Thought for Today
Genesis 37:2 This is the story of the family of Jacob …
Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
Matthew 25:40 And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'
Mark 3:21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind."
Yesterday afternoon, as I was working on my sermon and Greta was working at her desk, our doorbell rang. More often than not, our doorbell ringing denotes either a neighbor or a salesperson. Our next-door neighbor has a beautiful yard full of flowers and often shares the cut flowers with us. Salespeople peddling solar panels, lawn services, etc. are common and usually cannot understand my refusal to immediately buy whatever they are selling.
Yesterday, however, that doorbell brought a most pleasant surprise. Our grandson is home from college on his first holiday break. He decided to take time from resting, relaxing and visiting with his friends to come and visit with his grandparents. None of you other grandparents reading this may agree, but our grandson is the greatest grandson ever!! We had a delightful visit as we caught up with each other. Grandchildren are the sunshine of grandparents’ lives.
Not too many Sundays go by without my mentioning in my sermon something to do with the Christian family. I believe all Christians of every denomination are part of a greater family of faith. A family united not by blood or DNA; a family united by faith.
My focus on family of faith derives in part from a particular class I took in seminary. In one of my history classes, we were introduced to what has become one of my favorite words, Christendom. “The word Christendom generally refers to the global community of those who adhere to the Christian faith, with religious practices and dogmas gleaned from the teachings of the Bible. Spread throughout the world, Christendom consists of literally billions of people among many nations and peoples of various ethnicities. Correspondingly, Christendom also refers to those countries where Christianity is the dominating or territorial religion.” (www.gotquestions.org)
Much like our biological families, Christendom includes great diversity in appearance, language, customs and practices. My biological brother and I did not look a lot alike. He was taller, slimmer, and had olive-toned skin. I was shorter, heavier and paler. Until we spoke or laughed, people might have doubted our relationship. Yet, we were brothers. Our family of faith includes people whose physical features differ greatly, who speak almost all of the languages in the world. It includes more differing faith practices, more denominations than I care to think about. But, we are family, united by our faith.
Scripture tells us a little about Jesus’ own family. Two of the gospels tell us Jesus’ genealogy. We know the names of his father, grandfathers, great grandfathers and so on. We know of his mother, Mary, and her cousin Elizabeth. We know somethings about Jesus’ cousin John, known as the Baptist. We even know about Jesus’ brothers, “Matthew 13:55 James and Joseph and Simon and Judas.” Did Jesus and those brothers look alike? Did they walk and talk alike? We do know that at least one of them became a leader of the Christian movement in Jerusalem following the Crucifixion.
We also know, however, Jesus’ own concept of our fellowship of faith. John tells us about Jesus’ biological brothers, “John 7:5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)” And, in the synoptic gospels we find accounts of his family’s concerns for him, e.g., “Mark 3:31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." 33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
We do believe in Jesus. Christians do strive to do the will of God. We are family, united in our faith. Family is important
Stay safe, find joy in the family of faith, trust God,
Pastor Ray