where Jesus is

The other day, one of the supervisors at my internship made an impactful comment.

"Jesus was a transient you know...and by choice!"

He then went on to reference a passage from the Bible that's been on my mind a lot lately.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:57-58 ESV)

Jesus hardly ever went where people wanted or expected Him to go.

He slept in places like the back of boats (Mark 4:38), and out on mountains (Luke 21:37-38).

He did not please the religious leaders.

He did not even please his family (Mark 3:20-21).

The folks that loved Him most were the ones who society loved the least.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them."  (Luke 15: 1-2) 

The folks that gathered around Him were the ones who no one wanted to touch.

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,  for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.  (Mark 3: 7-10)

Jesus chose a lifestyle of suffering - of nomadic service - so that He could know us all so much more deeply; so that when He said "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28 ESV) He would know exactly what those burdens felt like. 

The more my unhoused neighbors share their stories and days with me, the more I see Jesus' life. 

Like Jesus, they have taught me more about selfless service and radical generosity than any people I've ever met. 

To be offered food by a dear one who received a hot meal from a shelter moments before is unbelievably humbling. To be given a smile and a thoughtful gift by one who sleeps exposed on the street is mind boggling. To have life and stories of God's personal faithfulness spoken over you by one who depends on social services for nourishment is eye-opening. 

Perhaps the point is that what's worth giving has more to do with the heart of the giver for the receiver and much less to do with what's given at all. In this way - whatever price tags we may assign to our gifts are allowed to melt away. 

What price tag can we put on time? What price tag can we put on a song? What price tag can we put on relational vulnerability? 

Aren't these the things that last in the end anyways?

Jesus did not give us each an personal gift from a department store wrapped in crinkly paper. But He did give us His entire self. 

Perhaps the point is that when we make our Home in the Trinity, we are able to remember that everything we have is a gift, and nothing we have is more important than loving another. 

May we learn to live a life of radical empathy and generosity from the life of Jesus, and from those whose lives emulate Him so clearly.