Tenants

I’ve been confronted a lot recently with the woes of being a landlord. My mom owns several properties that she rents out to tenants. She finds a house with potential – one that tugs at her heart –, makes a down payment, pours time and resources into getting it ready for new habitants, and advertises for tenants. The tenants move in, call from time to time (some more often than others) with complaints about a leaky pipe or a broken door, and send in their rent checks (sometimes on time, sometimes for the full amount). Usually by the time they move out, they leave obvious evidence that this dwelling place was just a pit stop for them. They had no real investment in the property and no care for its upkeep. My mother had left them with the result of her excellence, and they left her with the outcome of their carelessness – a whole lot of damage to un-do.

Not too long ago, I was employed by another landlord who needed serious help cleaning up after his tenants. From the looks of it, they had not made an attempt to clean at all in the three years they had occupied his house, and to make matters worse, their dog seldom had the chance to do his business outside. The landlord had to rip up and replace floor boards and cabinets to get rid of the stench.

Considering these acts of negligence, I realized that every member of the human race is a tenant. The Creator has left us with His work of extravagant beauty and excellence – the Earth. He has entrusted this treasure into our care, and we have exploited it. The sky He created to dazzle us is now polluted with harmful chemicals. The once breath-taking river is now a slimy garbage pit. The lush forest has become a field of charred stumps. We should be grieved at what we have done to this piece of property we were meant to steward for a time.

Then there is the pinnacle of Creation – human beings. Our bodies are an intricate work of art. The fact that a life can be formed from two cells joining together is a miracle. From microscopic beginnings comes a body that is not only able to accomplish incredible feats of strength, flexibility, and coordination, but also houses a soul and spirit capable of loving, nurturing, creating, problem-solving, inventing, and communing with our Maker. I can’t say we’ve been any better stewards of this gift. We harm ourselves through everything from unhealthy lifestyles like gluttony and inactivity to self-mutilation like cutting. We hurt others who were also made in the Creator’s image: gossip, deceit, criticism, broken promises, stealing, abortion and murder…

If God were human, He would have evicted us by now to salvage what’s left of His property. But “the LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (Psalm 145:8). And His works still praise Him – the majestic waves of the sea, the stunning colors of a sunset, the delicate spring flowers in bloom…the sweat of a tree-hugger working on a restoration project, the tears of a mother who once aborted her unwanted child, now fighting for the lives of other yet unborn children…the heavy breathing of a former couch potato getting their health back through self-discipline, the humility of a son or daughter confessing their rebellion to their parents and pleading forgiveness…the heartfelt prayer of a child of God coming to Him in repentance and asking for help to be transformed more into His likeness. Each act of love and sacrifice, no matter how big or small, brings a smile to the Father’s face.

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” ~Psalm 103:10-14