We Are All Homeless

“We're all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us. The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless - just workin our way toward home.” ~Denver Moore

We are all just regular folks. How simple a statement that is. Rich or poor, we are all walking the same earth and will face the same end. How we meet that end may be different but we all meet it all the same. The balance of bank accounts and the neighborhoods that we live in may separate us here on earth but when we all die, and we all will most certainly die, we will be brought before the Father to make an account of the things we did while on this Earth and be held to account for the way we did them. 

Jesus said in Luke 18:18-30 (ESV):

'And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God." And Peter said, "See, we have left our homes and followed you." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." '

I referenced the verses above not to point out a separation between rich and poor but to show how hard things can be for us when we strive for the things of this world rather than striving for the things Christ would have us work for while we are here. I am the world's worst at this. Go and look in my closet and you will find name brand everything, Ralph Lauren, Under Armor, Nike, Justin Boots, Timberlands, Dr. Martens, and I could go on and on, all money I could have spent helping further the kingdom. In recent years I have spent more time worrying about when the new iPhone is going to come out than I have if my neighbors are doing ok. When I am gone, none of that will matter to God. God doesn't care what kind of truck I drive, what kind of shirts I wear on my back, or what kind of phone I carried while I was on earth. (Can you say conviction? I know I can...)

What Christ cares about is how I took care of those less fortunate that I am. What Christ cares about is how I used the things He gave me i.e. my income, to further the kingdom at home and around the world. What Christ cares about is did I avoid the gaze of a homeless man or woman when I was walking down the street or did I engage them as a person and a child of God. As I have read and re-read the above scripture, I have a better understanding about what Christ meant when He said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 

We live in a country that abundance overflows. Don't believe it? The average median income for someone living in the United State is $57,320 per year. In comparison, the average Ugandan family only brings home $19,984 and what about Bosnia $22,509 or how about Vietnam $16,131. We live in a prosperous country but we ignore the poor and suffering in our own communities not to mention those in far away countries. Still think it is easy to have wealth and enter into heaven? While we worry about the clothes we wear, what kind of car we will drive, or where our children will attend school or college, somewhere in the world there is a Ugandan mother with Aids, simply worrying about how to feed her starving children. There is a student in Bosnia that is set to graduate high school but won't ever realize the dream of furthering his education because his family simply can't afford it. And there is a small girl in a rural village in Vietnam that will never know anything but back-breaking labor and hardship or worse. 

Please don't take me wrong...I am not saying we need a socialist society or anything like that. I am very thankful to live in a democratic, capitalistic society where anyone can be anything...where a mechanics son can grow up to be whatever he can dream of...what I am saying is that we are spoiled rotten to the point that we think simply writing a check will take care of it. The average church struggles to get enough help in compassionate ministries and even more struggle to meet their commitments to our missionaries overseas. We have to show up! We have to be available! We have to reach a hand down to those that we claim to love! We have to give shelter to those that have none and food to those that we know do without! We have to allow God to break us spiritually and restore our hearts for those that don't know His grace or love. If we are to be the body of Christ, then we have to act like it. If we are to claim ourselves as Christian then we have to "sell everything and distribute it to the poor." We have to build up a storehouse in heaven rather than pad our bank accounts and acquire earthly wealth that in the end will still leave us hollow and walking away sad. 

Just like Denver Moore said above, “We're all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us. The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless - just workin our way toward home.”  

~So which way are you walking home?~