3 Pentecost: Proper 5/Year B/June 9, 2024
Genesis 3:8-15; Psalm 130; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35
Opening Prayer: (A NZ Prayer Book)
Almighty and everloving God, your Son Jesus Christ shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home; grant that we and all your children may live together in peace and joy, until we come to that eternal home which you have prepared for those that love you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In this time of graduation ceremonies winding down, and with the recent deaths of 2 long time St Peter’s family members, I’ve been thinking a lot about family this week…not my immediate family only...but other families I come in contact with… families that I hear about in the community… families I am still getting to know here at church…families with young children or grown children, families that I haven’t met personally, but have heard their stories…families who have been struggling with chronic health issues, aging parents, or the recent death of a loved one…
What I noticed was everyone has some good memories, everyone has stories of trials and triumph, everyone has stories of heartbreak and despair, everyone has stories that bring smiles to their faces, and tears to their eyes, and just about everyone I’ve had the pleasure of listening to, has a story about someone, who was not from their immediate family, who inspired them, encouraged them, and left a heart-print on their life…someone who welcomed them into their heart, into their life and into their “family” circle….someone who helped them to know that they mattered, they were loved, and they belonged..
I remember attending High School graduation ceremonies of my own children and other youth in recent years and listening to the keynote speakers, adults and youth, who often spoke about being encouraged by many, not just their immediate family members, but their grandparents, their teachers, their coaches, their friends, their church community….
And as I looked all around at the variety of families and the seniors sitting up front waiting to graduate…I wondered what their story was, too…Could they agree with the speakers that there are people who care about them; are there people in their lives who encourage them?
Are there people in their lives who gave them second and third chances when they made mistakes? Are there people in their lives who have forgiven them, and loved them, unconditionally? Was there someone who told them, you are important, you matter?
In God’s family…we let one another know that they are loved, that they matter, that they belong…not just in word…but through our everyday actions and interactions with one another…
This is one thing Jesus highlights in today’s closing verses from the gospel reading…While Jesus was gathered with a crowd of people, he was told that outside his mother, his brothers and sisters were asking for him. He replied to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers? And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother”.
Jesus is not turning away from his own mother or brothers and sisters, he just might be suggesting that the meaning of family is expanded and widened, and opened radically, when we all work together to do the will of God, through loving one another, as we have been loved…welcoming one another as we have been welcomed with open arms and experienced the joy in a place of belonging…
It’s not just about me, my family, my mother, my father...it’s about God’s family…it’s about welcoming every person as family…a family who strives to love one another, encourage one another, and forgive one another…
It’s about striving to make “LOVE the main thing” in our lives… as I quoted Nancy Rickett’s in her funeral service this weekend and watching it grow and expand over the years…and watching it grow and widen our definition of who family is…
There are too many children of all ages growing up in this world today, who don’t feel like they belong, who live in households where drugs and alcohol are present, physical and verbal abuse is a daily occurrence, growing up in war zones, food is scarce, love is not spoken in their home…It should grieve us immensely to imagine that children of any age, and their families are struggling in so many ways.
Our church families struggle at times, also, to love one another, in the way that Jesus has shown us. We have hurt others with our words and our actions, and others have hurt us, in a similar way. Being a family…is messy and sometimes very difficult. But, as we pray from the depths of our hearts, our prayers for forgiveness and healing are always heard by our Lord, and he opens a new way for us to move forward in hope and with new direction and guidance, in doing the will of God.
Jesus came to live among us to call our attention to something new...he came to break open all our ideas about what family is…He came to show us what real forgiveness looks like…He came to show us that healing is possible…He came to show us what love is and how love acts…
He came to show us, what family can really be about…when we all strive to the do the will of God… through loving one another, as we have been loved, by welcoming one another into the wide embrace of God’s love and care…and by continually striving for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity and worth of every human being…so that one day…everyone will have a story to share of someone who helped them to know that they mattered, that they were loved, and that they have an opportunity to experience the joy in a place of belonging, too…
My prayer today is that all of us, sitting here, will open up our hearts and minds a little wider this day…and dare to imagine a world, where we are all united in love as siblings in Christ, and where all know they are welcomed into the loving embrace of God’s family…
Closing Prayer/Hymn (#292/Bind Us Together/RENEW!)
Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together, bind us together in love. There is only one God, there is only one King; there is only one body, that is why we sing: Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together, bind us together in love. Amen
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK