My Family

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35 ESV).

The United States is typically divided into eight “sections.” We place Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands in two distinct categories because of their separation from the contiguous states; however, the rest are divided in Pacific states, Northwest states, Southwest states, Midwest states, Southeast states, and Northeast states. I love the little challenges that show up from time to time on social media asking us to count the number of states we have been to in our travels. I’ve only been to 30 of the 50 states. I still have the remainder on my “bucket list.” Mary and I have lived in three of these states. While most of our lives have been in Texas, we have also lived in North Carolina and Tennessee. Having pastored several churches over more than four decades we have also lived in several cities spanning these three states. It has been a journey that was always eventful. In each of the places we have lived we were always “at home.” I have come to believe that was true simply because our home was never dependent on geography or a physical structure. We’ve owned our home and resided in parsonages; we’ve lived in apartments, condominiums, and large homes of various styles. The key was always our family. Early in college Mary and I decided that no matter how nomadic our lives might seem, we were always going to be at home because we were there together. Like ships, home would always be where we would lower our anchor. This is precisely the truth Jesus expressed in our reading today. When told that his “family” was outside he questioned them asking “who” was his family? It was not a denial of those with whom he had grown up with. We see great care and concern that his mother be taken care of as he dies on the cross when he instructs John to take his place as the elder son. The key is rather in the truth that all of those who would follow him in faith are his family. That ought to bring us great comfort. Wherever we are, whatever we are experiencing, we can know that we have a family in Christ. We will never be homeless or alone.