His voice broke the air like a birdsong as he perched at the corner of 37th and 10th Streets, the steam and smoke of New York City swirling around him. “Morning. Any change? God bless. Morning. Any change? God bless.” The repetition made it easier to ignore him. But I couldn’t. Our three kids were staring at him, confused. 

“He’s homeless,” I told my son, as if that explained everything. We kept walking, but I couldn’t get the man’s words out of my head; neither could I forget the label I casually tossed over his entire life: homeless. We saw many homeless people in New York City that day, with a duffle bag or a push-cart full of blankets. It was November. The biting wind seemed to keep everyone moving. We were all going somewhere, caught between one place and another. And we tend to measure people by the places they go or the places they’ve been. Those who are homeless stand out because they are caught in the in-between, unable to go backward or forward: frozen in false freedom. 

While it’s clear that I currently enjoy many blessings that the homeless don’t, I’m still connected to them. I am connected to every other human being who lives in the broader in-between, that ever-moving space between birth and death. I am connected to them because every home we have here is temporary—a robin’s nest waiting for the wind. 

Jesus and Home

But not all homes are fleeting. In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us where homelessness ends: with God. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). The Greek word for “home” here is not the more common word oikos, which often refers to a house or household. Instead, it’s monēn, which typically refers to an “abode,” or a place of rest. Jesus uses the same word earlier in the chapter: “In my Father’s house are many rooms [monai]. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2).

An abode. A place to stay with loving company. For Jesus, home is not simply a space with a history. It’s not something we make. Home is something He delivers. It is a grace-gift burning inside a person. Jesus says that He and the Father will make their home with us. God will reside in us, and that is home. For Jesus, home is a deeply personal residence that reflects what we believe about God. 

We associate “home” with all sorts of things—memories, loved ones, furniture, lighting, window views. But God never describes home for us in a way that is detached from Himself. Home is always a matter of faith in Him. This applies to our understanding of heaven. Heaven is our home not because it’s a peaceful place of bliss and pleasure, but because God is there. Heaven is home because of the presence of God. In fact, anything other than the presence of God is a street corner, a high-traffic in-between that won’t last.

Street Corners

I think about that man on the street corner in New York City so often because he reminds me of myself. Yes, I have many blessings in the material sense and enjoy a family and a physical home. But there is something deep inside me that is still on that street corner, something that is waiting and asking and seeking. In fact, there is something in me that is begging. I am begging to be greeted and given grace without end. I am begging for a home, a place to remain, and I know I need grace outside of myself to arrive there. Way down to the depths of my soul, I’m a beggar for God. “Good morning. Any change? God bless.”

You and I are not so different from the homeless that we take pity on. And perhaps the pity that we show to the homeless should be turned on ourselves, since we are chasing many things that are not God, that will not lead us home and will instead leave us destitute. Detached from God, we are frozen in false freedom, wandering the streets of lesser loves.

How Do We Know We’re Heading Home?

Jesus made it clear that we will never truly be home until we are united with God in eternity. That’s why heaven is home. But how can we tell we’re on the right road? The signs that mark the way are labeled with gratitude. 

Several of the homeless people we saw seemed mentally unstable in some way, either due to drugs or mental illness, or both. David Powlison once wrote, “Gratitude is a primary expression of sanity.” When we are sane, we are grateful. But we are always grateful for something or someone in particular. Powlison’s point is that until God is the One we are most grateful for, we are, in some sense, insane. But we are also homeless. Home and sanity are tethered to gratitude for God. Are you grateful? Not just for your house or your job or your family, but for God, for Jesus? Are you grateful that He has made Himself a home for you? Are you grateful that going home is a matter of meeting Him?

If not, take heart. Jesus is not only our home and our eternal place of residence with God—He is also how we get there. It is no accident that Jesus calls Himself “the door” (John 10:9). Yes, He is the door to salvation from sin. But He is also the door to eternity: the never-ending presence of God. He is the door¹ home. Every day, we walk through Him. Every day, we grasp Him like a handle, refusing to let go. Because if we do let go, we’ll find ourselves at the world’s street corners, begging for change. 

And yet God’s pockets are always full; His hands are always open. Otherwise, we’d all be lost. Praise God for His pity upon each of us who are begging our way to heaven and home. Christ is both.

Notes:

1. David Powlison, “Thankfulness.” Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation.

Author Bio:

Pierce Taylor Hibbs is Senior Writer and Communication Specialist at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Struck Down but Not Destroyed, The Book of Giving, and One with God. He and his wife, Christina, live in Pennsylvania with their three kids: Isaac, Nora, and Heidi. Learn more about his work at piercetaylorhibbs.com.

Additional Resources for Growing Closer to Christ:

Draw Near to God		In Christ Alone | Romans Bible Study		Christ in All of Scripture | 4 Volume Set | Year-Long Bible Study		Jesus Is Better | Hebrews Bible Study
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