I have a really good friend named Jeshua, who lives above me in my humble apartment building here in Rome. I knew he was a business owner, but I was surprised when neighbors told me he owns a sprawling coastal villa overlooking the Mediterranean.
“Why don’t you live there?” I asked him one day. “That’s got to be a lot better than this old building.”
“Oh, it’s a long story,” he said with a sigh. Though he was obviously heartsick, he eventually told me about it, bit by bit.
As it turns out, Jeshua had a dear friend who lost his job and his home when the economy took a dive. He’d known him since childhood and loved him like a brother. The man had five kids and it looked like they would end up on the streets. At the same time, my friend’s business needed him in the city, so he decided, "Why not let them stay at the villa and enjoy it in my absence? Besides, they really needed help,” he said apologetically.
Understanding that this family was desperately scraping to get by, Jeshua felt extra generous and decided not to charge rent “until they could get on their feet.” He paid the utilities, arranged to have the bills sent to his office, and told them they could even help themselves to the game room and the pool in the backyard, which he had cleaned and treated for them. "Those kids were jumping for joy at their good fortune. They never had it so good," he chuckled.
Weeks rolled into months and the father still had no work, so my friend
never asked them for a dime. The tenants lived in a sprawling estate completely at his expense, responsible only to clean and put out the garbage. “I just assumed they would take care of the place,” he said.
Instead, they got lazy and the kids got out of control. They trashed the game room and broke equipment. Floors and bathrooms got filthy, furniture was scratched, and trash piled up in the garage, not even taken to the gate for pick up as he requested. Rodents and roaches came into the house, infesting everything.
The unemployed father started drinking heavily and the mother became chronically depressed. The kids acted out, decorations were broken, upholstery ruined and Persian rugs were stained with spills. "But that's not the worst part," he said, preparing me.
"One night the teenagers got into the liquor cabinet and had a pool party. The parents weren’t even aware of it since they were watching movies in the theater room in a detached stupor."
"A beautiful thirteen year-old girl was brutally raped in the garden area while loud music played. And that's not all... Another girl at the party fell into the deep end of the pool, and couldn’t swim. By the time someone realized what had happened out there in the dark, it was too late."
"Two kids pulled the girl out of the water but she was already turning blue by the time one of them called 911 in a panic." Jeshua's voice cracked and his eyes filled with tears. "She could not be revived," he said sadly.
"When paramedics and police arrived they began inquiries about who owned the home. Then, through some quirky old legalities, I was implicated. Though I wasn’t even home when all this occurred, I was found legally responsible."
"They rushed to arrest me and take me into custody facing rape and murder charges of minors on my property, not to mention thousands of dollars in damages and legal fees."
When he read the reports and saw photos of the property, Jeshua couldn’t believe how they had taken advantage of his kindness and let things get so far out of control. “What really hurt,” he said, “was the betrayal of my own friend.”
Once again, Jeshua had to pay for everything. Not only did he have to settle the charges and cover all the damages and legal costs out of his own pocket, but he had to serve time in custody while that whole family went scot free!
"It isn’t fair!" I was outraged. The extraordinary generosity of my friend was totally abused. He bent over backwards in their hour of need, but then he was blamed when things went wrong. Once the lawyers and insurance companies latched onto the fact that the homeowner was a wealthy businessman, they went after him and his company with a vengeance for the drowned victim and the raped girl whose parents wanted huge sums.
“It cost millions,” he whispered, “but you know what hurt most?" Unable to imagine how I would deal with prison under such circumstances, I merely shrugged in disbelief at all I was hearing from my gentle friend. "My old friend never visited me in prison, never lifted a finger to clean up the house,
and never even thanked me.” Then I almost dropped my teeth when he said,
"And they’re still living in my house to this day!"
“Are you kidding me? How much longer are you going to put up with it? If it were me I’d march right over there and kick them all out on their ungrateful butts! I probably would have done it a long time ago!... How can you stand it any longer?"
“Ah well, I’ve had enough to worry about. Besides, where would they go? And
what about those children? What would happen to them?" His eyes looked off to the horizon as though remembering childhood while I stared at him in amazement.
"Do you still care? Do you actually care about them more than yourself? More than what it's cost you?"
"Don't worry," he smiled, "my plan is to finish up my business here in the city and then go back and put my house in order. I will claim what's rightfully mine and deal with those ungrateful violators of my grace in the proper time. He took a sip of wine and his eyes got misty as he added, “but I’m really not looking forward to it very much.
I keep thinking about those kids...”
*******
My good friend in this parable is Jesus. The jobless homeless thankless friends he loves so much are you and me, common self-centered sinners who take, take, take, and then blame God whenever we get into trouble. We accuse and rant, “Why did GOD let this happen?”
When will we recognize that it is our laziness, our ingratitude, our drunken stupor, our lust, greed, violence, mindlessness and stupidity that creates so much pain in the world? We are blind to the One whose generosity and giving heart covers all our costs and suffered the damages. He paid the price for us, and has sworn to return from his heavenly city to put his house in order.
Someday he will make everything right, but He's waiting for all the children in the house.
Is that you? I hope you understand that the Father's loving compassionate heart wants only what's good, what's best, to take us home and love us forever. He is only willing to wait because of his great love.
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise... He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…
...in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness…
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation…”
2 Peter 3:8-15
