1.
Introduction
How do you
respond to a text like this? What jumps out at you?
·
We
see here something about our focus, and also possible distractions.
·
We
see something about how close a relationship disciples (like us) can have with
Jesus. We think of our family as those who are most intimately connected to us.
Jesus here was highlighting the intimacy, relationship and connectedness that
he would be experiencing with his disciples – all those who come to him to do
the will of God. These ones were at least equally, if not more so, considered
to be Jesus’ family.
·
We
see here something about how we might discover God’s will for our lives.
2.
Discipleship
Look at verses 46
& 47. We wonder what Jesus’ family members want to talk to him about? Mark
chapter 3 covers some of the background to this. Jesus was often mobbed and
didn’t have time to eat or rest. Others thought Jesus was crazy or
demon-possessed; others rejected him outright. Jesus’ family may have wanted to
protect him, which was understandable, but, in so doing, still showed a lack of
understanding of what Jesus’ mission was about. Of course he would be
criticised and rejected. Of course he would put himself in challenging
situations. Despite whatever Jesus’ mother Mary believed, we hear from John’s
Gospel (7:5), that his brothers did not believe in him. Family members
could even have wanted Jesus to abandon his ministry entirely and return home.
Jesus’ family
would have believed that they were well within their rights here, however Jesus
would have none of this! Remember what happened later on when Peter suggested
that Jesus should not go to the cross … as if this was not a big enough
temptation without being encouraged this way. Jesus responded strongly to Peter
… and knocked the idea right on the head – “Get behind me Satan … for you are
setting your mind not on divine things but on human things (Matt 16:23)!
Jesus was not going to allow any family connection nor any cultural
convention to disrupt his ministry to the lost ones God had sent him to;
especially so when there were crowds gathered around him wanting to hear what
he had to say.
Culturally, Jesus
dismissing his family in this way, would have been shocking to those there that
day. Jesus would have been seen to be shirking responsibility. So clearly this
highlights that, from Jesus’ point of view, the most important thing there is …
is to do the will of God (v.50), no matter who that puts you at odds with. This
might be family, but it also might be an employer, it might be a friend, it
might even be the law. In the Gospels, Jesus often took on laws, like the
Sabbath laws, or the ruling religious authorities, if these got in the way of
him fulfilling and promoting the will of God.
After all, Jesus
himself staked his life’s purpose on God’s will. When all the
implications of death on a cross started to impact on Jesus in the Garden of
Gethsemane, when humanly speaking he was contemplating alternative courses of
action – what did Jesus say? Not my will, but God’s! Matthew 26:39 reads, “And
going a little farther, Jesus threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My
Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; YET NOT WHAT I WANT BUT
WHAT YOU WANT’.”
It was the
disciples that Jesus pointed at, when identifying who it was that was doing the
will of God. This is because it was they who had made the determination to
follow Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew has already noted that these disciples have
already LEFT EVERYTHING else behind to follow Jesus (e.g. 4:18-22). This is all
a far cry from accepting Jesus just for what we can get out of it. We
might start there, but we can’t stay there. This is also far more than just
intellectual assent – there is an emotional and practical response required.
Embracing Jesus ultimately also means … embracing the will of God.
In Luke’s telling
of the same incident, we hear Jesus saying, “My mother and my brothers are
those who hear the word of God and do it” (Lk.8:21). We know that these
disciples didn’t always get it right, nor fully understand what was going on,
but nevertheless, with only one exception, they kept going forward. They were
in the game. They weren’t observers, nor critics; they were card-carrying, risk-taking,
followers of Jesus. For them, there was only one way of discovering the will of
God … on the journey with Jesus.
[Jesus was not
necessarily downgrading his natural family, but was certainly uplifting and
adopting those who had determined to follow him – his spiritual adherents.
Happily, we later read, in Acts, how Jesus’ family have become believers and
are a vital part of the Christian community (his brother James becoming a
leader in the church at Jerusalem and a New Testament contributor); but this
happened after Jesus ‘stuck to his guns’ and went through
with his mission. He completed his mission of salvation for his earthly family
as well as everybody else.]
3.
On
the Road
How do we discover what the will of God is? And how would you go about doing the will of
God? For the first disciples, the instruction manual hadn’t been written yet.
These disciples could only be a part of God’s will and purposes one way. They
had to follow Jesus, and be a part of everything he was doing. Jesus was their
rabbi – their teacher. To be a disciple means to live under the discipline of
another (in this case Jesus). For me, there is only one way still to discover
the will of God, and that is being on the journey with Jesus. This involves a
growing relationship with our teacher.
This means,
sometimes, that we have to ignore contrary voices; those people who don’t think
Jesus is cool, or those activities that leave Jesus out. We need to watch
carefully what it is that tends to influence us, and what we seem to give
priority to, and where we spend our time, and who might be trying to hold us
back (either inadvertently or deliberately).
We are much
better off than the first disciples were, in that we have some written material
to guide us (and some inspired written material at that). We have the whole of
the New Testament (and, as well, the Old Testament / Hebrew Scriptures to give
us more background material). Yet, I fear, that many still aren’t too familiar
with these texts. A few comforting proof texts maybe, but not so much the
thread of the whole Gospel narrative! My desire is for us all to know the Bible
well, and what it is trying to show us for our daily living.
So, hopefully, we
have a determination to follow Jesus in the midst of a growing relationship
with him. We have an experience of salvation whereby we have been freed from
all guilt and shame, and have been propelled into a new life of peace and hope.
We have the Bible, especially the Gospels, to guide us in being like Jesus, and
the Holy Spirit to give us more mature understanding and an assurance of God’s
presence with us. So what else is there in this pursuit of doing God’s will??
The actual journey of life! What is happening out there in the world? How are
we to engage with people? It is in this experience of the cut and thrust of
life that we encounter the will of God. Let get amongst it … community life!
Sometimes there
will be individual callings that we take up. These can then be prayed for by
others. More often there are callings that we embrace together … in small or
larger numbers – cooperating together, encouraging one another’s complimentary
contributions. Again, we have to be aware that there will be certain voices
seeking to divert us, because what we are doing does not suit them. And maybe
sometimes those voices seeking to divert us … are our own, because the road is
not necessarily easy, and there is always the temptation to take the easier
path of least resistance).
I believe that
Jesus had a growing understanding of the need for the cross, each and every day
that he encountered people in deep need and distress. There was also so much
darkness and injustice – he increasingly knew something had to be done to break
the impasse of sin. Take for instance what happened when Jesus entered
Jerusalem for the last time (after three years of ministry). He look down upon
Jerusalem … and wept over what he saw … because the people had not recognised
what made for peace (Luke 19:41-2). But Jesus was not only moved to tears, he
was moved to action. He went to the temple and threw out all those who were
cheating people or blocking people from being freely able to worship.
It is the more
that we engage with people, that we learn how much they need to know Jesus.
Even in the most jovial and seemingly together of our neighbours, if we got to
know them a little better, we would discover a deep need for Jesus. And it is
as we engage with people, eyes and ears fully open, that we discover more of
the will of God – we see and understand where things need to change, and thus
respond to the opportunities that present themselves to make a difference for
others.
LIVE
The purpose of
life is to be useful,
To be
responsible, to be compassionate.
It is, above all,
to matter, to count,
To stand for
something,
To have made some
difference.
When we talk
about the “will of God”, we are not just talking about the everyday decisions
we need to make, and whether they are line with God’s best intentions for us.
We are mostly talking about our life’s focus, our highest priorities, and what
our lives will count for. T.H. Robinson defines God’s will as, “the supreme and
decisive factor in all human consideration”. What does God want me to do? What
is my calling?? What contribution am I supposed to make???This is what we want
to know – this is what we strive for – this is how we want to live … in line
with God’s will.
4.
Relationship
There is an
intimacy of relationship promised to those who sign on to the will of God.
Remember, Jesus refers to such in the most familiar of terms … “brother,
sister, mother”. Such intimacy does not exist naturally, but only through a
decision – a decision to follow Jesus into doing the will of God. When so many
reject, Jesus clings closely to those who make a decision to be Jesus’ true
friends … his spiritual family.
And there is an
opening here for everyone. “Whoever” (v.50)! There is an invitation here for
anyone and everyone to join Jesus’ family. And this is not just an invitation
to be on the outer reaches or ‘back-benchers’ of Jesus’ family, but rather
right into the centre. In politics, in government, there is often an inner and
outer ministry, where the ones in the inner ministry are closer to the ear of
their leader. This is NOT the case here. “Whoever”, i.e. all of us, have an
invitation into the heart of Jesus’ life, mission and purpose.
We can not only
experience a warm reassuring peace-giving relationship with Jesus, but also a
meaningful and purposeful daily partnership in what Jesus wants to achieve –
the will of God. Thus, we pray, “Your Kingdom come; Your Will be done – on
earth as it is in heaven”. Amen!
Do you want to
give your life to Jesus and follow him?
Do you want help
in discovering what the will of God is for your life??
Do you want to
talk about your contribution to church or community life???
Do you want
prayer because all of this is a bit of a struggle?
May the mind
of Christ my Saviour live in me from day to day!
No comments:
Post a Comment