It's a Family Affair

Scripture:
“Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.  And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’  But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”’

—Luke 8:19-21

Observation:
In this one statement Jesus redefines the very notion of family.  One way to look at this passage is to say since it was Jesus’ mother and siblings (since the Greek usage here could be referring to brothers and sisters as collective siblings) beckoning him he simply retorts to them this new definition of family.   The fact that Jesus’ earthly father Joseph was not present is why the father is not mentioned in this redefinition.  Could another way to see this passage be to say that the reason that father is not mentioned in this definition is because God the father was, is, and will be Jesus’ father?  So the redefinition thus begins to encompass the family dynamics of the kingdom of God that Jesus is preaching.  In the kingdom of God, God is our father, and our family is comprised of fellow co-laborers of the gospel, specifying that it is not just co-hearers of the gospel but rather co-hearers and doers.
Application:
In the Church today we have become very good at hearing the word and ignoring it, or at minimum at least not allowing it to draw us into action.  It is amazing that the average congregant can sit in their respective church on Sunday morning can hear a message assumedly from the word of God and then go home unchanged and unaffected.  We have become such good hearers of the word of God that we are inoculated to the effects of it.  It is no wonder that the family dynamics of the kingdom described by Jesus in this passage are no longer at play in the average church setting.  Divisiveness is rife in the Church.  People who are supposed to be siblings no longer speak or co-labor together because petty beefs.  The Church is not living out the family dynamics laid out by Jesus; God is the father, while the co-hearers and co-laborers comprise the rest of the genealogical construct.  As witnessed in sociology strong families are key to a strong society.  Good family dynamics are key to the impact of the Church, as agents of the kingdom of God, in the world; Participation and not just hearing is key to good family dynamics in the kingdom of God.  Are we willing to become co-laborers of the kingdom of God?  Are we willing to take what we hear and put it into action?  Are we willing to embrace Jesus’ vision of kingdom minded family dynamics?
Prayer:
Lord, help me to see my shortcomings as a member of your family.  Please show me how I can better do and not just hear.  Please help me to procure unity and remove divisiveness from my involvement in this family.  In Jesus name I pray Amen…