The Third Sunday After Pentecost Whoever Does the Will of God Is My Brother and Sister and Mother
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen! In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes His family. Are you in His family? Jesus says you are in His family IF you do the will of God. Jesus says, “Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.” Dear Christian friends, The more you talk, the less likely people are to remember everything you say. If you tell someone eight or ten things to remember, that person might remember four or five of those things. If you tell someone ONE THING to remember, that person has a fairly good chance of remembering that ONE THING you said. Today’s Gospel was written by Mark. Mark wants very much for you to know and to remember what is GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE. Mark so dearly wants you to know and to remember God’s will for your life that Mark wrote only one thing about God’s will in his entire book. The other Gospel writers—Matthew, Luke, and John—the other Gospel writers report in their books how Jesus said many things about God’s will. It almost seems as if Mark said to himself, “I want people to remember what is God’s will for their lives. Therefore, I will not tell them six or eight or ten of the things that Jesus said about God’s will. I will write down in my book only ONE THING my Lord said about God’s will.” Today’s Gospel is that ONE THING Mark wants you to know and to remember about God’s will. According to today’s Gospel, God’s will for your life is that you listen to Jesus. In today’s Gospel, a crowd was gathered all around Jesus, sitting at His feet. Those people did not gather around Jesus in order to play dominos! Those people gathered around Jesus in order to hear Jesus speak. Those people gathered so that they could listen to Jesus. What does Jesus say about these people? He says, “These are My mother and My brothers!” Then Jesus adds, for your sake and for mine, “WHOEVER does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” So here is the simple line of thinking (a syllogism): • The people who were listening to Jesus are His mother and His brothers. • You are Jesus’ brother and sister and mother if you do the will of God (v.35). • Therefore God’s will for your life is that you listen to Jesus, just like those people who crowded into today’s Gospel. God’s will for your life is that you listen to Jesus. A lot of people will argue and protest what Mark has written here! The other Gospel writers—Matthew, Luke, and John—the other Gospel writers might even want to straighten Mark out a bit! • You can almost hear Matthew say, “Wait a minute, Mark! More details are necessary. For example, God’s will also includes the setting aside of our human desires so that our heavenly Father’s desires may be accomplished among us” (cf. Matthew 6:10 and 26:42). • Luke might add, “Yes, Mark, and what about the results of listening to Jesus? Is it not also true that God’s will and desire is that we ‘bear fruits in keeping with repentance,’ as John the Baptist preached?” (cf. Luke 3:8) • John the Evangelist might offer Mark a gentle corrective, too: “Yes, Mark, listening to Jesus is God’s will—but not merely listening! The will of God is also that we believe the Words Jesus speaks!” (cf. John 6:29) Mark would not disagree with anything these other Gospel writers might theoretically say in protest against his writing. Mark simply will not change his story! Mark knows that, the more you talk, the less likely people are to remember everything you say. If you tell someone eight or ten things to remember, that person might remember four or five of those things. If you tell someone ONE THING to remember, that person has a fairly good chance of remembering that ONE THING you said. So Mark writes down only ONE THING among the many things Jesus said about God’s will. According to Mark—according to today’s Gospel—God’s will for your life is this: Listen to Jesus. • In a larger sense, does God’s will include the setting aside of our human desires so that our heavenly Father’s desires may be accomplished among us? Absolutely! But maybe Mark chose not to tell you that—maybe Mark elected to describe God’s will only as listening to Jesus—because Mark knows that the Words of Jesus will do great and miraculous things for you. Not only do the Words of Jesus identify your sin and forgive you of your sin, but the Words of Jesus will also gently and lovingly bend your desires into conformity with God’s desires. Stated another way, when you listen to Jesus, Jesus’ Words will change you and transform you! • Doesn’t God desire that we “bear fruits in keeping with repentance?” (cf. Luke 3:8) Of course He does! But maybe Mark chose not to tell you that—maybe Mark elected to describe God’s will only as listening to Jesus—because Mark knows that dead branches bear no fruit! The Words of Jesus make you a living branch and tree. The Words of Jesus course life through your veins, producing the fruit of repentance! The Words of Jesus not only tell you what you must do, but His Words also accomplish your doing. When you listen to Jesus, the fruits of repentance are closer to you than your heartbeat. • Is it not God’s will that we not merely listen to Jesus, but that we also believe the Words Jesus speaks? (cf. John 6:29) Beyond question! But maybe Mark chose not to tell you that—maybe Mark elected to describe God’s will only as listening to Jesus—because Mark want to press you. Mark wants to force you into the conclusion that faith appears out of nothing with the Words of Jesus are spoken; faith miraculously results from listening to Jesus; faith is born from above by the power of the Words of Jesus. When you listen to Jesus, Jesus pours faith into your ears and your mind and your heart! 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! Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. That is everything Mark reports Jesus saying about the will of God for your life. Mark wants you to focus your attention upon this one thought—not Mark’s human thought, but our Lord’s own divine Words—God’s will for your life is that you listen to Jesus. Allow that one thing—that one solitary thing that Mark reported Jesus saying about the will of God—allow that one thing to burrow and root in your heart and your mind. That one thing—listening to Jesus—that one thing will make your life immeasurably better. • First and foremost, you will never need to wonder about that terrible question that vexes and pounds upon so many Christians, “What is God’s will for my life?” God’s will cannot be more simply stated than this: Listen to Jesus. Everything else will flow from that spring for you: faith, good works, family, education, career, congregational life. Whether you are a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker; employed or unemployed or disabled or retired; married or single; many children or childless; richer or poor; solitary or in the company of many: every aspect of God’s will for your life reduces to listening to Jesus. • Today’s Gospel will also help you answer a demonic lie that has captured and deceived so many fellow Christians—maybe even some of the Christians in your family or mine. The lie is this: You do not need to go to church (hear the Word, or receive the sacrament) in order to be Christian. Stated another way, many people fool themselves into thinking that you can ignore God’s will and still be Christian. Today’s Gospel will help you with such people. In today’s Gospel, God wills that you listen to Jesus. If you will not listen to Jesus, then nothing else about your Christianity matters! (Cf. Matthew 7:21-23) • Finally, the Words of Jesus are just plain comforting for you. People gathered in today’s Gospel because Jesus’ Words helped them. His Words gave them assurance and forgiveness and life and peace—just as they do for you. God’s will for your life is that you listen to Jesus because God wants you to o have the forgiveness of sins that comes to you through Jesus’ Words, “Your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5); o have the strength that Jesus’ Words give you to endure the elemental forces that oppose you in your life (e.g., Mark 1:39, 6:45-52); o know and never doubt—not even for a moment—that you are truly part of Jesus’ family, no matter how orphaned you might feel. The will of God is that you listen to Jesus. To this Jesus adds, for your sake and for mine, “WHOEVER does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
