Family and Friends

Loving our family as the friends God chooses for us

05/18/2018

John 21:15-19 After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to Simon Peter a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."

My favorite definition of a family is the following: a family is made up of the friends that God has chosen for us. We all like to choose our own friends; that’s what makes them so special. But what if our family were the friends that God chose for us?  That would make our family very special, too. We should love our family members – brothers and sisters, mother and father, uncle and aunts – as if they were our best friends, because God gave them to us as our friends.

But do you know who is in your family? Now, families are formed not only by being born into one, but also by marrying into one. Do you know your mother’s maiden name? That’s the family she was born into, but then she married into your dad’s family. For example, our principal is named Mrs. Blentlinger. But does anyone know her maiden name? It’s Sieter. So she belongs to both families, the Blentlingers and the Seiters.

Now, I’ve done a little research and discovered our students are related to one another as family more than they might realize. Let me demonstrate this by showing who’s related to whom. When I call your last name, would you please come up and stand in the sanctuary? The Harper’s, the Hadley’s, the Coleman’s, and the Burgerler’s. All these people are related to each other by birth or by the bonds of marriage. These are the friends God has chosen for you. Now, let me call up the members of the families with the last names of Manjarrez, Araujo, Benavides, Galvan, Jara, or Ramirez. These people are all related to each other by birth or by the bonds of marriage. These people are the friends that God has chosen for you. Finally, the big one, let me invite those who have the last name of Mondier, Ciulla, McMahon,  Caldarera, Jackson, Reith, Wewers, Adams, Dart, Jackson, and Meyers. All these people are related to each other by either birth or by the bonds of marriage! These are the friends God has chosen for you.

What does all this mean? It means you should never marry anyone from Fort Smith! Actually, it means that we are all related to each other far more than we realize. We are family and that means we should love one another like best friends love each other, because these are the people God has chosen to be our friends through life.

Today, we want to recognize our students with “Covenant Awards.” But do you know what the word “covenant” means? It is means creating a family bond by swearing an oath. Just like a man and woman swear to love each other in marriage and create a new family, so God makes a covenant with us and makes us part of his family, and he becomes a part of our family. This is just like how Mrs. B is both a Blentlinger and a Seiter; she belongs to both families, so we all belong to our human family but also to God’s divine family. When we give these “Covenant Awards” to certain students it’s because they see how we all belong to God’s family as brothers and sisters, and love others as if they were the special friends God has chosen for them.

We all belong to God’s family by covenant and so we should love each other like best friends. A family is made up of the friends God has chosen for us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!