Homeless

Stanley Spencer

Third Sunday After Pentecost

June 30, 2019

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

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." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:51-62

Homeless

One face set towards Jerusalem

a band of dusty travelers all

no place to call home, no rest stop

only weary feet and aching hearts

bound together with a lasting hope

a new world on the horizon.

Rejected, despised at home

turned away at many villages

religious leaders plotting to kill

the Incarnate One among walking

offering love and healing to all

no place to lay down and rest.

The Son has no where to lay his head

we the beloved followers too comfortable

never going without necessities and frills

sorrowing for the migrant and homeless

not moving, but always pontificating

settling for the comfort, not Jerusalem.

May we wake up and rise up again

letting the dead be buried now

seeking the living God among the endangered

finding our Creator on cell block floors

in the confinement camps of children

Our living God dwells, face set on freedom.

The Collect

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.