The Hope of the World Rests on the Shoulders of a Homeless Man

Jana and I were in college during what many consider the Golden Age of contemporary Christian music. And the one artist we both loved was Rich Mullins. We got to attend a Rich Mullins concert when were in college. It was in a school auditorium in Sweetwater, TX. I remember Rich coming out and performing barefoot. This was about '92, five years before the car accident that took Mullins' life in '97.

Nine days before the accident Rich and some of his Ragamuffin band recorded nine songs in an abandoned church. These were rough takes recorded on a cheap battery-operated tape recorder. The songs were all about Jesus, sketches of songs intended for an album Rich was calling "the Jesus album."

After his death these rough recordings were released in the 2 CD set The Jesus Record. The first CD is the rough takes that Rich and the band recorded in the church.

One of the reasons I loved Rich Mullins was the rich theological imagination and creativity of his lyrics. That imagination is on display with the song "You Did Not Have a Home" from the The Jesus Record. Some of the lyrics:

You did not have a home
There were places You visited frequently
You took off Your shoes and scratched Your feet
'Cause you knew that the whole world belongs to the meek
But You did not have a home

Birds have nests, foxes have dens
But the hope of the whole world rests
On the shoulders of a homeless man
You had the shoulders of a homeless man
You did not have a home

You had no stones to throw
You came without an ax to grind
You did not tow the party line
No wonder sight came to the blind
You had no stones to throw

You rode an ass's foal
They spread their coats and cut down palms
For You and Your donkey to walk upon
But the world won't find what it thinks it wants
On the back of an ass's foal
So I guess You had to get sold

'Cause the world can't stand what it cannot own
And it can't own You 'Cause You did not have a home.

In these last lines I'm reminded of Rowan Williams's assessment that "Jesus is not a competitor for space in this world" and that, because of this, Jesus stands outside our cycles of violence. There is a connection here been possessionlessness and peace.