Daily Scripture: Mark 3:20 and once more, such a crowd came together that they couldn’t even eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they set out to take charge of him; for they said, “He’s out of his mind!”
Matthew 10:37 Whoever loves his father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than he loves me is not worthy of me. 38 And anyone who does not take up his execution-stake and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his own life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for my sake will find it.
Reflection Questions:Our families’ love, support and encouragement can make a huge positive difference in our lives. But we find times when Jesus' family disapproved of the way he was going about his mission. We find times when he reminded his hearers that family is not God. Sometimes, maybe without realizing it, families demand that all family members agree emotionally. At those times, we need to remember that our highest loyalty is to God and the person he made us to be, even beyond our family.
- Early in Inside Out, Riley’s mom affirmed the way she’d dealt with their move: “You’ve stayed our happy girl.” But finally, Riley had to tell her folks, “I know you don't want me to, but I miss home. You need me to be happy, but I want my old friends….Please don't be mad.” Have you ever felt pressure from family or friends, even if unspoken, to feel a certain way, when you didn’t feel that way? Have you ever wanted to pressure others into feeling the same way you do?
- Just before today’s passage, Jesus said, “Don’t think that I’ve come to bring peace to the earth. I haven’t come to bring peace but a sword. I’ve come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Matthew 10:34-35). In what ways, conscious or unconscious, do families try to claim our highest loyalties? How can giving our ultimate allegiance to Jesus make us, in the end, better family members than if we ignore our true selves in order to “get along”?
Today’s Prayer:
Lord Jesus, it must have hurt to have your family think you were out of your mind. You kept on loving them, even when you had to act in ways they didn’t like or understand. Help me find that same balance in my earthly relationships. Amen.
Insights from Darren LIppe
Lord Jesus, it must have hurt to have your family think you were out of your mind. You kept on loving them, even when you had to act in ways they didn’t like or understand. Help me find that same balance in my earthly relationships. Amen.
Insights from Darren LIppe
Darren Lippe helps facilitate Journey 101 “Loving God” classes, guides a 7th-grade Sunday school class, is a member of a small group & a men’s group, and serves on the Curriculum team.
The boys & I spent 7 days last week on a Boy Scout High Adventure trip, canoeing 61 miles through 19 lakes in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) on the Minnesota/Canada border.
Our trip was filled with fantastic visuals like beautiful sunrises/sunsets, lush forests, & streams covered with lily pads with colorful flowers.
It also provided some good tests. All of our food for the week, cooking equipment, tents, sleeping bags, & personal gear had to fit in a canoe. We had to be prepared to carry our gear & canoes over land between lakes. The boys were able to use a lot of their camping skills they’ve been learning the past few years like building a fire to cook every breakfast & dinner, selecting the best spot to put up a tent, & the value of preparing bear bags.
Of course, being in the wilderness does have its challenges:
I would submit today’s discussion is challenging us to select the navigator of our faith journey. Whether we come from a strong or a dysfunctional network of friends & family, we need to be cognizant that their goals & desires may differ from God’s ideals. While they may provide us advice & counsel with the very best of intentions, this guidance may not necessarily sync up with God’s hopes & dreams for our lives.
Personally, I like the idea of handing over the compass of my life to the Friend who knows when I’m weary of paddling & in need of a quiet cove, who can calm the rough winds of life that can crop up in a moment’s notice, who can help balance the heavy load on your shoulders as you trudge up a steep incline, & who can calm your fears as you hear something rustling among the pots & pans in the middle of the night.
So, maybe today is a good time to just stop. Put your paddle across your legs. Glide for a few moments. Put your hands out. Ask Jesus to be your navigator, your advisor, & your constant companion for the rest of your adventure.
Oh, & while you are at it, maybe ask for a Pepsi. A Pepsi with lots of ice.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
The boys & I spent 7 days last week on a Boy Scout High Adventure trip, canoeing 61 miles through 19 lakes in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) on the Minnesota/Canada border.
Our trip was filled with fantastic visuals like beautiful sunrises/sunsets, lush forests, & streams covered with lily pads with colorful flowers.
It also provided some good tests. All of our food for the week, cooking equipment, tents, sleeping bags, & personal gear had to fit in a canoe. We had to be prepared to carry our gear & canoes over land between lakes. The boys were able to use a lot of their camping skills they’ve been learning the past few years like building a fire to cook every breakfast & dinner, selecting the best spot to put up a tent, & the value of preparing bear bags.
Of course, being in the wilderness does have its challenges:
- The BWCA is completely void of cell coverage. Say, are those moose tracks? Let me check my pho…Um. Yep. I think so. (Lack of access to 24-hour news cycles, while a bit discomfiting at first, actually became a wonderful retreat.)
- No caffeine.
- No bathing facilities. (What is the difference between a catfish & a BWCA canoeist? One has whiskers & smells; the other is a fish.)
- No caffeine.
- Rustic toilets = just a pit in the ground. I appreciated the humor of the comic that read, “If you don’t find these facilities serviced satisfactorily, please notify the front desk.”
- No caffeine.
- Persnickety eating habits fell to the wayside: “A cheese sandwich with 2 pieces of cheese & 2 pieces of white bread for lunch? Awesome! Can I have another?”
- Our picture of heaven became tweaked to be a place with a mattress, a hot shower, dry feet, & ice.
- As we followed our mapped route, we realized the importance of good navigation skills. You certainly don’t want to find yourself crossing a lake into a strong head wind and having that day’s navigator offering instructions like, “You are getting warmer….warmer….cold, cold, cold!”
I would submit today’s discussion is challenging us to select the navigator of our faith journey. Whether we come from a strong or a dysfunctional network of friends & family, we need to be cognizant that their goals & desires may differ from God’s ideals. While they may provide us advice & counsel with the very best of intentions, this guidance may not necessarily sync up with God’s hopes & dreams for our lives.
Personally, I like the idea of handing over the compass of my life to the Friend who knows when I’m weary of paddling & in need of a quiet cove, who can calm the rough winds of life that can crop up in a moment’s notice, who can help balance the heavy load on your shoulders as you trudge up a steep incline, & who can calm your fears as you hear something rustling among the pots & pans in the middle of the night.
So, maybe today is a good time to just stop. Put your paddle across your legs. Glide for a few moments. Put your hands out. Ask Jesus to be your navigator, your advisor, & your constant companion for the rest of your adventure.
Oh, & while you are at it, maybe ask for a Pepsi. A Pepsi with lots of ice.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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