Family & Friendship Essentials

Dear Friends, Neighbors, Guests, and Members,

Welcome! It’s great to gather in the name of the One who has loved us from the foundations of the world. You are God’s beloved child, whatever your situation, status, identity, or state of wellness. This community can be a healing presence if you’ll choose to open yourself to it, and invest. Last week, I suggested that this can be a “chosen family” for all of us.

The idea is not unique to me. Others have suggested the same idea, particularly as this concept has gained purchase in the political sphere, and in the queer community. Jesus had a family of origin – so to speak. He was the God/man, co-eternal with the Father and Spirit, part of a social reality revealed to us as such in scripture we experience collectively as “God.” Jesus also had an earthly family – or at least mother, stepfather, and half-brothers. Jesus has sisters according to the Bible. Unlike his brothers, they are not mentioned by name. And to my point, Jesus had chosen family – those who did “the will of the Father.”

This church is extraordinary in that we are not about “family” in some kind of saccharine sense. This is a gritty place, with real people who have serious gifts – yes – and real problems too. It’s a place of grace, a place that like all places of grace – wrestles with boundaries. And to this – I would suggest that your intentions towards this body and regarding worship matter. We hope you’re here because you wish to worship and honor the living God, and because you desire to find family and make friends who share life together.

The irony is that in giving, we receive. In seeking the good of another, we find ourselves blessed. That true service begets trust. And that humility allows for connectivity in diversity. And for this to really work, we must not only share our blessings and the benefits of our labors, but must bear one another’s burdens, hold one another accountable, and work through those things that have broken relationship. Divided, we cannot stand.

May God give us the strength to be the Body of Christ not just in spirit, but in truth and deed.

Thanks for being present,

Pr Greg