Friday of the 4th Week of Easter
May 16, 2014 8:30am
We have all heard of the problem
of homelessness in our country.
The most recent data I could find
says that homelessness here in Harford County peaks in the month of January.
In January of 2011, there were
243 persons with no home, no place to stay or spend the night here in this
County.
In our entire country, the data
says that here are approximately 640,000 homeless persons on any given night.
Of that number, 16% or 102,000
are chronically homeless and 13% or 83,000 are military veterans.
How sad!
All of this is physical
homelessness.
One spiritual author also says
that there is personal homelessness.
We experience personal
homelessness when we feel absolutely alone, isolated, lonely, when we feel that
we do not belong anywhere.
Physical homelessness usually
includes personal homelessness.
But we can experience personal
homelessness even when we have a physical home.
Today Jesus promises an eternal
home for us.
He must have really understood
this deep human need to belong, to have a place to be.
And so he describes resurrected
and eternal life as a home for us.
It will be a home that we cannot
lose and that will satisfy our deepest need for home and belonging.
If we believe in Jesus’ promise,
and I assume we do or we would not be here, then certainly we can pray for
ourselves and others that we will reach that heavenly home.
That is a good prayer.
But I think in addition to that,
we need to do what we can to ease the homelessness of those in our midst –
whether that is physical or personal homelessness.
Our doing that is responding to
bringing Jesus’ kingdom to this earth to the extent we can do that.
Our doing that will bring Jesus
to those who are homeless and help them on their way to their heavenly home.
