The Journey 249: Redefining home and family
Read: 2 Kings 4: 8-17
Every child needs a home. Home represents so many things in a person's life. It is in the context of a home, in the context of a family that we understand the true meaning of the most powerful words like, love, attachments, relationship, security and so on. But in the world of today, due to different circumstances, there are countless children who do not have anyone to care for them. I found an interesting news item written by Brittney R. Villalva, in the Christian Post. The writer talks about a unique and a wonderful initiative done by a small church named “ Bennett Chapel Baptist” located at the Shelby County, Texas. The church is led by Pastor W.C. Martin and his wife Donna. The members of this church call themselves as “common ordinary people”. One day one of the members of the church was grieving over her mother and that when she realized that there are so many children who are also grieving, not because they lost their mother, but because they don't have one. She felt that God was asking her to adopt a child. Though she had two children of her own, she went ahead and adopted four new foster children. The church also decided to go ahead with this parental mission care programme. The title of the mission was “ One day at a time”. The whole purpose of this mission is that we change the world one heart at a time. The church encouraged other members to adopt foster children so that the whole mission of changing the world, one heart at a time, becomes more fruitful. Today that little church with the common ordinary people have adopted 76 foster children thus giving them not only homes but hope to move on in life. I think this church of ordinary common people have showed that home does not have any boundaries. Being members of the Marthoma Church, people who pride in their aristocracy and in its historical and faith tradition, I think we need to rethink as to how we also can also try to do our mite in changing one heart at time. For this to happen we may need to redefine our concept of “My Home” and “My Family”.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from 2 Kings 4: 8-17. This portion is all about how a shunnamite woman, even when she goes through crisis redefines our understanding of home and hospitality. She was going through crisis because she did not have any son and moreover her husband was also old. But personal crisis does not deter her from doing good and being hospitable. She sees prophet Elisha as he passed Shunem, and she tells her husband that since she perceives that this person is holy man of God, she wants to show hospitality to Elisha by preparing little walled upper chamber, setting a bed for him, a table and a lamp stand [ 2 Kings 4: 9,10]. Here is this shunnamite woman though her home is rocked by personal tragedy is ready to open up her home so that the prophet Elisha could feel at home. Elisha accepts hospitality of the woman without knowing what she is going through, and that is when Gehazi tells Elisha about the crisis that the woman faces in life. Elisha calls the woman and promises her that next year at this time, she will bear a son. The word of God says that the word of the prophet came true as the woman conceived a son next year. Here is a woman who is ready to broaden the boundaries of her home so that even when she is suffering from personal crisis, she is willing to give hope and hospitality to others. In a world of selfishness let us consciously broaden the boundaries of our home so that our home is not only a home for us but home for other, home where others could also feel and enjoy love, fellowship and hospitality.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Every child needs a home. Home represents so many things in a person's life. It is in the context of a home, in the context of a family that we understand the true meaning of the most powerful words like, love, attachments, relationship, security and so on. But in the world of today, due to different circumstances, there are countless children who do not have anyone to care for them. I found an interesting news item written by Brittney R. Villalva, in the Christian Post. The writer talks about a unique and a wonderful initiative done by a small church named “ Bennett Chapel Baptist” located at the Shelby County, Texas. The church is led by Pastor W.C. Martin and his wife Donna. The members of this church call themselves as “common ordinary people”. One day one of the members of the church was grieving over her mother and that when she realized that there are so many children who are also grieving, not because they lost their mother, but because they don't have one. She felt that God was asking her to adopt a child. Though she had two children of her own, she went ahead and adopted four new foster children. The church also decided to go ahead with this parental mission care programme. The title of the mission was “ One day at a time”. The whole purpose of this mission is that we change the world one heart at a time. The church encouraged other members to adopt foster children so that the whole mission of changing the world, one heart at a time, becomes more fruitful. Today that little church with the common ordinary people have adopted 76 foster children thus giving them not only homes but hope to move on in life. I think this church of ordinary common people have showed that home does not have any boundaries. Being members of the Marthoma Church, people who pride in their aristocracy and in its historical and faith tradition, I think we need to rethink as to how we also can also try to do our mite in changing one heart at time. For this to happen we may need to redefine our concept of “My Home” and “My Family”.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from 2 Kings 4: 8-17. This portion is all about how a shunnamite woman, even when she goes through crisis redefines our understanding of home and hospitality. She was going through crisis because she did not have any son and moreover her husband was also old. But personal crisis does not deter her from doing good and being hospitable. She sees prophet Elisha as he passed Shunem, and she tells her husband that since she perceives that this person is holy man of God, she wants to show hospitality to Elisha by preparing little walled upper chamber, setting a bed for him, a table and a lamp stand [ 2 Kings 4: 9,10]. Here is this shunnamite woman though her home is rocked by personal tragedy is ready to open up her home so that the prophet Elisha could feel at home. Elisha accepts hospitality of the woman without knowing what she is going through, and that is when Gehazi tells Elisha about the crisis that the woman faces in life. Elisha calls the woman and promises her that next year at this time, she will bear a son. The word of God says that the word of the prophet came true as the woman conceived a son next year. Here is a woman who is ready to broaden the boundaries of her home so that even when she is suffering from personal crisis, she is willing to give hope and hospitality to others. In a world of selfishness let us consciously broaden the boundaries of our home so that our home is not only a home for us but home for other, home where others could also feel and enjoy love, fellowship and hospitality.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla