Homemaking

Azaleas and rhododendrons in a garden

When my wife Miriam and I go out walking, we sometimes see neighbours working hard on their houses: painting, gardening or doing other decorating/maintenance. We ourselves have been doing some 'homemaking' during lockdown. 

It has struck me how important it is for people to transform their living spaces into homes by making them fit, clean and beautiful.

Whereas a house/flat meets our physical needs for shelter, a home meets our deeper needs for belonging.

I have recently been writing about how our true home is in Christ, and in my previous post, I asked how we can prepare to be with him after our resurrection.

One way we can prepare is through homemaking.

Just as people decorate and maintain their physical houses, we can beautify and prepare our lives to be homes in which Christ dwells.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, 'Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them' (14:23).

In other words, Christ wants to live and belong in us, building a home in us founded on the love of God. How? He makes his home in us when we obey his teaching. 

Christ taught many things, but they can, if necessary, be summed up in his commands to love. Jesus taught that the greatest commandment is this: 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength' (Mark 28:29-30). The second greatest is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself' (v. 31). 

Thus, when we love God with all that we are and love our neighbour as ourselves, then God, who is love, makes his home in us.

This is quite abstract, so I'd like to offer Mary and Martha as examples of two people who obeyed Jesus' teaching and in whom Christ made a home. 

Mary and Martha were the sisters of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. The Gospel of John says that after Jesus raised Lazarus, and soon before Jesus' crucifixion, a dinner was given in Jesus' honour, probably at Mary and Martha's house.

St Lazarus, Jesus, St Mary and St Martha

John writes that while they were at the table, Mary took a pint of expensive perfume, 'poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume' (12:3). 

One disciple objects, saying the perfume could have been used for a better purpose, but Jesus says that it was important for Mary to honour him in this way, preparing him for his burial. 

Mary's humble devotion illustrates love for God. Through our prayers and worship, we too can honour God, filling our lives with spiritual fragrance the way the scent of azaleas and other flowers fills a garden. Some may object that such time and energy spent for God can serve a more useful function, but worship is not wasteful; rather, it is life-giving and fulfils our very purpose. 

On another occasion, when Mary is chided by Martha for spending time with the Lord rather than doing more useful things, Jesus says that Mary has chosen the one thing that is needed (Luke 10:42). 

Through Mary's worship, everyone at the table witnesses a sweet scent. Christ, in his love, makes his home in their midst. 

Regarding Martha, John simply writes that 'Martha served' (v. 2) -- but surely this is an understatement! From what we know of Martha, she probably spent all day preparing the meal, not even joining the others very long to eat because she needed to be in the kitchen checking on the pudding.

Martha's humble service illustrates love for neighbour. She welcomes Jesus and the other guests, creating an atmosphere that enables them all to feel at home, to more deeply trust each other and belong to God. We do something similar when we consider the needs of others and support them. Our relationship becomes a table at which we feast with them, in the presence of Jesus, providing security and nourishment.

Through Martha's hospitality, everyone at the table is satisfied, no longer hungry or alone. Christ, in his love, makes his home in their midst. 

Thus, through their worship and hospitality, Mary and Martha make room for Jesus, the true homemaker, to live in them. As a result, their lives emit the warm light and healing aroma of Christ. 

We, too, can invite Christ to make his home in us through loving God and other people. In so doing, we become more fit to join him in the great feast of his kingdom after our resurrection.

Song: Ubi caritas (Taizé Community)

Where charity and love are, there God is