Foreclosure

A couple of weeks ago, Lynne and I got a letter in the mail from an attorney's office. The letter said that had defaulted on our house loan and owed an amount which was at about 75% more than what the house is worth. The attorney's office was demanding some resolution or they would take action. Our house loan has always been in good standing, so we were quite surprised at this, especially since we've never heard anything about any problem with our loan.

There was some relief to notice that even though the letter was addressed to our address, it was not addressed to our names. They were not names we recognized, and they weren't the names of the previous owners.

So I called the attorney and explained the situation. From the start, the woman helping me was suspicious of my claims that we are the owners of the property. She said that they've never had a situation like this, and she wasn't sure how to handle it. Then the told me that because the loan was in default, that the property would go up for public sale on August 6! She then consulted with a lawyer while I was on hold for about 20 minutes. When she returned, she said that the lawyer has never had to deal with a claim like this. They asked me to fax in some form of proof of my (apparently-suspicious) claim that we were in fact the owners of the property.

Then I called the attorney who helped us close on the property 4 1/2 years ago. He said that he would take care of it. Soon afterwards, he called me back and said that the address was off by one digit, and he could show that the names on the letter were the borrowers for this other address.

We're still waiting to confirm that the attorneys are off our backs and that they are not going to try to sell our property.

But the collage of emotions that I went through (confusion, insecurity, fear, frustration, a wee bit of anger, tension, relief) served as an interesting life lesson.

In effect, our house is owned by someone else. Of course, we want to say that our house is owned by God, and in very many ways, it is. But in another sense, our house is owned by Satan. Not in a demonic, possessed, evil-worshiping kind of way, but just in the sense that this collection of wood beams, electrical wiring, and carpet are elements of this world, and Satan is the prince of this world (John 16:11). These are not things that will be a part of Christ's Kingdom when He returns.

Furthermore, the "owner" of this material has defaulted on his loan. Satan owes an enormous debt to God - so large that not even the Chief of Demons has enough resource to repay it. Therefore, even though we're the ones who live at that address, when Satan's debt comes due, our house is going to be "sold" as partial payment for the debt. We are going to be evicted (to a bigger, better place called a mansion!) and Satan is going to debtors' prison.

Now, I reflect on my range of emotions again. Of all those emotions I felt, some of them were just about the situation and the hassle. But until we were sure that there was no real threat on our property, some of my emotions included a certain dread about losing the property. Not the hassle, mind you, but losing the thing itself - the object.

And yet, that's exactly what's going to happen when Jesus returns - we're going to "lose" this property because the name on the note has defaulted on his loan.

I learned through experiencing some of those emotions that I'm more tied to some things than I thought I was. I dreaded the prospect of not having a particular "something" when faced with the possibility that it could be rapidly taken away from me. I'm not wildly ecstatic about our particular house, but I'm really fond of having a house.

Everything you own will one day be "sold" out from under you because of a defaulted loan. It will be sold as part of gargantuan effort to repay a debt that cannot be paid. Keep your stuff with this knowledge. Use this knowledge to rid yourself of stuff that's merely cluttering your life. Understand this every time you're attracted to the glitter of something knew. See a letter in your mind's eye that has your address on it, informing you that the loan on your property has defaulted. Find your joy, satisfaction, and significance in the things that will survive the final public auction of Satan's things.