His family was concerned

In our Gospel reading tonight, we find Jesus teaching after a very long
stretch of healing, teaching, hiking up and down mountains, and debating
with Phaisees. He hadn't even had a chance to eat, so naturally, his
family was concerned.

"His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to
him and called him" to try and get him to come inside and rest… Rest,
after all, if you had been listening to Beth's beautiful sermon on
Sabbath last week, Jesus, rest is part of your Father's divine plan.

At least some of them will have noticed that he'd been a long time and
hadn't eaten and thought it was a worthy message to pass on. It
continues, "The crowd was sitting around him; said to him, "Your mother
and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you."

And then comes, from Jesus, a truly difficult teaching.

One that can bring fear in our hearts -
while at the same time shove open wide the doors of love, inclusion, and
care for one another.

"Who are my mother and my brothers?" Looking at those around him, he
said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God
is my brother, sister, and mother."

The fear comes from at least two fronts.
One of loss and the other of the unknown.

Jesus named those sitting down around him as close to him as Mary and
James—mother and brother by blood. The idea of kinshipat that moment was
changed on cosmic level. Jesus took a look around and said to each
person there: mother and sister and brother.

Just saying this, I can feel some heartbreak—
the thing that ties us closest, blood,
Jesus is saying it is no longer the thing that ties us the closest.

Rather, it is doing the will of God, doing the work of the Kingdom,
building up the Kingdom of God.

(A small footnote here - if we think ahead to Jesus on the cross - Jesus
gives Mary and John to one another. Mary, here is your son, John, here
is your mother. So Jesus shows that there is something of kinship that
is deeply important. But that is another sermon. In tonight's reading,
he shows the opposite side of the coin - where the idea of mother and
brother, sibling, is opened up wide.)

The question at this moment that is often asked is, "How must Mary have
felt hearing Jesus say that the crowd was made up of his mother?

All of a sudden, these people are included in her family in some way.
There is no way Mary could have known them all, though probably some.
Some might have been thrilled to be included in her family, and others
might have come with a cringe or even disdain.

But apparently, that didn't matter to Jesus. The criteria was set out as
clear as it could be, "Whoever does the will of God is my brother and
sister and mother."

The doors are open, and anyone who wants to come to the Table of Christ
is welcome.
---
It's a whole new way of thinking about, well, everything. And when we
are faced with whole new ways of thinking about things, it can feel
frightening.

Here's a kind of silly example.
When I worked at Farhenheight ,the coffee shop in toronto, we would not
serve espressos, macchiatos, and cortados to go - they are very small
drinks where the ratio of espresso to the surface area of the cup causes
the drink to be less than ideal.

We just wouldn't do it. We would offer an alternaive, sometimes for free
if it was a real issue. But even a free drink was not enough, sometimes
people stormed out without a free coffee having told us everything we
were doing wrong with our lives…

And that happened - why? Because we were saying that
there was a different way to think about these three coffee drinks.
         It doesn't get more inconsequential than that!

But had they taken the time to slow down and just try it they would have
found that there was method to our maddness.

Those drinks are particualry beautiful when had in that space, from the
ceramic cups - free from the taste of the wax of the paper cup (and the
loss of oils in the seams), with a smile and a send off as they walked
out the door.

Those drinks are not about the coffee. They are about the experience,
the love, and the coffee.

Jesus, when he called that crowd of people, his mother, sisters, and
brother, was not talking about the claim that we have on each other as
blood relationships. He was talking about what it means to be surrounded
by a crowd of people that you can call family; that is your family.

What it means to have a crowd of people to call upon when you are
feeling low when you need help when you need food when you need advice
when you are feeling lonely.

Jesus was talking about what it means to have a crowd of people around
you doing the will of God.

You see, if the crowd in which you sit is full of your mothers,
brothers, and sisters, then you will have the support you need. And,
each of your God-given gifts will have more potential to support others
when needed.

Sometimes, a shoulder to cry on, advice and emotional for applying for
apartments and jobs and going through insurance claims or troubles at
school, libraries to dig through, expertise on internet analytics,
proofreaders, sound engineers, dreamers, administrators, electricians,
plumbers, contractors, painters both canvas and walls, the one who makes
the best brownies…

It is good to mention that Beth preached last week because a few of you
here said to me, "We know you can go visit your family in Denver and
preach the day after you get back, but we would like to care for you.
Have someone else preach; go fully present with your family." That is
what happened, and the blessings of God were multiplied through last
week's service; we got to hear Beth preach on the Sabbath, I got to
spend time with family, and be cared for and blessed by all of you.

All of these people called to be family in Christ, mother's bother's
sister's of each other, doing the will of God. Loving one another as family.
How blessed are those who are a part of this giant and messy family of God?

It's a whole different way of thinking about what it means to be part of
a family.

Scary - yes - because it's new, /and/ there is a kind of loss of
exclusivity, of the family-ship that we are so accustomed to, /and/, who
knows, will be coming to the table? /And/ Who knows what kind of scars
they are bringing to be healed?

But beautiful - yes - because the scope of love and support, the
possibility of collaboration, the capacity to do the Will of God and the
work of the Kingdom are multiplied exponentially. Again, like last
week's service.
A group can almost always do more together than one person on their own!

But not only multiplied exponentially and also shared justly.
A ramp up when needed - like during the transition so many of you
stepped up to fill in the gaps.
Rest taken when needed - After the transition, some have taken a step
back to rest, and others have stepped forward to take up that load.

Why? Because none of us here want to see each other burn out we all want
to see each other live into the full potential God has for us.

Jesus knew that the will of God, the work of the Kingdom, is bigger,
more ugly and more beautiful than any one person could possibly even
imagine-
/and/ that we would need more than /co-workers/ to help -
he knew that we would need the love and, care and support of mothers and
brothers and sisters, siblings to do this work.
And so he gave us each one to another, not only to make it possible, but
to make it beautiful.

As we move into these slower, quieter, more sabbathy months of the year,
may we do the Will of God, the Work of the Kingdom, being ever mindful
that we are here for one another, meaning you for someone else, /and
someone else for you!/

Whether we like it or not, we love and support each other as Mary and
James did for Jesus.

And Jesus did for all of us in giving us one to another.
Thanks be to God,
Amen