18 January 2011

18 January 2011

Psalm 26, 28; Isa. 44:9-20; Eph. 4:17-32; Mark 3:19b-35

What, not who, would it cause you undue anguish to lose? I recall a time in my life when I realized that due to a moral/ethical failure on the part of my business partner I would not qualify as a Medallion-level frequent flyer and it truly upset me. My identity was at some level tied up in the fact that I was successful enough in my profession to travel a great deal. We may not be as obvious as those the prophet describes here as growing a tree, cutting it down and literally fashioning it into an idol and offering it worship but we do ascribe worth to those things that are not themselves worthy. It may be economics, politics, professional achievement, physical achievement, etc., but at the end of it all nothing is possible without the God who created it all. Worship is the cure for this illness of idolatry.

Crowds gather for healing, his family thinks He is crazy and the leaders think He has a demon. Which is it? Certainly it was a confusing time. Nothing had ever happened like this and no one had ever lived who was truly like Him so it isn’t surprising that everyone had an opinion about this curiosity. His family’s thoughts are intriguing particularly because Mary clearly knew who and what He was. Dealing with demonic forces certainly was outside the realm of ministry for most of the religious leaders, they would have kept safe distance from anyone they thought to be demonic, for holiness reasons you understand. (sarcasm intended) Jesus answers their objections logically and also raises the issue of the unpardonable sin, ascribing to satan that which the Holy Spirit is doing. We do have to be careful with forming opinions based on what is unusual to us. I don’t want to miss a move of God but on the other hand I want to be careful about what I choose to believe is of Him. It wasn’t wrong of the people to try and sort out what was going on in Jesus, He invited them to come and see. Conclusions should be carefully arrived at rather than emotionally driven. In the end, Jesus is calling to Himself a community and family within the human race, those who believe in Him and do the will of God are more family than even blood as we are eternally family.

The family of God are those who are born from above, not born of the flesh but by the Spirit. We should bear a family resemblance to Christ Himself if we are animated by the same Spirit. We are indeed a new family as we are new creations in Christ. Too often the world looks at the church and doesn’t see anything different, it sees people who are angry, dishonest, greedy, without compassion for the poor, bitter, slanderers and gossips. We tolerate behavior in the church that Paul would never tolerate. It isn’t wrong for us to hold one another accountable in love to our new identity. It is wrong to allow the old self to reign in the church. If we keep our focus on Him we will be healed and we will see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.