Yesterday in worship a little guy from our congregation wanted to sing a song. He’s done it before. Most of the songs he sings fall on the easy side. But yesterday he wanted to sing this song about sisters and brothers. It’s a great song and he did an amazing job. The message of the song is simple – let’s put away some of the differences and start living as sisters and brothers. Let’s start showing the world that we, as Christians are part of a family – a family of God.
We live in a time when it’s easy to just go through the motions. We get up, get ready, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, go to bed, only to get up the next morning and hit the repeat button. We have this mentality that we have to carry the troubles of the world on our shoulders. If not the troubles of the world, we at least find ourselves carrying the troubles of those we love. But that’s not the way we were meant to live.
We were meant to live as a family. We were meant to carry one another’s burdens – together. Not one person carrying all of them for everyone else. Not you doing it alone. Not you struggling with your fears, pressures, failures all on your own. We are sisters and brothers. We are two people of the same household of faith called to live our lives in service to God. The song really highlights the fact that you may be different. You may not feel like you fit in to the crowd. But “who cares!” We’re all a bit different. That’s part of being a family.
I come from a fairly large family. We are all a bit different. At different stages in our lives, we all appeared somewhat the same. Look at pictures of us at 1-year-old and you’ll definitely know that we’re siblings. But look at us now. We are in different places with different passions. Some of us are college grads while others are not. There’s a mechanic, a pastor, a social worker, a server in a restaurant, and a college student. We have each made some wonderful choices and some pretty stupid ones as well. But that doesn’t change who we are! We are one family.
In the same way, you and I, as people who walk in the light of the cross are one family. We’ve gone in different directions. We’ve journeyed into different areas of expertise. We have different occupations. We live in different areas. We do things quite differently but that doesn’t change the fact that in Jesus we’re part of the same family. You and I belong to the family of God.
Cherish the things that make us different. While it might be cool for a minute to have everyone think and act like you, it would get pretty boring pretty quickly. If everyone was as stubborn as me, I would constantly be fighting with someone. Go the places you’re called to go. Jump in and get the work done. But don’t go it alone. Remember that wherever you go, chances are pretty great that you have a sister or brother right there with you. We are one big family! One day this reunion will be one heck of a great party! Can’t wait to see you all there. Until then…have a great day family!
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