Parable 31 - My House

Sebastian Willard had grown up in the house that he was now living in. To say that his parents, who were both alcoholics, did not keep the house well maintained was a gross understatement. The neighbors back then called it “the dump.” Sebastian went into foster care when he was 12 years old.

Denise and her husband Willie never adopted Sebastian, but they raised him as a foster child through his tumultuous teenage years and even helped him get into college.

Now, with a degree in city planning, and after the recent death of his mother, who had outlived Sebastian’s father by five years, he inherited the house he had grown up in.

His foster mother helped Sebastian clean the place up.

They fixed the gutters, trimmed the shrubs, repaired the bathroom and kitchen, put in new carpeting, and painted both the inside and the outside of the home.

It wasn’t a mansion, but Sebastian felt it was no longer the dump it had been.

The second year that Sebastian owned the house, he accepted a position as a general member of the neighborhood association. He quickly gained a solid reputation for showing up on work days and helping to spruce up the common spaces in the subdivision. There were bushes and flower beds to maintain and weed, and Sebastian worked hard at these tasks. The next year, Sebastian became the board president. After all, he was a consistent volunteer and had a job and degree in city planning.

Throughout this whole time, Denise was advising Sebastian on how to give back to his old neighborhood.

Based on Denise’s input, Sebastian suggested several ways to improve the curb appeal and the safety of the neighborhood.

The neighborhood board approved these ideas and began to implement them. There were costs involved, and each household was responsible to pay a $175 fee, which was slightly more than previous years. This created an uproar. Soon people were demanding that Sebastian resign.

One of the older neighbors summarized the feeling of many:

“Why is this guy our board president and raising our fees? We remember his house. We know exactly who our new board president is and where he came from. He’s pocketing the money himself.”

Meditation

Jesus had been teaching in the temple openly when he was attacked verbally. The leadership would like to arrest him, but Jesus leaves before they can. Many people cannot accept that Jesus is the Christ. They know where Jesus comes from, which means he can’t be the Christ.

Of course, the story of Jesus is different from our everyday experiences, but in our story today, Sebastian is doing something wonderful for his community, yet many people will not accept him as a leader. They think they know him because of where he grew up.

Sebastian has Denise and her husband to guide him—foster parents who have helped turn his life around. Jesus is the Son of God and is regularly checking in through prayer to determine what to do next.

Imagine if you were Sebastian. What would you do? No doubt, you would check in with your foster parents to see what they say.

Maybe Sebastian should resign and not worry about improving his neighborhood.

Sebastian might also just press on and ignore the naysayers.

He will have to carefully discern this before making a decision.

For all of us come from some place, and there are people who know our origin story. They may judge us by it. We are invited in our Lenten journey to open up to a deeper reality. There is a teacher who can guide us through whatever challenges we face.

Keep praying. By turning to and listening to this teacher, we can work to put our house in everlasting order so that it shines as one of the most beautiful on the block.

Water the seed and ask yourself...

What part do I play in my neighborhood?