Sermons:
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The Family of God,
based on Mark
3:20-35, (and 1 Corinthians 12:7-13)
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
Picture this scene: Jesus is teaching the
people, he’s involved in the work of the kingdom. The people had gathered
to hear him teach. It was probably a gathering much like our worship
service this morning.
When his mother and brothers arrived at the scene to see him, Jesus
ignores them. Someone must have seen Jesus’ family arrive, or somehow his
family got the attention of a person close to Jesus. Whatever may be the
case, Jesus was informed of their arrival and his reaction is
….surprising, to say the least. Jesus exact words were: “My mother and
brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."
What was that all about? Why did he not want to greet his family? It would
have only taken a couple of minutes to greet them, he could have easily
taken a break from teaching.
How can we understand what was happening here? Could it be that Jesus was
embarrassed by his family?
I used to be embarrassed by my family… I don’t know about your relatives,
but I always thought I had the weirdest family. When we had family
get-togethers, I was embarrassed to invite friends over, esp. because of
uncle Gunther. The man had no manners. He would just blurt out whatever he
was thinking, and he would also burp right there at the table. It was
ugly. And then there was great ant Elfriede. She could never get our names
straight, no matter how often you corrected her. And what embarrassed me
most was the bragging that was going on when we got together. Does anybody
else have relatives like that? Or am I the only one. But I tell you what,
when I think back to those holiday dinners now, I think of them as the
good old times, because at least I was blessed to have a family, and I was
able to be together with my family. And, yes, in an emotional moment of
homesickness I would even admit that I miss uncle Gunther. There is just
nothing like family, and he was a part of our family--bad manners and all.
When you think about the fact that Jesus was so supportive of his mom
throughout the gospel readings, perhaps its unlikely that he was
embarrassed about them. Remember how he made provisions for her even on
the cross he was nailed to.
So, perhaps Jesus was too busy doing church work. By not taking time for
his family is Jesus saying that we should no longer make our families the
number one priority? It is no secret that pastors and leaders in the
church have lost their families over giving the church ministry the
highest priority. In fact, according to a survey by Newsweek some time
ago, the divorce rate among pastors is over 50%, same as the rest of the
population in this country.
Some have speculated that there is a bit of hypocrisy involved here; while
preachers lay down the law on their flock, they are no better when it
comes to relationships than anybody else. However, we should not forget
that the stress on pastors and their families is often horrendous. That’s
why we need to pray for our pastors and spiritual leaders in our
community.
Given the fact that the bible is clear on the fact that church need to be
shining examples and role models when it comes to marriage and
childrearing, I very much doubt that Jesus’ message is: church work is
more important than our close family relationships. [continue]
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