Home Is Where the Heart Is
Jesus began his ministry by going into the countryside, to small fishing villages and little farm towns. People had lived there for generations, and many worked at the same occupations as their fathers before them. This was a way of life they had always known, and there was a sense of community and security. It was home.
But this itinerant preacher, a young man from Nazareth and the son of a carpenter, came along and stirred up these calm, quiet places. He invited young men to leave their homes, their families and their work to join him traveling throughout the countryside, teaching, preaching, and healing. He taught them the new concept of a God who offered forgiveness and a loving relationship, and how to live as individuals and communities doing God’s will. He gave them the confidence to preach and teach this good news to others, going to unfamiliar places and speaking to people they did not know.
These disciples, and many early Christians, left the safety and security of what they knew, and the only homes they probably ever had, because the power of this message was greater than their need to stay with the familiar. They gave themselves wholeheartedly to spreading the gospel as far and wide as they were able, with the faith that their listeners would be inspired to carry it even farther.
Jesus spoke of how the birds had their nests and the foxes their dens, but he had nowhere to lay his head. Although it sounds a little sad, to me it says that Jesus had his own kind of home, which was in the company of his disciples, or as the guest of those who were eager to hear the good news of God’s love and forgiveness for all. Jesus’ home was in the hearts of his followers, and we are all invited to share our hearts and homes with him.
Mary Rogers