Family Matters

The text from Mark 3:20-35 reminds me of the saying, “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.” In this case, it appears that Jesus is frustrated with his own family. A family that is concerned for his safety. A family seeking to restrain Jesus when people in the crowd exclaim, “He has gone out of his mind” (3:21). It is a scenario that forces me, and perhaps some of you, to ask: “What in the world is going on here?”

Context in scripture matters. So perhaps the place to begin as we wrestle with this text is to remember that family in Jesus’ time mattered. A person’s name and entire identity flowed from one’s family connections. One’s role in life was determined by your position in the family. Family affiliation also identified outsiders. Individuals without family connections lacked authority, power, and place. People unlucky enough to live on society’s margins were shunned and despised. When viewed through this lens, notice how the text from Mark 3 expands and challenges our understanding of family and belonging.

It also helps to know the events leading up to this uncomfortable encounter between Jesus, his family, religious leaders from Jerusalem, and the crowd following Jesus. By this point in Mark’s Gospel Jesus’ ministry in Galilee is underway. He is teaching in the synagogues, healing the sick, and casting out demons. Word of Jesus’ activities has spread, and large crowds are flocking to him, including religious leaders from Jerusalem; powerful individuals who take offense. When Jesus proclaims, “Your sins are forgiven.” When Jesus dines with sinners and tax collectors. When the disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath. When Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Events that prompt the religious leaders to accuse Jesus of blasphemy and to conspire how to destroy him.

This is the context in which the crowd scene unfolds after Jesus returns home. Throngs of people milling about, people hungering for healing and belonging, angry scribes determined to destroy Jesus, and concerned family members seeking to restrain Jesus when people in the crowd cry out, “he has gone out of his mind.” Amid it all, notice the reaction of the scribes from Jerusalem. Seizing upon the opportunity to agitate the crowd even more, the scribes declare: “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of demons he casts out demons” (3:22). Really?

It is, in my opinion, a classic example of misdirection. Up until this point in Mark’s Gospel, the demonic powers and unclean spirits have repeatedly recognized who Jesus is and what his presence means for them. – DEFEAT! The unclean spirits bow down before Jesus, acknowledging him as the Son of God.

The plot to destroy Jesus, it appears, has been hatched. That is, until Jesus turns the tables on his accusers. First, by logically pointing out that a kingdom working at cross-purposes against itself is self-defeating. For a kingdom (even Satan’s) divided against itself cannot stand. Then, by comparing himself to the strongman who has bound Satan to plunder and defeat the demonic forces that oppose God. And finally, by throwing the scribes’ false accusations back upon them.

“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness” (3:28-29). Jesus has now turned the tables on the ones who have declared, “He has an unclean spirit.” Ironically, the religious leaders from Jerusalem, the ultimate insiders, the ones who have accused Jesus of blasphemy for proclaiming, “Your sins are forgiven,” find that their own words have come back to judge them guilty. By falsely declaring that Jesus has an unclean spirit, Jesus’ opponents have publicly blasphemed the Holy Spirit – an unforgivable sin.

The text does not leave us here though, does it? Jesus’ family, concerned for his safety and well-being, make their way through the crowd, and call out to him. Yet, given the size of the crowd, the people around Jesus tell him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you” (3:32). But, instead of responding directly to his family, Jesus asks: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then looking at those gathered around him, Jesus responds: “Here are my mother and my brothers! “Whoever does the will God is my brother and sister and mother” (3:32-35).

Remember, family matters. And in the face of conflict. As religious leaders attempt to destroy Jesus and concerned family members seek to restrain him. Jesus’ reaction expands and challenges our understanding of God’s family by eliminating barriers separating insiders and outsiders when he declares, “Whoever does the will of God” is my family member. In the midst of a public attack and in the presence of concerned family members Jesus extends an open-ended invitation of welcome, belonging, and acceptance extended to disciples of every time and place.

Yet, experience teaches us that try as we might, doing the will of God is no easy task. Is it? For we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We judge, we other, and we participate in systems of injustice and racism. We fail to heed the call of Christ in our lives. The call to love God and to love our neighbor. To love unconditionally and completely as God loves us. To embrace people from all edges and margins of life. To see the face of Christ in the people we meet.

We also struggle to heed the call to discipleship that Jesus extends to us by failing to generously share the gifts of time, talent, and treasure entrusted to our care. Or it may involve the excuses we make to justify our inaction as others step forward to lead the many and varied ministries we share.

Though we come up short more often than we would like to, the Spirit helps us cling to the promise that God is near, and that God is merciful. We trust that God’s Spirit comes to us now. In the assembly of the called-out ones. In the Word of God proclaimed. At the Lord’s table. A place of welcome and belonging where the Living Christ declares to you: “This is my body and blood given and shed for you. Your sins are forgiven.”

And, having been fed, forgiven, and strengthened through the means of grace, God’s Spirit sends us out into the world. Sends us to break down barriers and divisions. Sends us to spread love. Sends us to encourage one another in the way of Jesus as we participate in God’s saving and healing mission for the world.

Life in the Spirit

Some of my fondest childhood memories include pets. Our family “zoo” included gerbils, a chameleon, and neighborhood squirrels and pigeons trained to take treats from our hands. Unfortunately for us kids, mom, fearing that her pet-loving sons might catch rabies, eventually put an end to our budding aspirations as animal trainers. 

In addition to our more exotic pets, we also had cats and dogs. One of our dogs, Pepper, an energetic dachshund-beagle mix, loved to chase his tail. Once Pepper set his sights on his tail, he became a whirling dervish – a black, white, and tan blur of eyes, nose, and tail. And though he managed to grasp hold of his tail from time to time, Pepper inevitably released his prize upon discovering that it was not the tasty morsel that he had hoped for. Yet, whenever we dangled Pepper’s tail in front of him again, our family pooch would spin in circles in search of his elusive prize.

A life lived in the flesh can seem a lot like that. A lot of energy expended with not a lot to show for it. Wasted time spent trying to measure up to unrealistic expectations. The expectations others have for us. The demands we place upon ourselves.

So, it is no surprise then to hear the Apostle Paul’s views in his Letter to the Romans comparing a life lived “according to the flesh” (8:12) to a life “led by the Spirit of God” (8:14). Flesh, a reflection of our fallen and disobedient human condition, is a dead end. “If you live according to the flesh,” warns Paul, “you will die” (8:13). 

Paul’s description of a life lived “in the flesh” reminds me of those childhood afternoons spent with Pepper running around in circles. There have been times in my life when I have felt like Pepper, perhaps this is true for you as well. Times when we find ourselves running in circles chasing after things that lead us into sin. Moments when we turn away from the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives, in the lives of others, and in our world. Times when we find ourselves trapped in vicious cycles of guilt, sin, and insecurity.     

For some, a life lived in the flesh might appear when our lives are controlled by the powers of envy, greed, and bigotry. Attitudes and actions that separate us from the love of our neighbors near and far. Sinful behavior that judges others instead of taking time to do the hard work of naming and claiming our own sin and brokenness.

Though we come up short time and time again, the good news is that life in the flesh does not have the final say. God does. Paul writes in Romans 8:10: “But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”  

God’s life-giving and saving Spirit comes to all the baptized. Joining us together in the body of Christ, empowering us with the gifts of the Spirit, and sending us out to be the church together. This is the journey of all the baptized. Dying to sin and being raised to new life in Christ. Day after day after day. For God declares that we are more than the sum total of our mistakes. The Living Christ, the One sent by the Father and raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, comes to us in the middle of our messy lives proclaiming, “You are my beloved child. Your Sins are forgiven.”

A life lived in the Spirit enables us to see life “according to the flesh” for what it is, a dead-end quest that generates a lot of activity, but like Pepper’s running around in circles chasing his tail, does not get us anywhere.

On Trinity Sunday we remember our respective baptisms as we worship the Triune God who creates, redeems, and gives new purpose and meaning to all creation. One God coexisting for all eternity as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” It is a fitting occasion to hear the promise of baptism announced once again and to remember WHO YOU ARE and WHOSE YOU ARE – God’s beloved child, marked with the sign of the cross and gifted with the power of the Holy Spirit. An heir of God and joint heir with Christ (8:17).

“When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’, declares Paul, it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (8:15-16).

In baptism all barriers separating insiders and outsiders are stripped away. The scope of God’s family knows no limits. All are welcome. All are loved. All are forgiven.

Stop running around in circles. Live into the promise of your baptism as one claimed as God’s beloved child, redeemed by our Savior’s precious blood on the cross, and raised to new life in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

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