrong. There are some wonderful apartments out there. You can decorate them quite nice with walls of kindness, tables of friendship, and an extra bed of peace and restoration. Some friends from seminary were very good at making apartments look amazing. They had no problems literally sinking thousands of dollars into a place that was not their own. New, modern lights hanging from the ceiling, new walls…away with the paneling, hello to drywall…, new paint to brighten up the place, new furniture to make the place home feeling; in essence, they would make the apartment look like they had decided to set their roots down for good. But, if you searched hard enough, there was always one room untouched. There was always one room, in the back, that was not repaired. It was the room that held the boxes. Stacked to the ceiling, this room held all of the boxes needed for moving. And, move they did. They still move quite often. They never did have a home, though it looked like one. In the end, it was just an apartment.
Though you can make apartments look great, the one problem is that you never get around to doing the things that home-owners do, living life right here, right now. When you live in apartments, it is hard to make a commitment to something or someone because, "who knows, I just may need to move."
Why care about the neighbors too intensely? You will just have to say “goodbye” eventually. So, in apartments you have “walls of kindness,” but you lack the walls of grace that would permit you to truly care and serve the neighbor.
Why make a deep connection to anyone? So you offer a “table of friendship” in your dining area, but it is not a nice oak welcome table that is able to seat friends and enemies alike.
How involved should I get in anything, when I will just have to quit soon anyway? So, you have a bed of peace and reconciliation for yourself, but it is one that does not need to be slept in very often. It is in the extra bedroom. You never get involved in anything so deeply in the first place to even need to use the bed of peace and reconciliation. You bought it just in case, other Christians have them after-all, but it still looks new. It has not been used.
The thing is, apartments are wonderful for the short term, but God asks you to go deeper. No longer live in apartments. Instead, God says,
"Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."
In other words, where-ever you are, make a home. Invest in the place where you are. Love the people. Actually, care to know those around. Welcome the stranger and enemy and invite them to your Oak table. Invest in the welfare of where you are making your home. Literally invest with money in those around you. Where you are right now is a gift from God also. God is not always in the excitement of the future; no boxes needed. Where you are right now is a gift from God.
Consider that Jesus’ home was where-ever he was. Jesus made deep roots where-ever he went. He invested in people’s health. He got in the middle of injustice and forgave the adulterous woman. He defended the tax collectors, and aliens, and sinners and ate with them at tables of grace. Jesus put the cross deep into the ground and gave grace to the world, right where he was. And, his followers have the same gift; the ability to make a true home right where they are. This is not easy though. I think that fear often motivates many Christians to live in their spiritual apartments, being nice and kind but not actually investing true grace into any place. This is not easy stuff. But, Christians are not wimps either. They have the grace of God with them. They have the Holy Spirit backing them. They have no reason to fear making a true home right where they are.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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