Lent- Day 14
Lent 2010: A Season for Listening
3/4/10 – Day 14
Listening to The Teachings of Jesus: Part 4
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” – Luke 8:19-21
We might have been taught that being a part of the family of God is dependent on our belief. I wonder if anyone every talked to Jesus about this position? Apparently, he did not get the memo. Jesus seems to think that there is something more rudimentary and necessary for those who would be members of his family. Once more we are astounded by how low Jesus’ standards really are! It seems it is simpler to be Jesus’ mother and brothers than it is to join the local church. Maybe the family of God is larger than we imagined and perhaps the church is not always as related as we would like.
People who knew and believed many things about God surrounded Jesus during his ministry with us. The Gospels often refer to them collectively as Scribes and Pharisees.
In spite of all they knew and believed, they could not come to grips with what Jesus was doing. Mark Twain once said something like, “everybody is talking about the weather, but no one is doing anything about it.” God talk is pervasive and cheap even in the most heathen segments of our culture. Godly living is rare and precious. Jesus seems to be more concerned with what we do rather than only what we think alone. There is a series of chasms between our head and our hearts and our hands. Sometimes our bodies can teach our hearts and our heads things that cannot be communicated in the opposite direction. To get lost in the world of thought and feelings is to miss the fullness of the incarnate nature of the kingdom that is at “hand”.
Today we remember that we can be a part of God’s family even if we don’t have everything figured out and even while we are struggling to understand what it is we believe. To be a Christian does not mean we have everything worked out and settled, but we are following a Teacher who is showing us a way to live that never stops. Maybe we think too much and act too little. Given time, we can talk ourselves out of anything even wonderful and needful things. Most of God’s instructions for us are verbs: love, forgive, bless, heal, feed… Today do something in Christ’s name for heaven’s sake!
– Rev. John Mattox
Let us pray,
O Lord, our brother,
It is overwhelming to think that you
have made us part of your family.
How wonderful to be called the children of God.
Forgive our shortsightedness
and help us to see everyone as
a brother, or sister.
Amen. – Rev. Katie Mattox
