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EMPTY HOUSES

          OK, I’ll admit it. I am uncomfortable with empty houses.

          I grew up in a very small town. At the corner of our street, there was an empty house. I would literally cross the street – or take a shortcut through a neighbor’s yard – to avoid that house. It just wasn’t right. People live in houses. Why would one stand empty?

          As an adult, empty houses no longer make me uncomfortable. I recognize that we live in a mobile society and people move from time to time for differing reasons. Some houses will sit empty for a period of time.

          Abandoned houses. Now that’s a whole different circumstance.

          More and more you see them along the backroads in Arkansas – and in cities. Houses that have lost their owners. Houses sitting vacant. Houses needing paint and repair. Houses that lean to one side. Houses that are, well, abandoned.

          Each one tells a story. And in my imagination, each one tells a sad story. A death in the family. Demographics – fewer children to inherit the house. An aging society. A mortgage that could not be paid. A factory that closed; a mine that no longer produces; a business that failed. My morbid curiosity wants to know the story; my compassion fears the worst.

          And a sad fact is that for every homeless person, there are 5 abandoned houses. But the red tape it would take to get homeless persons into these houses is staggering, near impossible.

          And I began thinking - way outside the box. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says: “. . . if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

          What if a church - or a group of churches – were to buy up these abandoned homes, bring them back to life, and give them away to homeless people? It could happen. It did happen in Ft. Worth, Texas. A very small Lutheran Church bought a bunch of houses, fixed them up and gave them to folks in the neighborhood.

          There is no power on earth that cannot be overcome with the advice in the scripture just quoted. If God’s people, who recognize they are God’ people, will put God ahead of themselves, and pray, seeking God’s will, then wonderous things begin to happen. Things we could never accomplish on our own. Things others may think impossible.

          We face a crisis in our nation. Maybe not the same as an abandoned house, but it could be heading in that direction. The only way we are gong to make a difference is to realize that “we” can’t make a difference without prayer and recognizing God’s sovereign will.

          Let’s pray for peace and guidance.

          Blessings, Doug