WAC2BL: Family
Scripture Text: Ephesians 1.3-8
INTRODUCTION
Aren’t families a funny-thing!?! They come in all-kinds of shapes-and-sizes ~ …each with a different-personality-and-style!
For-example, you’ve got Ray-and-Deborah Barone (of Everyone Loves Raymond), …on the other hand, do you remember Archie-and-Edith Bunker (of All in the Family), …or, there’s Ward-and-June Cleaver (of Leave It to Beaver), …not-to-mention, your family! I suppose that families are as different as the people who make them up!
Winston Churchill once said:
"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills."
He may have been talking about the Allied Forces, fighting in World War II, …but there’s a lot of us that feel-as-though he’s talking-about our families!
Family-life is a mixed-bag! It can be one-of-the most-rewarding experiences of our lives; …and, at-the-same-time, it can be one-of-the-most frustrating!
And-my-guess is-that we have a variety-of-experiences represented in the sanctuary, this-morning. Some of us would say that your family was incredibly supportive and affirming. Others would say that you never-quite-felt that you never-quite measured-up.
TRANSITION
This morning, I invite you to bring all your experiences of “family-life” and put them on the table. Put them on-the-table so-that the Holy Spirit can help you see them for what they are. Put them on-the-table ~ …don’t put them-on, like sunglasses, …because sunglasses “color” the way that we see things…
But-I-invite you to place all your joys and frustrations, …all your experiences of family-life, …put it all on the table, …don’t hold any of it back because… God wants us to hear-a-word about family-life.
But, He doesn’t-want us to-necessarily think of our family-experiences. Let me give you a silly-example: …If your dad was a-lot-like Archie Bunker, you should not think of Archie when the Bible says God is your Father! And, if your family is as dysfunctional as the Barone-family, …God doesn’t want you to think of them when Scripture talks-about the family of God!
Now, those may be silly-examples, …but you-see the-problem when we think-about God’s-family: …from the standpoint of how our-family operated! There’s a difference. But… The Holy Spirit will help us sort-through our experiences to-see what may-be a stumbling-block to our expectations and our hopes for what a church family is to be like.
BODY
When we study Scripture, we need to ask ourselves a couple of very-important questions. 1) What truth does this tell me about God, me, the church, and/or God’s will? 2) In light of that reality, what am I to do, or how am I to respond?
Now… when it comes to this passage, …it’s packed-full of truths and realities ~ …stuff that God says is-so, …and stuff that God has-done, …and stuff that we can bank-on! And before we can answer the question of what’s a church to be like, …we’ve gotta get our brains and our hearts wrapped-around these realities.
I. Blessing
What’s the first truth, …the first reality that this Scripture puts-out-there?
Verse 3 says:
God… has blessed us with every spiritual blessing… because we are united with Christ.” (NLT)
Is that not beautiful!?!... And here’s what we’ve gotta-get ~ this is true no-matter how we feel!
The bottom-line question is not: Do I feel blessed?; …but, the bottom-line is: Am I united with Christ?... If you are united-with-Christ, …then God is blessing you!
To be united with Christ is another-way of saying that your heart is bound-to-Him; …or-that you have received Him by-faith; …or-that He has taken up residence in your heart. Basically, …these are the things that happen when we confess our sins and receive the gift of forgiveness. If you’ve taken that step-of-faith, …then you have-entered into covenant with the Lord and your heart is bound to Him. And if you are-bound, …united with Christ, …then the flood-gates are open for God’s blessings to pour upon you!
This is the first truth that we’ve gotta-get-ahold-of. God has blessed you; …God is blessing you ~ …whether you feel it, or-not, …whether you see-it, or-not!
That’s good-stuff, …Amen? And don’t-ya-think we should remember it ~ …especially when we’re feelin’-like-dirt?; …and-when the people in our lives seem-to-be tellin’ us that there’s nothin’ good goin’-on in our lives!?!.. Not true!!!
God is with us and He’s blessing us in tremendous-ways. There’s more-to-life and living than what we see! Sometimes we just don’t see things for the way they really-are. We are blessed by God because our hearts are united with Christ through faith.
II. Loved & Chosen
The second bed-rock-truth this passage states with absolute clarity is this:
“God loved us and chose us in Christ.” (NLT)
He loved you-and-me. He chose us-all. How do we know this is really-real? ~ Well, that’s what John 3.16-17 is all-about:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
And because Jesus came, …we can rest-assured that God’s love for all of humanity is real.
In several of John Eldredge’s books, John talks about the “wounds” that people carry. Most-if-not-all these wounds are dealt to us by the people that we love-most. A parent who made us feel unwanted, …or as-though we never-really measured-up; …A friend who betrayed our trust; …a spouse who left. We carry deep-wounds. And although we try to cover-them-up, …and hide-them from-view, …and block-them-out of our own-minds, …they lurk-there, …sometimes under-mining the very-things that God wants us to see-and-hear!
It’s these deep-wounds and the scars that cover-them-over that make us ask some of the most-desperate questions of all: Does anyone love me?; Would anyone want me?; Am I just a miserable, messed-up-mess that people just-barely-tolerate!?!
If you’ve never asked these-kinds of questions, …thank the Lord! But, I’m afraid the vast majority of people have-wondered these-things about themselves ~ …to some-degree, or-another. And for-many-people, …these questions are haunting; …and they keep getting’ thrown-up in their face, …every-time someone seemingly rejects them, …or ignores them, …or walks-out on them, …or treats them like dirt… yet-again!
But, here’s the deal ~ I don’t care how your parents treated you, …or your high-school-sweetheart, …or your best-friend who turned her back on you in your most-vulnerable-moment!
Well… actually, I do care! But, as-far-as those deep-wounds-go, …as-far-as the messages that have been engrained on our hearts and in our minds ~ …there is no truth in these-things!
You wanna know what’s true?... You wanna know what’s real?... Here it is: God loved us and He chose us! That’s what’s real!
Does anyone love you? ~ You betcha! The Lord does!
Does anyone want you? ~ Absolutely! The Heavenly Father does!
Do people think that you’re just-barely-tolerable? ~ It doesn’t-matter! The Lord-God of Heaven has had you on His heart-and-mind from the beginning of Creation! And that is a fact, baby!
III. Adopted
So, we’re blessed by God, …and He loves us and has chosen us. But, maybe all-this still-sounds “out there”, …and theoretical! “Does Scripture help me see how these-things, “…these realities ‘come home’?”
Well, I’m glad you asked!
“God decided… to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.” (NLT )
This passage is loaded with family-terms ~ …God is called “Father”, …Jesus is called “Son”, …but-other-family-terms include: …love, adopted, family, belong, and kindness. All-this leaves little doubt that one-of-the-ways that we can picture-the-church, …is as-a-family ~ …the family-of-God.
Not-too-long-ago, I was visiting with a man who told me about his-own-family, that he grew-up-in. Brothers-and-sisters were at odds with one another. His father was abusive toward the kids. Relationships were strained, under-their-roof; …and now-that he-and-his siblings were grown and outta-the-house, …relationships continued to be edgy… In-fact, several of them weren’t-even-on-speaking-terms.
Although Scripture paints a picture of our relationships-together, …and our relationship-to-God ~ …these relationships are described in “family” terms: Father, children, sons-and-daughters, adopted, etc.~ …we often bring our own-experiences of family-life into the equation… And-as-sad-as-it-is, …many-many-people nowadays come from unhealthy-homes, …broken homes, …fractured-and-dysfunctional relationships.
And these experiences cloud-our-understanding of what the church is-to-be-like, …as the family of God.
If God is my Heavenly-Father, …does that mean that He acts-like my old-man did, and does? If you are my church-family, …does that mean that you will treat me like my brothers-and-sisters treated me?
The Book of Ephesians talks about the fact that we are adopted as God’s sons-and-daughters. But, this family is to be different. The way that God relates to us is different-from the way that our earthly-fathers treated us. The way that we relate to one-another is to be different-from the ways that we relate to our earthly brothers-and-sisters. Life in God’s family is pregnant with possibilities ~ …it’s full of potential because this family is being put together by God, through His love, and for His purposes.
I feel-as-though I’ve-got a little-bit-of-expertise on the subject of adoption! Four of my brothers-and-sisters were adopted. Three of my sons are adopted. Adoption is part-of-my-life ~ …and it has certainly shaped my understanding of “family-life”.
When I read that God has adopted us into His own family, …I get-it! It means that He has purposely chosen-us; …it’s no accident, …by an act-of-will, …and out of a deep-reservoir-of-love, …God wrapped-His-arms-around-us and said, “You belong with Me! “You’ve got-a-place at My table! “It doesn’t matter where-you’ve-been, …or how-you’ve-suffered, “…I love you and want you to be My child!”
The family that is formed through adoptions is a family that doesn’t share common DNA. Hair-color, eye-color, shapes of noses, the size-and-shape of our physical-bodies ~ …These things are not the things that bind adoptive-families-together. What binds us together is not biology, or heritage, or ancestry. What binds us together is love… …love-given, …love-received, …love shared. Adoption is all about love. Adoption is a beautiful-thing… And-the-fact that God has adopted-us, …well, that’s the most beautiful-thing of-all!
IV. Pleasure
So, we’re blessed by God, …chosen-and-loved by Him; …and He’s adopted us into His family. But… How does God feel-about-all-this?
I’m sure that every-father-among-us has had moments when he was totally-frustrated with his kids. Sometimes kids are undependable. Sometimes they are inconsiderate. Sometimes they throw-a-wrench in your plans. Sometimes they find your last nerve ~ and then, they invite all their friends over and jump on that last-nerve like a trampoline! Fathers sometimes get exasperated with their kids!
But-then, let’s think about the state-of-the-world: Sin-and-rebellion are rampant. Hatred-and-violence are on every corner. Arrogance-and-selfishness rule-the-day. How must God feel about His creation, …about the people that He made in His own image?... Even-those-of-us who’ve ‘come-to-our-senses’ and returned-home to-Him and believe in Him ~ …How often are we slow-to-understand, …How often do we drop-the-ball, …How often we look God in the eye, …and like-a-toddler, …go-ahead and do-what-we-wanna-do, …rather-than what He wants us to do!?!
How does God feel about this motley-crue that He’s brought into His family!?! Does He just-barely tolerate-us, …until He can whip us into shape? Does He shake-His-head, …with a grin-and-bear-it, approach to us, His children? Does He regret the decision to be so welcoming of any-and-all; …does He wish He’d been a little-more-selective in the adoption-process?
No… listen to what Scripture-tells-us about God’s attitude toward-us ~ …toward those He has adopted into the family: “This is what he wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.”
He loved us, …He chose us, …He adopted us, …and He is greatly pleased! We’re kids ~ …and from God’s point-of-view, …maybe we’re noisy, …and messy, …and we don’t-always listen-right-away, …and we get-in-fusses-with our siblings, …and sometimes we create-chaos, …rather-than harmony; …but-here’s-the-thing: God is greatly-pleased to have us in-the-family! From the littlest-and-the-least, …to the most-hurting, …to the vilest-offender who truly-believes: …God is overjoyed at the prospect of redeeming, and welcoming and adopting each one of us into the incredible-tapestry that is-His-family! God is pleased with this church-family!
CONCLUSION
Which brings us down-to-the-question of-application. Scripture has laid out the facts: …We are blessed because our hearts are bound to Christ; …God loves us and chooses us; …And He adopts us into His family; …And-all-this gives God great-pleasure.
These are the facts. This is reality. This is the truth, baby! You’re life is blessed, …whether you feel-like-it-or-not! You are loved and wanted, …whether-or-not the world has kicked you to the curb! You belong to God and have a very-special-place in His family. All this is true. And it’s good stuff. It’s stuff to build a life on because you can count-on-it! God says it. We believe it. Now, let’s get on with it!
But, how?... What do we do with all this? Do we put-on-a-smug-attitude ~ because we’re “in” and others aren’t? Do we develop a pecking-order ~ based on who’s been in-the-fam longest? Do we horde-our-Father’s-love to ourselves ~ and treat one-another like the unwanted step-brother?
No!... That’s no-way to respond to this-incredible-news of God’s love. He’s saved us from our sin; …and given us a family to belong to. And this should make your heart sing! It should certainly free-you to give praise!
In-fact… Did you catch-it?... That’s-exactly what Paul was-doing as he wrote this letter to the congregation in Ephesus!
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has…”
And-then he lists all-these-things that we’ve been-exploring (blessing, love, chosenness, adoption).
Praise. Do we praise God for all His ways with us? Do we praise God for the people He is bringing into this church-family? Are our hearts filled with praise over the hearts-and-lives that God is weaving together right-here, right-now!?! Let’s praise Him for creating, sustaining, and enlarging our church-family!
