ChosenRebel's Blog

Thursday is for Discussion

Updated 5/31/18

Mark 2:1–3 (ESV)

2 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

Some simple observations:

1. Jesus had a place known as “home” in Capernaum.
2. People knew where it was.
3. Jesus welcomed people into that place even to the point of the house having no more room.
4. In His home, Jesus was preaching the word to his guests.
5. And He was healing those who came who had need.

Conjecture:

This house, was most likely Peter’s house in Capernaum that Jesus and the disciples used as a base of operations for the Galilean area.

Questions:

1. If we are followers of Jesus, why don’t we use our homes more like He used this one?

2. If we are followers of Jesus, is there anyone in our community that knows they can come to our home at any time and hear the word of God like those in Capernaum knew they could go to Jesus? 

3. How might we establish our home as this kind of place in our neighborhood?

Story:

I just did a funeral for an elderly saint and it caused me to reflect on what I remembered of their home. Phyliss and Bob Hartman’s home was simple, functional, somewhat cluttered but clean, but most of all, it was a home filled with Scripture. I’ll come back to that in a moment.

No one who entered their home was a stranger. Everyone was treated with honor and respect. There was a joy in both Bob and Phyliss in conversation with everyone. Bob was a sly wit and Phyliss was a positive and artistic sprite possessed of a contagious awareness of God’s ever present blessings. It was a warm, inviting home that received everyone as “family”, as “beloved.” 

But there was more. The walls were filled with plaques of key Scriptures. They were in the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, the bathroom. A banner of Scripture was over the archway leading to the living room. At the kitchen table were Bibles and devotionals. On the end tables, there were Bibles and study materials and Bible dictionaries, notepads and pens. Everyone who entered the door knew that this was a couple who studied and lived out their faith in the dailies of life.

It was an inescapable conclusion. You felt it in their warmth and love for you and you saw it in their love for one another and through the evidence all around the walls and tables. “This couple knows, loves and lives the Bible. This couple knows, loves and lives a life centered on Christ.”

Bob left to live with Jesus first. A long smoking habit, picked up in his military years gradually took his breath away. Phyliss departed for heaven last month but she and Bob’s legacy of love for Christ and others continues. Their’s was a gospel home.

Ideas:

• Start with your walls. What reminds you, in each room of your house, that Jesus and His word is what you want to govern your life?

• Why not invite a neighbor-a-week (or a month) to have pie and ice-cream with you? Just invite them in, love them and see what God does.

• Begin to pray, “Lord, show me how I can be a chaplain to my neighborhood. Show me how I can use my home for you.”  Keep praying until you have an idea you have never thought before.