BEING AN ALTERNATIVE FAMILY

 

August 16, 2024

 

Father, it is so easy for me to live automatically, so that nothing touches me or moves me. Give me the fullness of living in the now. Teach me to rejoice in the present. In the name of your son Jesus. Amen.

Galatians 6:10 

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone ….

 

Just for a moment, try to picture a world where everyone around you is kind, caring, encouraging, and willing to help when you need help. Everyone. Spouses, family members, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, bosses, political leaders, prime ministers. They are for you. Picture a world where people are quick to try to understand, quick to apologize, and quick to forgive. Imagine that everyone around you is healthy and thriving, fully who God made them to be, passionate about their work but with plenty of time for rest and fellowship and celebration. Imagine a world where people love God, where everyone is confident and pleased with who they are and each person works hard to love the people around them.

We don’t live in that world. We will. Rest assured, it’s coming, the redeemed world. The kind of world our text today envisions. One that people take the opportunity, to do good to everyone …. But, in honesty our world today is quite different than the world described above.

Our world seems engulfed in darkness. Just open any news outlet and look around. You'll see corruption, atrocities, and hatred. There's relentless competition, selfish cruelty, and brutal callousness. Everywhere there's killing and lying. It's as if, like John Eldredge wrote, "The world has gone completely mad."

This darkness is not physical, of course. It’s spiritual. Do you recall Jesus words in John 3? There we read Jesus assessment of the world, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” 1 John 5:19 says “whole world lies in the power of the evil one”. An enemy is at work in the world. An enemy who wants only to “steal and kill and destroy”, Jesus noted in John 10:10. A friend of mine put this way: “An enemy who wants nothing more than to pillage and plunder our hearts, our lives, and the entire world.”

The world can be hard to navigate sometimes alone. That’s why the biblical idea of “table” speaks to us so well. Yesterday we noted that the table in scripture is a symbol of unity, equality, and the interconnectedness of all people and things. We called the table, in light of the Bible, a sacred space where individuals can find comfort, connection, and spiritual nourishment. It represents a place where God’s presence is felt, and where faith and love are shared.

One of the powerful things that I read about lately was that the safety net of the ancient world was the family, immediate and extended. It was the kinship system. The clan. The tribe. The village. To survive their own troubled times, people gathered together and relied on one another. They relied on parents. Siblings. Aunts and uncles. All manner of cousins and close friends. They relied on community. It wasn’t a perfect system but, I would say it was much better than facing the world’s darkness alone.

When Jesus arrived, though, everything changed. People who came into contact with him got to experience up close how God keeps people safe. They got to see with their own eyes the way God loves, the way God cares. And they came away changed. With new energy and strength and faith. With hearts burning with love.

Jesus took the idea of family to an entirely different place and a wholly new level. N. T. Wright called it an “alternative family.” A supernaturally strong safety net. One that can stand against any darkness, because God is the father in this one. He’s the head of this new kinship. And it’s not only him. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are involved, too, and just as deeply.

That is the power of Christian community, an "alternative family" that stands together to face the hardships of living. That is the why of table fellowship.

I pray that this week, the devotions have caused us to think about who is at our tables, and conversely who is not. I have been relearning the power of table fellowship through our community meals, I think many of us have. We, from the start said, we wanted to create a place, a table(s) that represented that ALL ARE WELCOME, that this is a place of safety, friendship, togetherness, and God's presence. God is building that.

So, lets keep imagining that table and who we invite to sit at it with us.

THE TAKE AWAY

Let's notice the people that come into proximity to us this weekend, within two or three meters.

And then, keep imagining a large table with seats for each of them.

Do what you would do with anyone sitting at a table in your home, learn their names, and treat them with care and give them the gift of listening to them.

With the Holy Spirit’s guidance and help discern what they need most, connection, belonging, kindness, mercy, understanding, encouragement, ….. Then faithfully pray for them asking God to open paths where you might be a small part of meeting those needs.



LET US PRAY

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, the privilege is ours
to be called to share in the loving, healing, and reconciling mission of your Son, Jesus Christ, 

may your Spirit make us wise;
may your Spirit guide us;
may your Spirit renew us;
may your Spirit strengthen us
so that we will be
strong in faith; persistent in good deeds
and courageous in witness.

This we ask through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.