We think of homelessness as not having a roof over our heads, yet the invitation of Jesus is always to look deeper. Let us reflect together on other aspects of both “home” and “homelessness.” It may enable us to love our neighbor with greater intention and clarity.
Beyond a Roof: Rethinking ‘Home’ and ‘Homelessness’
There were many years I did not spend Christmas with my family of origin. It was too far to travel and I had responsibilities at church. My solution was to have a Christmas meal at my house. I invited others who did not have family or were unable to travel, including a couple of worshipers at the church who were experiencing homelessness. I suggested 2:00pm for our meal time. Martin and Rebecca (not their real names) suggested 5:00pm. I checked with the others, and 5:00pm it was!
At Christmas dinner I was amazed that Martin, usually voracious, ate a modest portion of food. Rebecca did the same. When I asked whether they wanted more, they said they had already had one Christmas dinner at the Sharing Place, a program that provides free lunch every day where they ate. They wanted to have Christmas dinner with all the people they knew there. Martin and Rebecca did not have a roof over their heads, but they had a huge community of people who shared their plight. They were delighted to come to my home, and we made it a custom each year. However, we always ate in the evening so they could go be with their friends. Martin and Rebecca did not have “homes,” but they had “homies.”
The Home of Jesus: The Need for Friendship and Solidarity
Once, when someone asked Jesus whether they could join his entourage, Jesus replied, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” But Jesus was not homeless. He dwelt in the Father, and the Father dwelt in him. He was surrounded by disciples and people who sought out his healing and teaching. Jesus also dwelt with us, God with humanity. As Eugene Peterson translates it in The Message, and he “moved into the neighborhood.”[1]
Caring for people experiencing homelessness is not just providing shelter. Truly loving others by being friends and building community is also important. Might people who have physical homes be in need of our reaching out and building community? Might we be able to find ways to befriend people whose state of mind means they will never accept shelter, but might benefit from our time and solidarity to the extent they can accept it? Might we ourselves actually be experiencing a degree of “homelessness” by missing community and friendship?
Finding Home in the Parish Church
Someone ought to invent a way to address this situation. Oh wait, they have – they have invented the parish church. The parish church can be a community that invites us to “dwell” with God and one another. It reminds me of the spiritual practice of hospitality. It is about more than roofs. It is about Jesus. It is about hearts. It is about friendship.
[1] “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” John 1:14a, The Message
John Hamilton
The Very Rev. John M. Hamilton (he/they) serves as the Georgia Mountains Convocation Representative on the ECF Board of Directors and is the Rector of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Episcopal Church (Dahlonega). He is also the chaplain of the Episcopal Campus Ministry at the University of North Georgia Dahlonega Campus, the dean of the Georgia Mountains Convocation of the Diocese of Atlanta, Secretary of the Community Helping Place Board, and secretary of the Dahlonega Lumpkin County Ministerial Association. John was born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1962, and has experienced life in many diverse places: Poitiers, France and Oxford, England where he studied in university, Honduras where he was a missionary elementary school teacher, and diverse U.S. cities, Memphis, Atlanta, and the Metropolitan New York City area where he lived longer than any other single place. He was ordained to priesthood in the Episcopal Church in 2005. His goal in ministry is to help those who work to uncover the relevance of spirituality in general, and following Jesus in particular, as relevant in a world which should and will constantly be changing. Learn more about the ECF Board of Directors.