Sermon: Kin

Sermon Text: Kin

​The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Jean.

My friend Jean Rosenthal has gone to be with God. But her wisdom stays with me.
 
I visited her often in her nursing home in her last years. One time she told me about how she and the other residents would help each other out. She said they all had infirmities, but they cared for one another. They are in it all together, and they helped each other. And then she said it:  "We are all kin here."
 
I love that. We are all kin here. That's good news....that's Gospel.
 
Jesus says the same in today's text from Mark's Gospel. His family is worried about him. They think he's gone a little crazy. So they come to take charge of him. When they arrive, Jesus is teaching a crowd. And some folks say, "Your family is outside, asking for you." Jesus says, "Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
 
Jesus makes the circle bigger. His family is still his family, but he makes it bigger. We are all kin here.
 
When Jesus was born, he belonged just to Mary and Joseph. Eventually, he felt a call to teach and heal the crowds, first in small towns, and eventually in the great city Jerusalem. He slowly expanded the circle. His call and his love is for everyone.
 
We are all kin here.
 
This is not something everyone accepts. Human beings have always built walls and drawn boundaries. We tend to stay with our own kind. We mistrust those outside our circle. The powerful religious leaders did not like this young charismatic teacher who advocated generous forgiveness and free healing. Religious disapproval would eventually kill Jesus.
 
But his message could not be killed. We are all kin here. The circle is bigger. Everyone can be included.
 
You are welcome. No matter who you are, or what is wrong with you, or what is right with you, you are welcome in Jesus' family. We are all kin here.
 
As we baptize Madison Ann Laine today, we celebrate her family...Samantha and Matt, and her grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. She is very lucky.
 
But she has even more. We welcome her into the family of Jesus, too. Her circle is much bigger than just her blood relatives. We are all kin here.
 
I read something from our own time that echoes what Jesus teaches. A Jewish family in Texas participated in a cultural exchange program. They hosted a rabbi from Russia for the month of December.
 
This Jewish family from America wanted to introduce their Russian guest to something they loved and that he would never have had:  Chinese food. So they took him to their favorite Asian place.
 
All through this meal, the rabbi spoke with great enthusiasm about the amazing things he had seen in North America. He spoke of the contrast with the somewhat bleak conditions of his life in Russia.
 
They finished eating. The waiter brought them a check. And the waiter also gave each of them a small Christmas tree ornament made of brass. It was a gift from the restaurant to such good customers. The grandfather of the host family from Texas got everyone to laugh when he pointed out the words on the back of the ornament from the Chinese restaurant:  "Made in India."
 
Everybody stopped laughing when they saw the rabbi weeping. The grandfather was concerned. He asked the rabbi if he was crying because he was offended. Did a gift from a Christian holiday bother him?
 
The rabbi smiled, and said, "No. I have tears of joy to be in a wonderful country where a Buddhist gives a Jew a Christmas gift made by a Hindu."
 
You know, I think Jesus would like that story a lot. In spite of the religious and political opposition Jesus faced, he opened his heart. He opened his heart beyond his immediate family. He opened his heart to his whole people. And he opened his heart to the whole world. We are all kin here.
 
So make the circle bigger.
We claim to be his friends.
So make the circle bigger.
We claim to be his followers.
So make the circle bigger.
 
We are all welcome here.
We are all part of God's family.
We are all part of the human family.
Make the circle bigger.
We are all kin here.
 
And that is the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to my friend Jean.