Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson, a Baptist minister, realises that your address may not be as straightforward as initially thought.
He cites three kinds of addresses.
The first two are physical addresses. This seems clear enough at first glance, but what might be the address of those refugees who were on the Australian Custom's ship the Oceanic Viking? Or any other refugee in transit from their home to a place unknown? This first example shows how important an address is in indicating one's social or cultural status.
There are also millions of what might be considered 'internal refugees' or 'economic refugees' who have moved from the country to cities in developing countries, and make do with makeshift shelters in what we more privileged people call 'slums'. How would the postie find them?
The postie would also be puzzled if we tried to write down the address of peoples who live in harsh or isolated places such as the snowfields of Alaska or the inland of Africa, or even some of the outstations in our own Australian dessert areas. There are real problems in many harsh and rural areas when election time comes around and information needs to be distributed (or even when people need to be informed of the polling places .... or contacted in cases of natural disasters).
Certainly the little children are very clear on one issue, that Santa Clause is certain to find their address without any difficulty at all; no matter where they live, or where they are staying for the holidays.
The second issue of an address is its financial and social-capital implications. This is also due to a physical address. New York's Fifth Avenue says a number of things such as a person's perceived wealth and status. Indeed, one requires deep pockets to have such an address.
Similarly, in Australia with our more sprawling living preferences, suburbs play the part of indicating people's financial status. Commentators speak of the 'leafy suburbs' which infers a certain social-capital and where the better schools might be located. There are other suburbs that retain a certain reputation for danger, where it is perceived that the misfits of society might live.
Some suburbs indicate a lifestyle choice; these include the 'red light districts' reflecting a certain kind of activity; and at the other end of the scale, the beach-side suburbs are aligned with the surfing and boating cultures.
There are numerous illustrations of the importance of a physical address in the Scriptures. In the Book of Exodus the Angel of Death passed over those houses whose doors had the blood of the lamb upon it.
The spies that infiltrated Jericho knew which address to protect with the scarlet cords shown from its window, indeed they knew it to be an address that provided them safety and security. David and his trusted men escaping from King Saul's clutches lived in the wilderness in caves where they could not be found. Nehemiah walked the reconstructed walls around the city of Jerusalem at night to protect the addresses of the people within.
There was no room available in any respectable address in Bethlehem and the only address available was a stable where Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus, and to which Simeon gave thanks in the Temple, stating that he had seen the Salvation of the Lord.
This leads Mark Tronson to describe the third type of address – a spiritual address. Jesus Christ says in The Revelation Chapter 3, that He stands at the door and knocks, that if any man allow Him in, the Lord will sup with him and give that personal eternal life.
M V Tronson says that addresses are immensely important, but it is that third address issue that carries with it eternal dimensions and why missionaries are so willing to travel to the most inhospitable or difficult physical addresses in order to speak of this address which will bring Salvation.