As we enter into our series on “Relationships” I feel there is a need for a disclaimer.  Our Theme is focusing on: “My Little World vs. God’s World.”  For some, this might just mess up a good thing.  The “Good Thing” would be if we could tell people how to fix their relationships.  A couple people have said they would like to know some easy steps to improve their relationship with their children, to communicate with their spouses, and to get along with their families.  Judging from Matthew 10:32-39, that’s not going to happen.  From what Jesus is saying there, it has a great danger of making things worse.

For one thing, Jesus has this weird idea that our relationship with God should be ahead of all other relationships.  Imagine, putting Christ first, ahead of job, ahead of our spouses and children; ahead of the Packers even.  That’s asking a lot.  Some respond, “Are you saying that when it comes to a choice between my children and the church I should put the church first?”  And the answer is no.  Jesus didn’t say put the church ahead of family.  But if you put your spiritual life and growth in Christ ahead of all the activities that fill our lives you might be a far better parent.  If you placed Christ’s call to love ahead of anxieties over money and fears about the future you might even sleep better at night.

But that’s where the whole challenge with relationships with God in Christ get’s tough: That nasty radical commitment to putting God first that is needed in order to be a Christian.  We tend to down play that commitment, largely because, frankly, none of us are constantly able to live faithfully to our commitment to follow Christ.  We have good intentions but we tend to fail and frequently make mistakes.  Strangely though, when we fail, it’s not so much our families or others that we put first.  Usually it’s our egos, our need to feel valued and important.  Most frequently, we don’t tend to substitute work or some valuable goals for Christ.  We usually substitute something empty and meaningless that we knew wasn’t going to be fulfilling when chose it in the first place.  We put things like status; attempting to deal with our hostilities, fears, and anxieties; and attempts to deal with shame ahead of the relationship that can remake us into someone we like to be.

That’s where  “Our Little World” can tend to look pretty good.  Being the one in control, secure in our own small circle has its appeal.  Anything that threatens to cause us to see ourselves as selfish can be cast aside.  Anything that threatens to remind us of our mortality, of the dangers of loving and being vulnerable can be shut out.  As long as we don’t run into too much reality, such as seeing ourselves in a mirror, we can keep our little world safe and secure.  Unfortunately there is a term for these little worlds.  They are called, “Hell.” Because the more we focus on our own control and domination, the more anxiety, fear, and regret reign in our lives, the less attractive of a world we are living in.

The alternative is not entirely attractive.  It involves sacrificing our little world, and our desire to be in control of it.  This means being prepared to live as “Living sacrifices,” (Romans 12:1-3) as ones who are prepared to have themselves transformed in order that God may be glorified.  Instead of our little world we end up living based on the belief that God is actually in control, and that all things really do work together for good for those who are in Christ Jesus.  We live in a world that sometimes hurts us.  Sometimes it can be quite harsh and unpredictable.  But it becomes a world that is full of God’s love.

So the foundation of our relationships becomes Christ.  This passage from Matthew’s gospel is a real bugger.  Given our choice, we’d probably want this one trimmed from the bible.  Besides not being good for the youth to see we could justify tossing it on the basis of it  it as being a bit absurd.  But there it is, staring at us daring us to take seriously Jesus’ call to commit ourselves to God above all other things.  I mean ‘who does God think He is anyway?!’

So we are going to talk about relationships from the point of view of the process of submitting ourselves and our relationships to God’s love and guidance.  It’s not an “easy fix” or quick method of making things better.  It’s a radical way of orienting our lives and seeking direction. But in the end it is the one way to live in relationship with God, the universe, our families (including our in-laws) and ourselves.

Peace,

Pastor Jack