June 9, 2024

         We’re starting out in Genesis today with the first house divided against itself.  God and humankind had been on the same page, in harmony, but temptation entered the picture and caused a rift.  I have to say that it is developmentally appropriate that the humans would start to think for themselves and not always in their own self-interest, learning the consequences of their actions and that God’s rules were for a better life, not to keep them from something they really wanted.  So here the human beings break with God’s rules, just like any teenager or tween would be expected to do since they have free- will.  When God asks about their actions and how they arrived at that decision, like any loving parent, they start to blame each other and God’s creation because they haven’t learned about taking responsibility.  Hopefully that comes later down the line with maturity of years.

            So here comes Jesus into a divided world, a house divided against itself.  He takes God’s  purpose and mission into the world in a single-minded way and he won’t be divided from God’s vision.  He very quickly encounters the powers of this world that grow in power by dividing people from each other.  We see here some of their tactics—associating anyone that doesn’t agree with them with Satan.  Not much has changed from Jesus’ time until now.  We so easily demonize each other, dehumanize each other, anyone who doesn’t agree with us or give us what we want.  These authorities have pulled away from God’s mission of compassion and taken a path that enriches themselves. 

            And here is Jesus’ family, divided.  They are divided by fear.  They want to protect their family member, Jesus, who is speaking out against these powerful people and drawing their attention.  Their interest is in his having a long life and growing in power so that he can support them and make them proud.  Their family is divided, because Jesus doesn’t share their interests.  He will not be divided from his father’s mission and he can’t both become a powerful person following the values of this world and follow God’s mission of humble service and love.  These missions are at odds with each other.

            Jesus speaks a very harsh truth about an eternal sin.  Jesus’ association with the Holy Spirit is being denied by those around him, and this is very serious.  That people could so misunderstand what the Holy Spirit is about as to not see Holy Spirit in Jesus’ actions and words is frustrating to him.  Here he is freeing people who are oppressed and healing people, and people see it as Satan’s work.  Satan destroys and divides.  Satan’s work could not be more different than the Holy Spirit’s.

            Jesus, rejected by his family and the religious authorities, redefines family.  Many of us have found chosen family over the years.  When Nick and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area when I was in seminary, we came home maybe once a year.  That meant building family with other people.  One thanksgiving we went to our friends’ Gabe and Erin’s.  There were people from many different places, all of us without anywhere else to be.  I learned a new way to get hardboiled eggs to peel easily.  I got to hear stories of adventures from all over the world.  It felt rather miraculous to spend Thanksgiving day with these people we barely knew.  By the end of the day, we had shaped each other and affected each other.  Many of you have built chosen families.  Some have connected with fraternity brothers or sorority sisters in this way, or colleagues from work, or the group that traveled to Israel/Palestine with Pastor Zieske feel to me like something of a chosen family, having shared such a deep and meaningful experience.  Some churches become chosen family.  I remember one couple having made church a chosen family.  Don mowed the lawn and Wilma made quilts and sang in the choir.  They were at church probably 4 days a week.  When they both passed away within a couple of months of each other, their daughter arranged to have their memorial service somewhere else.  I couldn’t help but think she resented her parent’s involvement in their chosen family.  Church, at its best, can be a safe place to be one’s self and explore things that might not be safe to explore in one’s family.

            I read a statistic the other day that 28% of LGBTQIA youth had reported being homeless or housing insecure, rejected by their families.  Many of them know well the comfort and joy of a chosen family.  When their own family can’t accept them for who they are, they find people who will.  They know who they can count on, who will be there for them, and those are the ones that are their brothers and sisters and mother and father. 

            To deny that the Holy Spirit is at work in someone who is pursuing hope and healing and new life, is to commit an eternal sin.  When we become chosen family for someone who has been hurt and rejected and walk with them on a road to healing and new life, we participate in the work of the Holy Spirit. When we notice and acknowledge gifts and talents in any of our siblings in Christ, we are doing the work of the Holy Spirit and not impeding the Holy Spirit in another person. Let us tread carefully in this territory and acknowledge the good work of the Holy Spirit in freeing the oppressed.

            Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother or mother or sisters.”  How do we know what the will of God is?  For one, we know God’s will is healing and freeing from oppression.  God’s will is abundant life.  Also, the will of God is discerned in community.  We come together to understand better the will of God rather than discern it in a vacuum, by ourselves.  That’s part of the reason it is so important to listen to the voices of the people of Santa Cruz and I’m sure why many of you are interested in learning Spanish.  These are voices from another culture, by and large a different socio-economic group, who have different stories and ways of seeing the world that can only enrich our own, because despite all these differences, they share the vision of freedom and new life that we do.  We are becoming chosen family together.

            And this is why it is important to include indigenous voices and stories in our understanding.  These perspectives only enrich our own, since we share the same values of reconciliation, stewardship, abundance, respect, and wisdom.  When we include these voices we get a greater perspective and some us have started to envision what it would mean to join together with indigenous people and become chosen family together.

            When Jesus points out his disciples and those gathered near him as family, may we find that we have drawn near to Jesus, by our words and actions, by drawing near to those who are hurting and rejected, by opening up in vulnerability about where we don’t fit in, by naming and standing up to oppression and injustice.  We will find a family that shares Jesus’ values and abundant life.