The New Family

Luke 8:19-21

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

 Jesus is declaring that there is a new family. A family larger than the nuclear family, a family built not on blood relations but on willingness to not only hear but also to live by the word of God. In making this claim Jesus is doing two things.

First, we are called to a loyalty higher and stronger than the loyalty we have to our families. In a world with many competing loyalties, we are often told that family comes first. But Jesus challenges that and says the group of people (family) that gather around his word and obeying his word is the primary loyalty. With this group of people we share a common vision: “Jesus is Lord”; with this group of people we share a common commitment: “to love God and love one another.” Those are the bonds that keeps this family united across all the completing voices of our world. We are made one with all those who call Jesus Christ their brother.  

Second, Jesus is saying that all those who do not have a family can have a family, can have a place of belonging. That the widows and orphans, the outcast and disenfranchised, the overlooked and ignored – all these can find a home, a place of belonging, a family in the Jesus family. Since this family is drawn together not by blood or common culture, but rather by a common vision and a common commitment everyone is welcome. And in this diverse family all are to be welcomed as siblings, for together we call Jesus Christ our brother and that makes us one. In this family there is care and compassion shared, welcoming those who have no place, so that now they have a place.

 PRAYER;

Lord God, we thank you that in Jesus Christ we have been made one family across the lines of division of race and language and financial resources. Shape us into people who both hear and live out the pattern of life you desire of Jesus’ family. In His name. Amen.