U.S. cities were shedding people steadily even before the pandemic. According to Postal Service data, 15.9 million Americans filed a change-of-address request between February and July of 2020. Roughly one in five Americans either changed residences or know someone who did in just the first few months of the pandemic, according to Pew Research. Many of them were spurred—or enabled—by COVID-19 lockdowns, seeking more breathing room as homes morphed into places where work, school, meals, and rest all unfolded under one roof.

Though median U.S. home prices rose relatively steadily over the past decade, they soared during the pandemic, climbing 30 percent from early-2020 to early-2022. It seems we have collectively awakened to the fact that our homes really do matter. Except, it is harder than it has been in generations to actually find a home.

But for Christians, the broken housing market is more than just an opportunity to practice the virtue of contentment. With a dream home out of reach for so many, it may well be time for us, followers of the man who had no place to lay his head (Matt. 8:20) and to reimagine what the home is truly for.

The best homes—the ones that feel most like a home—are almost never the biggest, prettiest, cleanest, or most well organized. They are those that seem to envelop you upon crossing the threshold with signs of real, actual life: dishes in the sink and toys strewn on the floor, a stack of yet-to-be read books on a side table, furniture arranged to foster conversation, tea on the stove, and a “let me dig around and see what we have in the fridge” attitude that is neither fussy nor sterile. They are infused with an earnest Galatians 6:10, do-good-to-all-people mindset, and it shows. Homes are a place of growth and connection with ourselves, our spouses, our friends, and our communities.

Possible Preaching Angle:

And as we watch the world quiver under the weight of war and political discord and injustice, let’s be reminded that home isn’t found in the perfect house, but in the people that enter, the reflection of eternity it offers, the shelter it provides, and the growth and connection it creates. No matter the location, no matter the size, these things remain.