“Jesus’ Family Values”
Mark 3:20-35
Family is a foundational concept in the Bible.
The Bible begins in Genesis, not with talk about nations and tribes, but families—big families, real families.
Sometimes God’s people are likened to the bride of the Bridegroom and our infidelities are compared to adultery.
But, most of the time we’re God’s children--God’s sons and daughters who bring great joy as well as frustration.
And so, becoming part of God’s Kingdom, which on earth is the Church, is like joining a family—the family of God with all it’s good, bad and in-between just like any family has the good, bad and in-between.
Nothing on this earth is perfect—including the Church, because it is made up of very faulty human beings.
The only One Who is Perfect is Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, amazingly and graciously is, according to Hebrews 2:11 is not ashamed to call US brothers and sisters.
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning Jesus’ biological family is frustrated with Him, or just plain worried about Him.
They hear that Jesus is drawing crowds, and they go to calm Him down or bring Him home or something—because people are talking and many folks think He’s out of His mind—it appears that they think this themselves.
They are either embarrassed or worried about what people might do to Him.
It doesn’t always end well for people who rile up the crowds.
But, Jesus doesn’t seem to mind that much.
After all, He knows how badly it’s all going to end.
So, what does He do?
He opens up the tent and gives everyone who wants the opportunity to enter the Kingdom, His family.
And who is His family?
Those who do the will of God.
When you do the will of God you get the chance to be Jesus’ brother or sister…even His mother!
And that’s what it’s about.
Followers of Jesus are meant to live as God’s family.
And the Church of Jesus Christ is referred to as God’s family throughout the New Testament, and other Christian literature as well.
Now to try and get a handle on what this means, we need to try and put ourselves into the worldview of 1st Century Palestine and the dynamics of families and groups.
For instance, in the New Testament world, the group takes precedence over the individual.
That’s the opposite of the way our culture looks at things.
For us, the goals, the aspirations and the needs of the individual tend to take priority over the group.
So, for American Christians living in the 21st Century, you and I tend to think about our relationship with the Church like this: “The church is here for me to get some spiritual growth or to feed me spiritually to further my relationship with God.”
And even in our families, there’s a sense in which the family is here for the individual and not the other way around.
In our American families, our goal is to socialize our kids so that they will be independent of our families—emotionally independent, relationally independent, financially independent, and often even geographically independent.
We live in a very “me” culture.
But early Christian culture was a strong “group culture” where the desires, the needs, and the goals of the individual took a back seat to the good of the group.
The 1998 movie “Titanic” is a classic illustration of this cultural clash.
You have a young lady named Rose, and Rose is in high society, top of the social strata and she’s riding in First Class with her mother and the guy she’s engaged to.
This man is not a good match for Rose and she doesn’t want to marry him, but she has to marry him because Rose’s father had died and before he died he squandered the family fortune.
As a result, Rose’s extended family is in danger of losing their social status and the only way for Rose to help them keep their good name is for her, as an individual, to set aside her personal needs by marrying this man who is portrayed as being a real jerk but he sure is rich.
Then one night Rose goes out on the deck of the ship.
And she’s bummed out about her situation, her future.
Then she meets Jack—played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
And Jack’s this street kid who won his ticket to ride on the Titanic in a poker game.
Jack and Rose are polar opposites when measured by social class but they fall for one another and they have a very “Western” romance.
They are meeting their individual needs and as they do so the American in all of us goes:
“Rose, follow your heart.
Dump the rich guy!
Go for Jack instead.”
But if that film were shown in Jesus’ day, the people watching would have been horrified.
They would have been horrified to think for a minute that Rose would consider sacrificing the honor and good of her family for this dangerous fling that would satisfy her personal, individual desires.
That is what a strong group mentality is like in a nutshell!
And both Jews and Christians in the 1st Century viewed life this way.
Ancient Jewish Historian Josephus wrote: “At these Temple sacrifices for the welfare of the community must take precedence over those for ourselves.
For we are born for fellowship and he who sets the communities’ claim above his private interests is especially acceptable to God.”
And from a Christian Perspective, think of the Lord’s Prayer.
What is the first word of the Lord’s Prayer?
It begins with “Our” not “My Father,” but “Our Father.”
And we don’t pray: “Give me this day my daily bread.”
Nor do we ask that only “my” trespasses be forgiven, that only “I” may not be led into temptation, and that “I” be delivered from evil for myself alone!
The group comes first!
We are all in this together—all for one and one for all!!!
A Christian Writer from the 2nd Century wrote: “We pray not for one but for the whole people, because we, the whole people, are one.”
This tells us a lot about why the early Christians were able to turn their world upside down!
The Christian Church has been relational from the beginning, not individual.
When we try and individualize it, it turns in on itself.
It becomes selfish rather than selfless.
It becomes something that is about me, myself and I rather than God, my brother, and my sister.
There can be no doubt that in the New Testament, the group came first.
I searched to see how many times the Apostle Paul says “My Lord” compared to how many times he says “Our Lord.”
What do you think I found?
Paul wrote “My Lord” only once in all his letters.
He wrote “Our Lord” 53 times.
When it comes to how Paul thinks about the relationship between human beings and God “Us and God” comes before “Me and God.”
In 1st Corinthians 12:13 Paul writes, “We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body…and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
And for Jesus, the Church, or what would become the Church—THAT was His family.
And that was scandalous.
And here’s why.
Jesus was the oldest surviving male in His family of origin—His kinship—or blood family.
And the oldest surviving male was responsible for the honor of the family and was supposed to represent the family in public—all these kinds of things are what His society expected of Him because He was the male and He was to be the leader when it came to everything having to do with His family.
And then, and then, His family comes to see Him in Mark Chapter 3 and Jesus says, “Who are my mother and my brothers?’
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!
Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’”
No wonder people thought Jesus had lost His mind.
But this is what God was doing through the Holy Spirit.
God was forming God’s family.
And it was made up of Jews and Gentiles, slaves, free people, males and females.
And when the early church leaders called one another “brother” and “sister” this is exactly the kind of relation they had in mind—these are the kind of commitments they had in mind—this is the kind of social world that the early Church had—these kinship relationships.
The Church wasn’t about “me” it was about “us.”
And if someone were to leave the church—they would be leaving their family.
What would the Apostle Paul or what would Jesus think of “church hoppers”—people who just float from one church to another depending on what they think they need for themselves?
I was serving a different church and a member got upset about something and left the church.
And I remember people talking about this in a small group.
And one woman in particular looked dazed.
She said, “I don’t understand how someone can just up and leave their church like this.
The church is your family.
And you stick with your family through thick and thin—no matter what.
Leaving the Church--It’s like leaving your family.”
And she was right.
She was spot on!
I’m not trying to demonize the people who leave.
It’s usually a big decision to leave a church—especially one you have been a part of for a long time.
This is their family.
These are people that love them and people they love.
We need to reach out to those who leave.
We need to let them know that we miss them.
We need to let them know that the family of God is incomplete without them, that we are not as healthy nor are we as good of a church without them.
There never was and there never will be a church filled with people who all agree on every single issue.
And if there were—it would be a cult!
But we aren’t a cult.
We allow one another to have differing opinions.
We don’t demonize those who think differently than we do, and we don’t assume to know all the answers.
One thing we do agree on is that we all need God and we all need one another.
So, what are Jesus’ basic family values?
One of them is that we share our stuff with one another.
Remember what the church was doing right off the bat in Acts Chapter 2?
We are told that “No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had…
…from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”
1st John 3 says, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other.
Anyone who does not love remains in death…
…If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
John can’t even conceive of a Church Family that isn’t concerned for and helping a brother or sister in need.
Another one of Jesus’ family values is that we share our hearts.
In Philippians Chapter 4 Paul writes, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!”
Who talks like that?
This is the kind of connection the early Christians experienced in their relationships with one another and it’s beautiful.
No wonder people watched in awe and said, “Look how they love one another.
I want to love like that!”
Another of Jesus’ Family Values is that we take responsibility for one another.
And we STAY!
We embrace the pain!
When the going gets rough we don’t abandon the family—we keep on keeping on for the sake of the family.
And in doing this we grow up with one another.
We all know from our own experiences that “doing family” is not easy.
Nothing worthwhile is easy.
And it’s not easy in the Church.
When we get close together like this, sometimes there is some tough stuff.
It’s hard work.
But remember, the Holy Spirit is on our side in this.
God wants to do great things through us…
…and people who stay—GROW!
People who run repeat the same relational dysfunctions with other people and in other churches down the line.
But people who stay grow and become the kind of people God wants us to be.
These are Jesus’ Family Values.
Let’s Pray:
Lord, we thank You for this wonderful adventure called the church.
We thank You for the relationships You bring us into.
Father, we ask that You would raise our level of commitment, raise our vision for how much better we can be for You because of the people You put into our lives.
We thank You.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
