Pizza Is My Boyfriend

Working on the quality of our relationships  

Luke 8:19-21  

The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers  are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”   

          Boys and girls, I am convinced that the most important thing in life is the quality of our relationships. In fact, the higher the quality of our friendships and family ties, the higher the quality of our life. Our relationships – the interactions with people who surround us – give passion and purpose and peace to our lives. The people in our lives make our life worth living.   

          Now, here at Trinity Junior High, we have a lot of work to do to improve the quality of our relationships. For example, a few weeks ago, I found a lunch box on the front steps that read on it: “Pizza is my boyfriend.” Apparently, some girls dig pepperoni pizzas more than boy, and who can blame them, pizzas do smell a lot better than boys. Here’s another example. Last night I was looking through the “Activities Program” book and came across a picture of four very close friends – Sophia Underwood, Lauren Vrazel, Kaitlin Cline and Jada Mack. They were striking a sassy pose, and the caption read: “I’d walk through fire for my friends. Well, not fire, that would be dangerous. But a super humid room…but not too humid because, you know…my hair.” Obviously, very close friends. You see, the higher the quality of our relationships, the higher the quality of our life; and the opposite is true, too, the lower the one the lower the other.   

          This is the point that Jesus wants to drive home in the gospel today: take stock of the quality of your relationships. Someone in the crowd says that Jesus’ mother and brothers are outside and want to see him. But Jesus replies: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” In other words, it’s not enough to say you are members of Jesus’ family but never work on that relationship. You have to do the will of God. You see, even our relationship with Jesus can be “high quality” or “low quality.’ It is not something to be taken for granted. We have to improve our relationship with Jesus, just like some girls have to improve their relationship with pepperoni pizza.   

          Boys and girls, I know some of you see relationships on the rocks and struggling at home. Your parents may argue and fight, some have separated and others have divorced. That is devastating to the children, and you often feel like the tug-of-war rope with mom and dad pulling from opposite sides. Today, let’s pray for your parents; they are not perfect but they are doing the best they can. They need your prayers and patience. But can you see in your mom and dad’s relationship – as in a test case – how the quality of life rises and falls on the quality of our relationships?   

          So, when you come to school at Trinity, what kinds of relationships are you building here? What I mean is: you’re here to learn more than algebra and science, history and English; you’re also learning how to have high quality relationships. You’re learning how not to bully. You’re learning to respect differences. You’re learning how to work together as a team. You’re learning to put others before yourself. You’re learning to love Jesus. You’re learning to say “I’m sorry,” and “I forgive you” (very important words in any relationship). And you’re even learning to say “I love you.” But for now, just say that to your parents and to pizza.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!