The Relationships of Christ

I am not just a fan of Grogu, also known as Baby Yoda or the Child; but I am a Star Wars fan overall. One of the interesting story lines and character developments I get into as a fan is the friendship between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakan Skywalker. What started out as a Master and Padawan or mentor and student relationship developed into being the best of friends until bad choices and trying circumstances broke them apart. Before their sad ending, their friendship was admirable. Although they were very different, they needed each other and worked very well together. They were more than friends, or co-workers, but they were brothers.

One thing that you probably have heard me say a lot is that we are a family. We are not a substitution for your family and it is also okay to have a group of friends outside of church. So what I mean as family is that we spend time together, care for one another, learn and grow together, as well as work together. As human beings, we are designed that way. Life is more enjoyable when you have people you like to do life with. Work is not so hard when you have co-workers who understand you and that you can laugh with or complain about company policy with. School is more enjoyable when you have friends that you can do projects with, study with, and hang out with after school. Therefore, of course it is the same way with church and that is important for us to understand.

One of the things that I like to recall about Christ is the fact that He had a group of disciples who were also His closest friends. Peter being arguable His best friend, took the example of their relationship and replicated it as the Church. So as we shape our lives to be like Christ, we know that we must love others and be connected with others in order to grow in our faith.

Pray and read Matthew 12:1-21

Matthew 12:1–21 NRSV

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

I love this story because we get to see Jesus as a normal human being. Jesus and His disciples were hungry. Do you need to eat everyday? Of course! So do the disciples. Unfortunately it was Sunday, like pulling into a Chik-fil-A, they were not supposed to be gathering food to eat on this day. So the Pharisees go straight to Jesus to reprimand Him to correct His disciples and stop them. It was like they were seeing Jesus as their rabbi and they were the disciples, which was true. However this relationship that Jesus had was deeper than that, these disciples were His friends. Jesus goes on to use the story of David and his friends raid the temple for food on Sabbath as an example hoping to teach these Pharisees a lesson and mercy. They in turn challenge Him further with more statements of the Law of the Sabbath. So Jesus makes it more personal with some simple logic. The point being that you will always take care of what or who is important to you. The passage ends with a prophecy saying that Jesus cares for even the gentiles, who were not a part of the original family of God.

We are the modern day disciples, even us gentiles who profess faith in Christ. Therefore we are now a part of the family of God. Family takes care of one another. We build each other up and build bridges together to invite others to join us. We offer grace. We communicate with one another. We fellowship with one another. We offer correction, guidance, and accountability when needed. Family works when they are united. The big idea is that family offers forgiveness, understanding, and love.

It is lovely when we all gather together as one big family. But sometimes, the best example of family as we have described today is in a small group where everyone has a say and feels safe. Small groups is not a new concept in the church. The way we do small groups today comes from the example of John Wesley, his brother and friends when they were students at Oxford University. They were a small group of friends, John as their leader, but they were friends nonetheless. Together they studied the Bible, prayed together, served the poor in their community, visited the hospital and prison together to offer the love of Christ. They had a habit or schedule in which they did all these things together; this could also be called a method and where we get our name as Methodist.

I had the pleasure of being present at the restart of one of our small groups a couple of weeks ago. The location had changed and some of the people had changed but we fellow-shipped, prayed, and shared communion together as a family of Christ. It was a beautiful time together. It is my hope that I can get more of you together as a small group of your own. As a small group, you have the opportunity to share your life with others like you, study the Bible-growing in faith together, as well as serving others in need together. Imagine the impact we could have with different groups of us being examples of Christ.

Do you have a group of Christian Friends that you can be honest with? What about a group that is a part of this church? W have a few others who meet together and we have times where the whole church comes together in Christian love and fellowship. I want to encourage you to find your small group, pull together your people. I have all the resources needed to build these groups. I also want to encourage you to join in our Bible Studies. If you want to do a Bible Study, please let me know. Requests like these are hard for me to say no to. The more who come together in the name of Jesus, the strong they become. We need each other.

In the name of God the Father, Jesus Christ his Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.