We are Family?!

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
April 30th 2006
Meditation Series: “Love is?”
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“We are Family?!”
I John 3:1-7

In case you haven’t heard the news, Easter is not over just because the bunny is gone. In the Christian Calendar, Easter only began two weeks ago and does not end until June 4th. So between now and then we are going to celebrate Easter each Sunday. That does not mean we will be eating extra candy or hiding eggs in the yard each week or even having services at sunrise. Instead we are going to celebrate Easter by looking closely at very short book of the bible; the first letter of John. Do we know how to have a good time or what?
The first letter of John is not to be confused with the Gospel of John. It is a rather short book found just before the book of Revelation. Though this letter of John is rather short it contains a great deal. However, the Cliff Notes version (or Readers Digest) is this: ‘If you claim to believe in God, you had better love.’ Over the next few weeks we will take a closer look at some different aspects of the love of God, as it relates to this letter. This week, we focus on what it means to be part of the family of God.
In this mornings passage being children of God has everything to do with the love of God. We know that God, in Jesus Christ, intended from the very beginning that all people are included in the love of God. Simply put, this means all people are children of God. And that means God intends all people to be brothers and sisters. However, we human beings are really good at ignoring the implications of this radical good news.
Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have been working to define who is excluded from the love of God. We have nearly perfected the art of deciding who is, and who is not loved by God. Every time Christians do this, we can be assured of two things. One, God is not pleased. And two, those who are included in the loved list will most often look like, think like, dress like, and live like those who are making the list. The sad news is that the children of God are always limiting the love of God in ways God never intended. The good news about all this is that God is not finished with us yet.
As we talk about the family of God we must acknowledge that not everyone hears the word family as good news. Not everyone has had good feelings or experiences with family. The facts show that families can be places of abuse; emotional, physical, and sexual. However, this is not a reason to discard this metaphor. The truth is that early Christian community was no stranger to these and other oppressive family structures. So the use of the term ‘family of God’ is about reinterpreting oppressive family structures. The family of God is meant to be a radical life-giving alternative to what has become a cultural idol.
To use the language of family may leave us feeling rather unsure about how to proceed. I believe being part of the family of faith means we cannot ignore the real challenges. Fortunately these challenges are not a new phenomenon in the family of God. The community who heard the words of this letter for the first time knew real division. This is why the refrain of love gets played over and over. In fact, the refrain is a commandment. It says: “The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (I John 4:21).
This commandment which ties love of God to love of brothers and sisters sounds nice and simple but it is not easy. It is not easy because love is so much more than just being nice to one another. While civility has its place in the community of faith it does not fulfill the commandment for love. Love requires a commitment to move beyond sentimentality. ‘Getting real’ about love enables us to be honest with one another. It allows for the building of relationships on the solid foundation of God’s love. The message of this letter is all about developing an honest, caring, authentic community of God’s family.
I have heard it said that we are most able to share our emotions with the people whom we love. While there are some flaws in this line of reasoning it does point to an important truth. If we want to be in a healthy relationship with another person, or other people, it is critical to move beyond just being nice. Real relationships demand that we ‘get real.’ This movement from nice to real is a sign of a mature and healthy relationship. That is what it means to be in authentic loving family of faith built upon on the love of God in Christ.
We know that this call to authentic community is not easy. It is not easy because it marks a shift in the focus and energy for the followers of Jesus. For so long, large portions of the family of God have been busy sorting out who is going to hell and who is saved. However, this letter of John makes it clear that this practice is not what God intends. Instead Christians are to focus their energies on following the commandment to love.
The simply reality of this commandment is rather jarring. Simply put “The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (I John 4:21). So, if we want to know something about our relationship with God all we have to do it check our relationships with all our brothers and sisters. All of them – not just the ones we might want to claim, not just the ones who act like us, think like us, look like us, or even worship like us, but all of them. Friends, this is the good news, this is the gospel. So let’s continue on our journey to get real and live out this vision of community which has been given to us by God. Amen.