First Sunday of Advent: A Home for Hope

Photo from Moley Magnetics

Reflections from my book, 
Home for Christmas: Youth Study Edition

I would hate to be an electronic device. Because it happens every few months. A new phone is introduced. Or a new tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Some folks are fortunate enough and eager enough to buy the new device immediately. They have heard about it, read about it, and anticipated the release date. They buy the new one and either put away, give away, sell away, throw away, or otherwise dispose of the older gadget. The older gadget probably works perfectly fine, but times have changed, and the new is thought to always be better.

So what happens to that older device? If it was sold or given away, it might get life for another year or two. Those of us who aren’t fortunate enough or eager enough will happily or unhappily buy last year’s model. We are content that it is better than the one we currently own. But in time that older devise that is new to us is put away, given away, sold away, thrown away, or otherwise disposed of again. Even if we wanted to keep it, the issuing company wouldn’t support it; they almost make you feel embarrassed for still having it.

Eventually throwing away is the only option. And in most communities, that means the device will end up in a landfill, serving no-one, and actually harming the environment. Tons of electronic waste, or e-waste are heaping up in our landfills.

But some companies are finding ways to recycle those devices. Homeboy Recycling is one of those companies. As Kabira Stokes, CEO of Homeboy Recycling, puts it, “Here in California, we have two huge problems: Our landfills are overflowing, our prisons are overflowing. We believe we can solve both of these problems at the same time.”

She says, “Seven out of ten people who leave the California correctional facility return within three years. It’s not because they enjoyed their stay there. It’s because it is a broken system.”

And for her, the beauty of training previously incarcerated people to recycle electronics is that it reminds us that both the workers and the old devices still have value. It’s a message that we easily miss in a disposable world. Our prisons and jails can easily be treated as places to dispose of unwanted people, people treated much the same way we treat old electronics.

It is too easy to think of people who have committed crimes as people we can throw away. But that is not what the Christian story says. According to the Christian story, no-one reaches the point when we are worthless. Each of us is valuable to a loving God, no matter what. The story of the Lost Son in the Bible is a great illustration.

A young man tells his father that he is leaving home and he wants the inheritance due to him. He basically says, “Dad, I can’t wait for you to die. I want to get whatever is coming to me now.” Rather than argue with him, the father grants his request. The young man leaves home, goes to another country and spends all of the money on all the worst things. He is finally out of money and ends up trying to find work. He finds himself feeding food to pigs and hoping to eat the food they eat. He is poor, depressed, lonely and feeling guilty. And then he remembers home. He decides to hope maybe he can return. He remembers how loving his father had been. He decides to take a chance on that love. He rehearses the words that he thinks might work. “Father I have sinned against God and against you. Please take me home and treat me like one of your servants.” He figures that’s the best he deserves, and maybe the best his dad will give him. He travels back home, and as he’s approaching the house, his father sees him. His father goes running after him to welcome him home. The son can barely get his rehearsed speech out, when his father starts planning a party for him! That’s the kind of joy the father has in his son.

Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries talks about God’s love for all of us that way. He says that God delights in us—that God is too busy loving us to have any time left for disapproval. Like the lost son, we can confidently turn from anything and find a loving God ready to welcome us home. Though we are infinitely more valuable than old electronic devices, we can find new life just like they can. That is our hope.