February 1, Boy Scout Sunday

Lesson: Matthew 12.46-50

Sermon Title: Mom and Pop, Brother and Sister

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INTRODUCTION

A Fraudulent Psychic (1)

A woman went to the local psychic in hopes of contacting her dearly departed grandmother.

The psychic's eyelids begin fluttering and she begins moaning. Eventually, a voice comes, saying, "Granddaughter? Are you there?"

The granddaughter, wide-eyed responds, "Grandma? Is that you?"

"Yes granddaughter, it's me."

"It's really you, Grandma?" the woman repeats.

"Yes, it's really me, granddaughter."

The woman pauses a moment, "Grandma, I have just one question for you."

"Anything, my child."

"When did you learn to speak English?"

  1. The psychic was a fraud.
    1. Much of what we see and hear is fraudulent.
      1. We see so many commercials on TV that offer so much for so little.
      2. Many of them, if they are not fraudulent, are deceiving.
    2. I hope this morning that you desire as much truth as your mind can grasp.
    3. There is in this encounter of Jesus with the messenger who comes to him with a request from his mother and brother's that is so profound and true that it can lead you into the one most important relationship that any person can experience.
    4. what Jesus provides us is a "key" to understanding.

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MAIN BODY

The Man with No Key (2)

A woman walks into a convenience store. She walks straight to the manager and asks, "Do you have any small note- books?"

"Sorry," says the manager. "We're all out."

The woman shrugs, and asks, "Well, do you have any mechanical pencils?"

"Nope, don't have that either," says the manager.

The woman feels her stomach rumbling and asks, "Do you have Doritos? Nachos?"

The manager shrugs, "Sorry."

"Hmmph. How about Chapstick?" says the woman.

"Nope. Don't have that."

"Wow!" the woman shouts, "If you don't have anything, you should close the stupid store!"

The manager shrugs, "Don't have the key."

  1. Jesus provides the key to opening the lock of relationships.
    1. We have our family of origins.
      1. The biological Nuclear family.
      2. The extended family.
    2. We also have our family of origins our faith family.
      1. Galatians 3:23-29, NRSVA
23Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
  1. We need to take a good look at the source, the characteristics, the purpose and benefits of the family.
    1. The father of the family.
      1. God as father.
      2. What kind of father?
        1. Transference (3)
          1. "What is Transference? During transference, people turn into a "biological time machine".
          2. "A nerve is struck when someone says or does something that reminds you of your past.
          3. "Transference occurs when an individual moves the emotional past and psychological needs into the present.
          4. :In less poetic terms, a transference reaction means that you are reacting to someone in terms of what you need to see, you are afraid of or what you see when you know very little about the person.
          5. "This all happens without you knowing why you feel and react the way you do.
        2. Projection (4)
          1. "What Is Projection? Some people refer to transference as a "projection."
          2. "In this case you are projecting your own feelings, emotions or motivations into another person without realizing your reaction is really more about you than it is about the other person."
        3. One of the dangers we face is attempting to understand God is the danger of transference and projection.
        4. We expect God to think and behave in the ways in which we do.
      3. We really need to understand what does Jesus say about the father.
        1. Jesus Testifies about the Father and His Place in His Life
        2. John 5:19-20, NRSVA

19Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 20The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.

        1. John 5:31-38, NRSVA

31"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36But I have a testimony greater than John's. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

        1. John 14:6-11, NRSVA

6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." 8Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." 9Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.

        1. Michael Fink, writing in the Holman Bible dictionary on the use of father to refer to God says:

The idea of God's intimate relationship to humanity is a distinct feature of Jesus' teaching. God relates to believers as a father relates to his children. Some would translate Abba as "Daddy" to convey the close, personal meaning of the word. Even when "Father" in the New Testament translates the more formal Greek word pater, the idea of abba is certainly in the background. Jesus addressed God as Abba in prayer (Mark 14:36) and taught His disciples to pray in the same terms (Luke 11:1-2). Jesus' claim of intimate relationship with God offended many of His opponents because they considered Abba to be overly familiar in addressing God. But Jesus' usage established the pattern for the church's view of God and each believer's relationship with Him. Paul used Abba to describe God's adoption of believers as His children (Rom. 8:15) and the change in the believer's status with God that results (Gal. 4:6-7).

      1. In Revelation 21 there is a description of the new heavens and new earth.

Revelation 21:1-4, NRSVA

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
   "See, the home of God is among mortals.
    He will dwell with them;
    they will be his peoples,
    and God himself will be with them;
    4he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
    Death will be no more;
    mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
    for the first things have passed away."

      1. If it is going to be like this is the future than is it possible to believe that God is providing for the same future in the present.

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    1. The mother of the family.
      1. The nurturer of the family.
      2. The presence and place of the Holy Spirit.
        1. The work and ministry of the Holy Spirit is like a mother
          1. John 14:17 (NRSVA)

17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

          1. John 14:26 (NRSVA)

26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

          1. Romans 8:9-11, NRSVA

9But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

          1. Romans 8:13 (NRSVA)

13for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

          1. Romans 8:26-27, NRSVA

26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

          1. 2 Corinthians 3:6 (NRSVA)

6who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

          1. Galatians 4:29 (NRSVA)

29But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.

          1. Titus 3:5 (NRSVA)

5he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

  1. The siblings of the family.
    1. All are members of the one family.
    2. This means even those we do not like or desire to associate with.
  2. The Purposes of the Family.
    1. To restore in those who choose to become members of the family, the lost image of God.
      1. To grow up.

Radio commentator Earl Nightingale once told the story of an angry father shouting, "Why don't you grow up?" at his 12-year-old son. The boy struggled to control his tears, but finally blurted out amid the sobs, "That's what I'm trying to do!" (5)

      1. God can help us learn, but he has to let us learn by ourselves or in the company of a committed community of seekers.
    1. We lost it in the beginning.
    2. It will be restored in the end.

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  1. The Characteristics of the Family.
    1. Galatians 5:22-23, NRSVA

22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

    1. The fruit of the Spirit is developed through the understanding, acceptance, and implementation of the teaching of Jesus, especially the Sermon On the Mount.
    2. We are to care for one another, large or small, healthy or crippled, white or black.
  1. The Rewards of the Family.
    1. There are significant immediate rewards.
      1. Companionship
      2. Strength
      3. Faith
      4. Hope
      5. Love
    2. There are almost unimaginable future rewards.

1 Corinthians 2:6-12, NRSVA

6Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written,
"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him"--
10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.

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CONCLUSION

Barry P. Boulware, Kansas City, Missouri tells the following story about a dad and his preschool son.

One day a father went to visit his son's preschool. It was a day when dads could come to visit. But when he got there, he was shocked to discover that only a handful of fathers had come to be with their children.

Later on that morning, all the children were sitting on the floor in a circle. The teacher asked the children to tell the group something about their fathers, something that was special.

One little boy said, Well, my daddy is a lawyer. He makes a lot of money and we live in a big house." Another child said, "My father is very smart. He teaches at the college and a lot of important people know him."

Finally it was time for this father's son to say something special about his dad. The little boy looked up at his father, then he looked around the circle of his friends, and then he just smiled and proudly said, "My dad ... my dad is here!"

  1. Who would not want to be a part of this family?
    1. Yet there are many who ignore what may be known.
    2. And there are many who knowing reject family membership.
    3. This is not the case with us.
  2. Let's be the greatest family members of all time.

1. from Pastor Tim's Sermon Illustrations and Inspirations List, http://www.cybersaltlists.org

2. cybersaltlists.org

3. Transference: Are you a biological time machine? Published in "The Source", June, 2001 By: Michael G. Conner, Psy.D, Clinical, Medical & Family Psychologist

4. Ibid

5. As quoted in James R. Oraker, Almost Grown: A Christian Guide for Parents of Teenagers (New York: Harper & Row, 1980), 62.

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