Who Are My Mother, My Brothers
and My Sisters?
Mark 3:20-35
June 7, 2015[1]
Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ.
(Philippians 1:2).
I know that I missed you for
only one week. But it seems like
forever. It was good to preach in
Cleveland, but it is better to be back home!
I had the great privilege of having my youngest sister, Lori, present
last Sunday. That was the first time
that she heard me preach. And she was
very gracious about her older brother!
Except for the time that my Dad visited here in October of 2010, this
was the first time that any of my family has been present to hear me
preach. Don’t get me wrong—the five children
of Alice and Ray Frost are closer in heart than I ever dreamed that five kids
growing up in two bedrooms could be; but distance has scattered us as far north
as Albany, New York, as far south as Palmyra, Virginia and Louisville, KY, as
far west as Phoenix, Arizona, and leaving Lori right in the middle in Mt.
Vernon, OH. We don’t get together
often. As a result, this place called Cunningham has become home to
Carol and me. You have become family to
me. You have become my brothers and
sisters in Christ.
Jesus thought a lot about
what makes a family. His definition of
family is probably a bit different than you might expect. We read it in verses 33--35 of today’s
Gospel Lesson: “Who are my mother and my
brothers? … Here are my mother and my brothers!
Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark
3:33-35).
He said this in a surprising
context. Jesus’ mother and brothers had
come to get Him and take Him home. They
had heard stories about what Jesus was doing—healing, casting out demons, breaking
the rules of the Sabbath, and telling unusual, puzzling stories to make his
points—and in the process he was drawing large crowds to witness the
spectacle. We think of these actions as
wonderful, but they were scandalous to the family. Did you hear the words from Mark? The family “went out to restrain him, for
people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’” (Mark 3:30).
The family came to get
him. The people surrounding Jesus told
him that His mother and brothers were here for him. (Mark
3:32). It would be a bit like having
Carol, my kids and all my brothers and sisters standing outside the door of
this church, calling for me to come out because they thought I had finally
slipped over the edge!
“Jesus, your mother and your
brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” Jesus answers, “Who are my mother and my
brothers?” Then, He looks at the people
who are sitting next to him, and listening to Him, and He responds by saying,
“Here are my mother and my brothers!
Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark
3:33-35). It’s as though he is
saying that flesh and blood and DNA from a common source will only take you so
far. The definition of family that really matters has one criterion and one
criterion alone: doing the will of God.
Those words sound fairly
innocuous—sort of a “duh” moment—until we start to think about them more
closely. Then, I am not sure how all-inclusive
Jesus’ family really may be.
To begin with, I suspect that
most people will begin by saying that they would be happy to do God’s will—but
they don’t end their sentence there.
They tack on some words, such as—as long as it is convenient, or as
long as I can still go fishing, or as long as I can keep my current lifestyle,
or as long as it doesn’t cost me too much!
What a difference there is in the response from an aging nomad
sheepherder named Abram who heard the message from God saying, “Go from your
country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will
bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (Genesis
12:1-2). Abram did not argue or debate.
“So Abram went, as the Lord
had told him…” (Genesis 12:4). Even though it meant leaving his earthly
father, Terah, Abram had the promise of a new family, whose numbers would be
greater than the stars. (Genesis 15:5). Abram believed the Lord; and the Lord
reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15: 6).
Would you respond as Abram
did? Would you be willing to pack your
belongs, call the moving company and tell them that you were moving to a new
place, not sure just where, but the Lord
promised that He would let us know when we got there?
Perhaps a few of you
would. I won’t ask for a show of
hands. I suspect, though, that many of
us—myself included—would ask a lot of questions. Maybe beginning with “what did I have to eat
last night?” or “am I losing my mind?” or “am I not simply personifying some
deep underlying psychological urge?” or “how am I ever going to explain this to
Carol?”
But despite those questions,
I am willing to bet—as much as a Methodist may be permitted to bet—that the
real question most of us would have to grapple with is, “how do I know the will
of God.” I remember so well the times
when I was a kid, a very young kid in elementary school, and again in high
school, and again in college, and again in law school, and even again in
seminary” when I would say, “Lord, I will do what you want. Just make clear to me what you want.” I looked for certainty and clarity that would
speak in ways familiar to a 20th and 21st century
mind. I failed to understand that
usually, God speaks to us in a whisper instead of a shout. It takes that process we call “discernment” to
listen for the whisper.
This is such an important
topic that I plan to spend a few weeks on the question of how we discern God’s
will. On other weeks, we will talk about
other dimensions of our lives. But for
this morning, as we prepare for a congregational meeting to discuss an issue
that is important to the life of our church, let me spend a few moments discussing
some very basic Biblical principles on discerning the will of God, specifically
as it relates to this building.
1.
Our decisions
about this building should reflect our love for God and our desire to worship
and serve Him. That’s why we are here. We were created to be in relationship with
God. God pours out His love upon
us. What we do with our lives, our
material goods, and God’s creation reflects our response to God. Whether our decision is to build or remain as
we are, we need to see our decision as our loving response to God’s love, and
not a decision based on what we want. I
may prefer a medieval style cathedral, or I may prefer a modern style crystal
palace; but what I prefer doesn’t matter here.
What matters is that we glorify God, reflect God’s work in our lives,
and be faithful in the ministry that God has called us to perform here in
Fluvanna County.
2.
We can’t afford
to permit the expansion of the building to detract from the ministry that God has
called us to conduct. Most importantly, we
can’t afford to let the cost of a building program stop us from our giving to
mission and outreach. As I read the
Bible, God emphasizes people over buildings and monuments. Jesus looked at the Temple in Jerusalem and
pointed out that the day would come when not one stone would be left standing
upon another. (Matthew 24:2).
3.
Sometimes
God’s will is a matter of timing. Sometimes, God says, “Right idea; bad
timing. Wait.” Sometimes, God even says that He is giving
that job to somebody else. When King
David wanted to build a house for God, God sent the Prophet Nathan to instruct
King, “You shall not build me a house to live in …
“When your days are fulfilled to go to be with your ancestors, I will
raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish
his kingdom. He shall build a house for
me, and I will establish his throne forever.”
(1 Chronicles 17:4; 11-12). But sometimes, God says, get busy. After David died, Solomon became King, and it
became his task to build the Temple. It
was time.
4.
Sometimes, God
speaks to us through our own common sense. He gave us minds to use for a
reason. God created the world but then
placed it under the control and dominion of Adam and Eve. He gave them His garden “to till it and keep
it.” (Genesis 1:28; 2:15). God
expects us to be and prudent in carrying out the trust He has given to us. Do you remember the parable of the ten
talents? To the lazy servant who buried his talent in the ground, the King said
that he should have at least invested the talent with the bankers so that on
his return, he would receive his money with interest. (Matthew
25:27). Yet, some times, God asks
us to do things that make no sense at the time. I am sure that it made no sense to Noah’s
neighbors that Noah was building a great ark.
Yet Noah did what God instructed, for “Noah found favor in the sight of
the Lord.” (Genesis
6:3). At other times, God challenges
to go beyond the limits that we have set for ourselves. Discernment recognizes both possibilities and
listens for direction. It made sense for
the disciples to send the crowd of 5,000 home to get food. Jesus told them, “You feed them.” (Matthew 14:16). Sometimes God tells us to use our heads and
sometimes God says to act boldly.
5.
Sometimes these
dimension seem to contradict each other—at least they are to be held in
tension. But if all of this gets more
confusing rather than clearing up the issue, let remind you of a couple of
verses that were my Mother’s favorite—I will quote from the King James English
here—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths
straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6). The way of discernment is not a way of
certainty; it is a way of faith, relying on the God we cannot see to give
us His “peace which surpasses all understanding” and “guard [our] hearts and
[our] minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians
4:7).
If any of this appears to
give you the impression that I am feeling negative about the project we will be
presenting you in this morning’s meeting, nothing could be further from the
truth. Your pastor and your “Building
for Our Future Committee” have been praying and seeking to discern God’s will
throughout this process. The Committee
has been working hard to discern a project that will give our church the tools
that it needs to serve God here in Fluvanna County, but a building that always
will keep God in the center. But if this
project is to go forward, it cannot be based on the pastor’s discernment or the
Committee’s discernment. As a church, we
need to engage in this discernment process together, seeking God’s will for
this church, and then join hands, hearts and checkbooks in making this project
happen.
“Whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.” All
of this may sound like foolishness, and like the people in our Gospel Lesson,
you may wonder if I have “lost my mind.”
Or you may be skeptical and may ask me if I really believe it. I have bet my life on it! I invite you to join hands with us and do the same as part of the
family of God. May it be so!
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