Members of the Family ...

Monday, Nov 22, 2010. “Now you are one of us” - I remember this sentence from several special situations of my life. Another version has been “welcome in the club”. When ever you pass some special exam, or when you manage to be accepted into a special status, you might hear this sentence from those who are in already.

No longer foreigners …

On our tour through the letter to the Ephesians we come to a passage today, where the apostle Paul talks about membership of a very special type. He talks about membership in “God's family”. That's a fantastic idea, which we find in several parts of the New Testament. But let us read the original text first:

18 Because of what Jesus has done for us, both groups are able to come close to our Father God through his Spirit. 19

You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens and members of God’s family.

20 We are like a building whose foundation is God’s messengers (his “apostles” and “prophets”5), with Christ himself being the “cornerstone”. 21 In Christ, the whole building is held together, and is growing into a sacred temple for God. 22 You are included in this building, which is a home in which God lives through his Spirit. (Ephesians 2: 18-22)

We use this image sometimes in our environment: “he is to me like my family”. It is used in a positive sense, but also by criminals, who talk about family when they try to achieve some kind of bonds within the gang. Here we see that the image is quite old, it has been used 2000 years ago by the apostles and by Jesus himself. It is an image to clarify and explain basic things, to tell the story of faith and what faith means.

Belonging to God …

Not seldom humans are afraid of God. God has been preached as the judge. A good part of humanity thinks of faith as a set of rules. But that is not the key point of Christian faith! Faith is about the mercy of God, about his actions to help, to redeem, to open a path of freedom. Faith is about acceptance, even the deep acceptance to be a full member of a new family.

The image of the family is even used in a stronger sense than just of acceptance. Jesus talks about heirs. He tells the story of the lost son, who is given the ring of the father when he comes back, who is made the heir of all his possessions again. We should not take this image lightly, it is strong and has strong meaning. When you come to Jesus with faith, you are indeed accepted into his family - with all the far reaching consequences of this acceptance. ... more texts