God Speaking

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”

(Ephesians 2:19 – 20)

During the Christmas holiday season, many of us pull out that old, tattered, often dotted with food stains, recipe book, to make the favourite foods associated with love and fellowship at family gatherings. This year one of my granddaughters decided these long loved recipes needed to be gathered together before they became lost, into a family cookbook, with each member contributing their favourites. It has become a wonderful exercise in not only in collecting recipes, but an incredible time of gathering precious memories as we remember not just the food that was part of the family get together, but all the fun and laughter that surrounded the table. Then all the memories of what we were celebrating come flooding back and binding us together in shared experiences.

I was thinking over this holiday season what it is that binds a family together? And why when Paul is writing to the Ephesians he tells them and us, once we become followers of Jesus Christ we become a member in God’s household. We join the family. What does that mean? My father was always one to quote little sayings and many of them (because he said them so many times) have stayed in my mind, one of these was about families;

You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your relatives.

When we join the household of God we also cannot choose the brothers and sisters in Christ who also are welcomed into the family along with us and the exercise of learning to love them can sometimes be hard. Paul’s letters were directed at these little fledgling groups of Christians who were now thrust together, yes loving Jesus Christ, but also leaning to love one another. Jews were now having to make a huge leap of faith in accepting the Gentiles into the family as they accepted Jesus as their Saviour.

We in our modern day churches also need to learn to love others and when the world sees how being one with Christ changes how we deal with anger/judging others/ arrogance and pride, they too will want to join the household. Paul’s advice is still a wonderful way of binding us together.

“Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you have against each other. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them altogether in perfect purity.” (Colossians 3:12 – 14)