The Holy Health of a Family
Pastor Mathew Magera –
10/4/15 – Sermon 121
St. Thomas Lutheran Church,
Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace
and peace to you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why do we change things? Why
do we have to do something different than we have done it before? Why do we
have to take the time to learn something different when what we know already
gets the job done? You've probably noticed within this congregation some things
changing. Even this morning you've felt change in the air. Change is all around
us. We say we don't like it. But change happens. If something changes, it
typically does so to either go in a better direction or to avoid something
harmful on the current path. If I'm driving to Chicago and my GPS says there is
an accident several miles ahead it might want me to change my route. Why would
I want to do that? The traffic looks fine and the accident might even be
cleaned up by the time I get there. I might have to change my route not because
of what the conditions look like right now, but what they might look like
several miles away. It's hard for me to trust that. Sometimes I don't. Many
times I pay for that and end up sitting in a standstill for what seems like
forever. I should've changed when I had the opportunity because now change will
be all the more difficult. Change may not be all about avoiding the bad, but
just making travel time easier. It takes a different perspective to promote
change. I'd tell my GPS there's no way that route would be faster, but I'd
never know from where I'm at right at the current moment unless I took a risk
and went for it. But, for my GPS to give me that warning, something or someone
somewhere has a different perspective than I do and can see what it up ahead. Change
is just something we don't want to touch unless we're out of options. But, if
we're out of options, what exactly are we changing anyway?
Jesus Promotes
a Healthy Family
Allow me to change
directions just a little bit and talk about our Gospel reading this morning.
It's a tough one. It brings up a subject that is very close to some of us.
Jesus is talking about divorce. I'm not going to be spending time talking in
depth about this subject but it is important to hear. It is important for those
who have experienced the divorce of family members, parents, grandparents,
aunts, uncles. It is important for those who have gone through divorce yourself
and for those who might be considering it. Jesus, himself, is not creating a
new teaching, he is using the old teaching back from the book of Genesis.
"Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." This
is a hard statement to take, especially if you have been divorced. But, like I
said, I don't want to focus on divorce this morning, I want to look at what
Jesus was trying to promote, rather than condemn. We're all broken people, we
all make mistakes from time to time. We repent of those mistakes and ask for
God's forgiveness. Jesus is trying to promote a healthy family. And a healthy
family begins with the marriage of a man and a woman.
Not only are a husband and
wife important to a healthy family, but children are also important. Jesus
promotes and accepts a healthy marriage and Jesus promotes and accepts children
in his very presence. People were bringing their children to see Jesus but they
were being rebuked by the disciples, probably because of how rambunctious the
children can be. They're so loud, disruptive, we can't let them near Jesus. He
has more important things to do with moms and dads. Send the kids somewhere
else to play. Unfortunately, we can have this view of kids in church. Parents
might not want to bring their kids to church because they know they'll be the
ones stared at if their child is loud or disruptive. Parents, for those of you
here right now, please know your child is never disruptive in worship. We all
worship in different ways. Some do it quietly, others prefer to let out an
exciting scream. Bring the children to church, don't hinder them. Jesus shows
us how important the children are and he takes the children in his arms and he
blesses them. He points to them as being the focus of who enters the kingdom of
God.
So, Jesus here is promoting
a healthy marriage and the acceptance of children. Jesus is promoting a healthy
family. A healthy family is one that is completely centered in Christ. Mom and
dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, all are welcome into the presence of Jesus
but so are the sons and daughters. Everyone is welcomed around Jesus. A healthy
family is centered in Christ. Are we promoting a healthy family?
Strengthening
Our Families
Saying that divorce is bad
and telling someone to bring their kids to church just isn't going to do it.
You can't just say no to something. You can't tell someone divorce is bad
unless you are going to provide an alternative. You can't tell someone not to
hinder children being in the presence of God unless you are going to provide an
alternative. How are we going to get the divorce rates down if we just show
charts and statistics saying it’s going to get worse? We're not. We need a new
perspective on it. We need to promote healthy families across the board because
Christ needs to be in the center of our lives. Christ needs to be in the center
of grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, and within son and daughter. Can you
confidently tell me today, right now, that Christ is the central point of your
family? Not yourself. Is Christ at the center of your family? Under your roof
and beyond it? I can't speak for you but I imagine there are more of you
thinking to yourself "no" than want to admit it. I'm not saying it’s bad
to not be centered in Christ, but I am saying that I think it is time to help
make this possible.
This is where the Faith5
comes into play. Faith acts in the home. The point of it is not to add just
another burden to your day that is already filled with other things and perhaps
other devotions you do. The point is to foster a change within your household
and your family. Young and old can do it. I want you to do it. I want you to
really focus on doing it. I'm not saying that in order to be a good Lutheran
you need to do this, I'm not saying that at all. But, what I am saying is that
Jesus can truly change your family from the inside out. But, how would we know
unless we gave it a try?
Strengthening
our Congregational Family
Okay, so that's one change
that is taking place... a new ritual within the home that you can do each day.
Having a family centered in Christ is a great goal to have, but how about we
take that another step further. What about our faith family? Those of us who
are gathered here together right now? What about us? Is Christ at the center of
this congregation? Or is He just at the center of some of us? Are all of us
committed to this family right here in this place, committed to Jesus as the
center of it? I'm thinking many might be saying "no" than want to
admit it. Again, we want Jesus to be at our center as God does ministry through
us. We want soft hearts for Jesus so that we can be together, knowing each
other, praying for each other, spreading the Gospel together. Can we center
ourselves on Christ in order to do this? This congregation is as only as soft
hearted for Jesus as the one who heart is hardest among us.
This is where our Sunday
morning text study, Bread Crumbs, comes in. This is where our Wednesday night
Bread for the Journey comes in. Opportunities like our Wednesday evenings give
us the opportunity to do something together where we can interact around and
with each other. It's about gathering together in the presence of God and one
another. A chance for the youngest to interact with the oldest. Many of you
here are adults, do you know what goes on in the life of a high schooler
now-a-days? For the youth that are here, do you know what faith looks like to
someone who has been on this earth for over 8 decades? We're a family together
in Christ, but do we act like it? Yes and no. Should we? I believe we should.
How can we? By committing ourselves to Christ and to each other and to hold
each other accountable.
Just think about what we've
committed to this year already. We've brought the Gospel to many different
places this year. We've even updated our building. Within two months, we've had
new carpet laid inside and new siding outside. We were committed to this
projects, but let's see now if we can be committed to each other and to Christ
as our center.
Centered on
Christ
So, back to the question I
asked earlier. Why do we change things? Everything looks fine around us. We're
driving along just fine. Why does something need to change? We have to go back
to what Jesus is telling us. He's promoting a healthy marriage. He's promoting
a community in which children are as important as adults. He's promoting a
family-like community so that our hearts would soften toward him. There are
many things we can do when we leave this place today. We can go home and forget
everything about what just happened. We can do that. But if that's our goal,
what's the point? We should come here to be fed in order to be sent out. We
should commit ourselves to creating healthy and holy families in our homes as
well as within our congregation right here. We do this not because we have to,
but as a result of the life-giving love that is shown to us only through
Christ. Jesus wants us. He wants to know us. He wants us to know him. He wants
us to know each other. He changes our hearts, he softens them, and with soft
hearts he molds us into an example to others.
The more and more I look at
the world, I see families that are spending less time with each other and more
time alone. I see families who might only remember somebody’s birthday or
anniversary because social media alerts them. I see families that are becoming
less centered around Christ. Likewise, I am seeing churches that are more
concerned about numerical statistics rather than spiritual growth. I am seeing
churches that would rather do their own thing. I don’t want our families to
lose what’s in the center. I don’t want this congregation to lose what is at
its heart. So, let’s strengthen our families. Let’s strengthen our
congregation. We have to start somewhere. And it starts with a change. Let's
commit to putting Christ at the center of our family, at the center of our
congregation. And let's not do it because we have to, but because we want to.
Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me.” Well, we are all God’s
children, young and old. Let’s go to Jesus and receive life and love,
forgiveness of sins and a changed heart. To God be the glory, now and always.
Amen.