Sunday, June 10, 2018

sermon, Family Ties, by Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, Patten, ME, June 10, 2018



June 10, 2018
Stetson Memorial UMC
Psalm 138
Mark 3:20, 31-35

Family Ties…

The Lord be with you
And also with you
Let us pray…

Please stand, as you are able, for the reading of the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 3, verses 20 and 31-35. Listen to and for the Word of God to you and I, His disciples.

When I was growing up I always wanted to have a sister. I wanted someone that would understand what I was going through because we were both girls.  Wanted someone could confide in and talk about girls with. But growing up all I had was an older brother. My cousin Annie was like a sister. She spent most of her time at our house, but it wasn’t quite the same. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized what having and being a sister is, Then I realized I had what I wanted right in front of me…not by blood but by choice. Sisters…

In the Gospel account I just read, it was right after Jesus called the 12 and they were together having a meal and once again there were so many people there that they were unable to sit down and share a meal. All of the sudden, His mother and brothers show up. Now you would think that He would be glad to see them. There is nothing like blood relatives…people you were born to be a part of…right? Jesus’ response is quiet radical…but then again Jesus was radical kind of guy that pushed the envelope.

Jesus was trying to get His point across with His next statements. He came to unite people into one family. The family of God. It didn’t mater the pedigree. It didn’t matter whether or not they were blood relatives. All were part of His family. All who did the will of His Father.

Jesus was giving a preview of what was going to happen when He completed His work here on earth. He was uniting both Jew and gentile into the family of God. With all the promises and covenants that were of old. He was in the process of ushering in a new way of thinking…a new type of family. One not made of human flesh but by water and Spirit.

Jesus came and made a ragtag bunch of sinners His disciples…His extended family. He was sitting with a while bunch of sinners around Him…tax collectors…fishermen…prostitutes…people on the outskirts of society. These are the ones He called family, mothers, brothers, and sisters. He didn’t acknowledge His blood relatives as being such but those who did and do the will of the Father.

So, what is Jesus telling us in this scripture? How does this pertain to us today? Well…I think one thing is that Jesus wants all who does the will of the Father to be included in the family… We should have family ties with one another…the tie that binds us together is the tie of Jesus and His radical love. We tend to try and pick and choose who we think should be included. Bu Jesus is clear. All who do he will of God are His sisters, brothers, and mother.

Another thing that it doesn’t matter “what side of the tracks” we come from in order to be bound into the family of God. Jesus always hung out and ate with he “low life’s” of society. These people were at the bottom of the rung, but Jesus brought them to the top of it. The religious elite thought He was crazy…demon possessed even because of how He thought more about the hurting than those who were the elite if society. He constantly challenged their way of thinking while trying to show them a more excellent way.

Being part of a family doesn’t always mean being a blood relative. Sometimes we are united not by blood but are untied by mission and heart. Sometimes our family looks more like a patchwork quilt than anything else, but it is that patchwork that brings the beauty of each piece that is stitched in. Jesus is calling us to stitch other patches in so that the warmth of His love we share can be a warm hug from Him to a world that has grown cold and distant.

You know…the more I think about it, we are blood relatives. You see we are all bound together in and through the blood of Jesus… In being such we have our brothers blood coursing through the veins of our family. And that my dear brothers and sisters, is the family tie that binds us with the other rag tag members…from Patten, to the ends of the earth.

AMEN…

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