Mark 3: 7-35

Theme: Discipleship

Series: Getting to Know Jesus

I value the idea of family, as I think all of us do. The thing about family is that you don’t normally get to choose your family members. Often this leads to a less than ideal family experience. Some of us may have wished for a different father, one who loved us more or who did not abandon us. Maybe we wish for a mother who was more tender and more patient. Or, perhaps we would like brothers and sisters who do not bring heartache and suffering to the family.

If we could go to the family store and choose our families from test tubes, we would choose the perfect family every time. The most beautiful son and daughter. The best and the brightest and the most athletic. Everything would be perfect. With perfect parents and perfect children, there would always be enough money and enough time to do the things we think would make us happy. I suspect that it would be boring. We forget that it is the flaws and quirks of families that mold us and contribute to our own unique character.

Jessica gave me a Michael Card CD for my birthday. It is called Scribbling in the Sand. He tells about his father, a medical doctor. We think that would be an ideal profession for a father in a perfect family. He said that his father worked very long hours. He described him as a gentle man. But, almost always he would come home from work angry with the people and the medical problems he had dealt with that day. He would walk past them and lock himself away in his study to think and read and he did not come out. Michael Card said that among his earliest memories are being on his hands and knees speaking to his father through the crack under the door. In his song, he tells about the hurt of being shut out from someone whom he needed and who needed him. And yet, God has used this to shape him. God has used him to write some of the deepest, most meaningful songs in contemporary music.

I have to tell you that I cried when I heard it–hidden away in my office as I was. I identify with his father. I come home tired, hurt, angry with the stuff I deal with as a pastor. I now worry that I have shut out my own family.

Being in a family is difficult. No matter your background or education or temperament, all families are difficult families. The family of God is also a difficult family. Perhaps you would not have thought so. But there are pressures from within and from without that make life difficult in this family. It calls for us to leave our past behind, to cut ties, in a sense, with those who love us. We are called to place the heavenly Father and the Son on a higher level of importance than we do our own parents ands siblings. It is a demanding family.

The thing about this family is that God selects us. And his selection is quite eclectic. It is not the prefect mix of beauty and skills. His family comes in all colors and in all cultures and all social groups. We can no more choose our heavenly family than we can choose our physical family. The result is, God’s family is a difficult family.

Jesus started this family by selecting 12 men to be his disciples. He called such men as Simon whom he called a rock. And James and John, hotheads he nicknamed Sons of Thunder. Thaddaeus means "Big Hearted." There is one called Simon and it is better translated the Canaanite instead of the Zealot. And there was Judas Iscariot whose name meant dagger man, sort of like our gunman. Six of these men we know nothing about. They were a strange lot, fishermen, a despicable tax collector, even political radicals. It was a very strange family. And ths family had troubles from the very beginning

Sometimes the troubles come from within the family. His kinsman, these could have been relatives or followers, said he was a sick man. They said that he was out of his mind or that he had lost his senses. When Jesus came home, the people kept coming to him at all hours of the day. So many came to hear him and to see him and to be touched by him that they he did not even have time to eat. His kinsmen thought he lost his mind.

Other times the trouble comes from without. The scribes came down from Jerusalem and were particularly interested in the fact that Jesus cast out demons. They concluded that he was Beelzebul. The word means "Lord of the Flies" it was often used to refer to the head of the demons. In the New Testament, it refers to Satan Himself. They were accusing Jesus of being Satan! Jesus’ response was, to the effect of saying, how ridiculous! How can Satan be divided against himself?

Jesus said he cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit, and there is one sin that is unforgivable, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to assign evil to the work of the Holy Spirit. This is the unforgivable sin. It refers to those who are willfully blind, who persistently refuse the illumination of the Spirit, who oppose the Spirit’s work, who justify themselves by deliberately misrepresenting the Holy Spirit. Those who refuse the Holy Spirit close off the only avenue to salvation. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin and calls us unto God. And if we refuse his work, there is no forgiveness. In fact, we might say they are anti-family of God.

His mother and his brothers came, probably because they too thought he was beside himself. They could not get into the house. So, they sent word into the house that his mother and brothers would like a word with him. She knew from the beginning that he was no ordinary son. She knew that when she and Joseph lost him in Jerusalem. When they found him, his reply was, did you not know that I would be about my Father’s business? She knew that her claims on him were limited. She had been reminded of that at the Wedding at Cana. Yet, here she was with her sons, saying we have come for you.

Jesus’ answer is surprising. We would expect Jesus to call in his mother and brothers and introduce them. But, that is not what happened. Jesus quickly makes his identity known in a way that shows there are ties that are stronger than blood kinship. Jesus pointed to the disciples, and said, these are my mother and brothers. "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." Jesus reinterpreted the family. He was in the family of God and those who did the will of God were his family.

How is it possible that we can become part of a family whose ties are stronger than blood? The answer lies in who Jesus is. Jesus is the Son of God, he is God in the flesh and he came to redeem us. What Jesus did on the cross took away our sins. And He is the first one of God’s family raised from the dead. Those who follow him will likewise one day be raised from the dead. And the Bible says that those who come to him by faith not only find salvation but are made a part of God’s family. And that family lasts forever.

But we need to understand, being a part of this family can be difficult. Sometimes those inside the family will harm it. Sometimes we sabotage ourselves. We can become dysfunctional like any other family. Many times those outside the family of God will misunderstand us and oppose us. It is to be expected because the lost, unregenerated mind will reject the things of God. What do we do? We keep on following Jesus. We know that whatever rejection or troubles we have, Jesus has been there too. His suffering blazed a trail for us to follow. In times of trouble, we follow him. When we don’t understand each other, we bridge our differences by following him. When someone we love betrays us, we keep on following Jesus. When the world opposes us, we overcome by following him. Jesus is the head of the household and we follow him.

Look around the room this morning Behold this eclectic bunch, your sisters and brothers! For whoever does the will of God, is our brother and sister and mother. I hope that you are part of God’s family. If you are not, what keeps you from following Jesus?