St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
|
|
|
|
Romans: "In the Family Way" Romans 8:12-25 July 17, 2005
1. Time was when it was considered impolite to refer to a woman who was pregnant at "a pregnant woman." Instead, people used another phrase, a less graphic one. "In the family way." "In the family way" is exactly what this section of Paul’s letter is all about. So today let’s consider the family. Before we get into the "head stuff," lets work on our voices. Years ago, when I was at John Knox Church, we were bringing in a speaker to lead us in a "Family Weekend" and we needed a theme song. So I wrote some words to the tune "They’ll Know We Are Christian by Our Love" and called it "They’ll Know We’re a Family by Our Love." It occurred to me that that song would just nail Paul’s words, so I’m going to pass out the words for us to sing together. We’ll Know We Are Family When We Love (Tune: We Are One in the Spirit) (Words written by Ann LaMar, 2005)
2. Using the letters in the word family, what else can we say is true about them? The first letter is F. Families are frustrating. Everybody in my family has a different idea of how things should be done, and nobody wants to do them exactly like I want them done! Is that true in your family, too? 3. A. Families are amazing. When I think of my own family, and many of yours, and include a few other families I know, I am amazed! In spite of the bickering and feuding and differences of opinion, there is amazing strength. There is always one member of your family who will be there for you when the chips are down. It may not be the one you expected, but there is always someone. 4. M. Families are motley. "Motley" means diverse and composed of often incongruous elements. Opposites often attract, and in these days of voluntary marriages, family members can bring some very different people into the family. Whether it be pals or partners, family pictures these days rarely resemble Ozzie and Harriet Nelson or Ward and June Cleaver. (For you under about 30, those were early TV family sit-coms – every situation was ideal, every solution was perfect. The father’s worked in offices and the mother’s stayed home to cook and clean house.) My family is certainly not ideal! Is yours? 5. I. Families are incredible. When my parents celebrated their 60th anniversary, the whole family came to our house for the party. And we asked Lisa to come take pictures. After she took pictures of the individual family units, she took us all out in the back yard for one big group picture. We put Mother and Daddy in chairs in front, stood their three original children behind them, then fanned out the children’s children and the children’s children’s children. And we all looked straight at the camera and smiled. Then Jake, who was about 6 months old, spit up. Immediately, all the people on that end of the scene turned their attention away from Lisa, and toward the problem. I hollered at Lisa to take another picture, quick! And it’s my favorite picture of the whole day – it’s a picture of the way my family really is. Not all of us are clean and pressed at one time. There is always some crisis somewhere, and those closest to the action have all turned to help. It’s incredible to me the ways families come together when they need each other.
6. L. Families are loving. Loving in all the ways love can be expressed. There’s eros, the romantic love. And there’s philios, the friendship love, and there’s agape, God’s unconditional love. 7. I. Families are interdependent. God designed families so the children could grow up nurtured by their parents, but God did not intend for them to stay tied to their parents forever. The day is supposed to come for children to leave their parents and begin their own lives. The Bible implies that every child should grow up and mate and have children of their own. But that was in the days where there weren’t enough people to take care of the earth. The situation is different today! Not everybody needs to have children, or can have children, or should have children. Goodness! Jesus didn’t have children. But he looked after the children who "belonged" to other people. He did not shove them into the background as his disciples wanted him to do. All that being said, family members should be there for each other, in joy and in sorrow – not fiercely independent, not pitifully dependent, but interdependent.
8. E. Families are eternal. God set up families so that the children would eventually grow up and begin another family. God wants there to always be life on this planet. Which is why God sent Jesus, to teach us how to live, so we wouldn’t kill each other off. 9. S. Families are sacred. "Sacred" means to be set apart for unique purpose. God intended for there to always be families where children can grow up to be safe and healthy and loved and taught. Families are under great stress these days – we need to do everything we can to make them strong. 10. Now, let’s take what is true about our biological families and overlay it on this Family of God that Paul talks about. Are the characteristics of families also true of the Church? 11. F - Frustrating: How many of us have been frustrated with one or more members of either this congregation or the whole Presbyterian Church, or even other Christians in other denominations? If you don’t have your hand raised, we need to talk. You are out of touch with reality! 12. A - Amazing: That the Church continued to flourish amid all the persecution it has experienced is nothing less than amazing! 13. M - Motley: "Diverse, in sharp opposition to one another, lacking in consistency, not suited to the circumstances." Yup, that’s us! And this part of being One Family is probably the hardest to deal with. We must always be asking the question, "Given all our differences, how can we make this work?!?!" 14. I - Incredible: The Church is even more incredible that our individual families! Think of the hospitals and schools started by churches through the centuries! All over the world, the Church has strived to be in its time what Jesus was in his time. 15. L - Loving: Yes. Sometimes we get it right. Every now and then, despite our foibles, we get it right. We work for peace and justice in order to show the incredible love of God showed the world in Christ Jesus. 16. I - Interdependent: Oh my, yes! Whether we’re talking about members of this congregation, or members of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Malawi, we are linked together – not by our own blood, but by the blood of Jesus Christ. When I was part of our Presbytery’s delegation to Malawi six years ago, I heard one of them say, "When we try to do it alone, we are no more than prey for the wild animals. But when we do it together, we become strong, and can withstand anything." And the way we’ve linked ourselves together with the three other Presbyterian congregations closest to us shows how much better we can strengthen our faith when we join together. 17. E - Eternal: The Family of God has changed over time; it has been strong, it has been weak, then strong again; it has done good things and it has committed horrible atrocities in God’s own name. But it has always been there. And it always will. God will never leave the world without a witness. 18. S - Sacred: Set apart for a special purpose – the purpose of making disciples of Jesus, and teaching them to serve as he served. 19. Yes, we are "in the family way." And, along with Paul, we "groan inwardly" while we wait for the future to unfold. But we do not wait in vain, for we have hope. Thanks be to God! |
|
To navigate through the web site, click on the buttons at the top or on the side of the pages or on any links within the page. Use your browser's Back button to return to the previous page if that page does not appear in the buttons available. External hyperlinks should open in a new window - close it to return to this page. |
