A biblical theology of housing
Photo by Maximillian Conacher on Unsplash
CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 29 May 2024
Friends in Christ, I have come to the conviction that affordable housing supply is one of the most pressing and critical issues facing Australia.
Much as I am exercised by issues like domestic violence, gambling reform, anti-semitism, euthanasia, I think this issue may be just as big, if not bigger, or at least more basic, in affecting almost everyone.
At the Cathedral, we see the issues of homelessness and rough sleeping directly on our doorstep. So I am really glad about the pioneering work our Community Chaplain, Rob Elder, is looking to do with a growing team of volunteers.
But it’s a much wider issue. Here’s what one commentator wrote recently:
A recent analysis shows that any pupil graduating today will have to save for 46 years to afford a deposit for a median house, and mortgage repayments will require 127 per cent of a median salary.
Forget about buying a home in order to start a family. Unless they have wealthy parents to fall back on, school leavers in Sydney will only be able to afford a house in their home town after they’ve retired.
A different analysis, drawn to my attention by a staff colleague, supplied a map of NSW where someone with an income of less than $90,000 can afford* to buy a home. Note that this is where a single woman on her own with an average salary in NSW – $88,000 according to ABS data – would be able to buy a home. (*It was based on the borrower paying a 20 per cent deposit, and then spending no more than 30 per cent of their gross income on their mortgage, which is the rule of thumb for where the risk of mortgage stress kicks in).
The analysis shows that on less than $90K, the western Sydney suburb of Lakemba is the closest suburb to the CBD where you could afford to buy an apartment. If you’re after a house you’re basically limited to country towns hours away from Sydney, such as Wellington or Cowra or Lochinvar.
After World War II, there was the famous “Baby Boom”. But before that, Australian government policies had enabled a house-building spree and so made the cost of housing substantially cheaper. So people got married more often and earlier, and the babies came. This correlation between houses being built and marriage rates increasing was not only found in Australia, but in many nations around the world.
But for me, the most striking line from the first commentator’s analysis was this one:
Moreover, in contrast with the 1950s, housing is no longer seen as a form of shelter and security for young families, but is viewed as an investment vehicle.
These concerns have impelled the Sydney Anglican Social Issues Committee to look into the issue from a theological perspective. I have begun taking biblical survey, and have just completed a look through 887 mentions of terms involving “house” in the NIV translation of the Bible.
You’ll be glad to know that I won’t list them all. (But I am afraid this article will still be too long for some – apologies!)
Interestingly, we've learned recently from the life of Abraham how insecure his housing situation was at points. Abraham left his country and father's household, and, therefore, presumably, his actual home, in order to live in tents as a foreigner in the land God promised to him and his yet-to-be-born descendants (Genesis 12:1; 13:18). Even though he became wealthy, he spent his life in tents, as a migrant, and was only able to purchase one field from Ephron the Hittite for the cave of Machpelah located in it, so that he could bury his dead wife, Sarah (Genesis 23:4).
Little wonder, Hebrews 11:9-10 comments
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Housing insecurity here on earth is not our greatest need, therefore. Eternal security matters more. In a passage made famous at funerals, Jesus said,
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2).
And so Paul can write, 2 Corinthians 5:1,
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
But housing insecurity is by no means unimportant!
The Law of Moses had careful rules in place to minimise the likelihood of an Israelite’s home and share in the promised land being lost forever, even if sold to service a debt (e..g. Leviticus 25:29-31).
Property rights, privacy and personal space were valued and to be respected:
When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbour, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. Stay outside and let the neighbour to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you.(Deuteronomy 24:10-11)
An economic system that exploited the poor and vulnerable, even if in service of the Temple or synagogues, was deplored by Jesus, who said of the Scribes:
They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.(Mark 12:40)
Indeed, Luke’s description of the Gerasene demoniac, in Luke 8:27, makes vivid, in passing, the dignity-stripping tragedy of rough sleeping, however it is caused:
When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.
Positively, in response, the prophet Isaiah had already identified one kind of religious activity that God approves:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke…? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them…? (Isaiah 58:6-7)
And there is the astonishing example the early church’s sharing recorded in Acts 4:33-35! Not a universal command, but a challenge nonetheless, powered by belief in the gospel message.
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Of course, there are matters of personal and practical responsibility – such things as hard work, contentment and delayed gratification:
Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. (Proverbs 24:27)
Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks. (Ecclesiastes 10:18)
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)
I think “shelter” is a legitimate extension of those basic human needs listed in the last reference. The supply of these needs should form the basis of our contentment. But the lack of them should be presumed as naturally unpleasant and challenging.
Really, I have only just begin my theological reflection; further synthesis is still to come. So thanks for bearing with my “thinking aloud”.
But perhaps even this brief biblical survey will provoke some thought about your own attitude to housing, inheritance, greed, envy, contentment, industriousness, generosity and ultimate security.
Perhaps I can end with a command of God (the tenth of the Ten!) and a promise of Jesus:
You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbour’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. (Deuteronomy 5:21)
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29)
Feel free to share your own reflection with me in reply!
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney