Titulo: A Family Born of the Cross (bible study)
Postado por: Valdir
[b]A Family Born of the Cross[/b]
We are meditating on the words, expressions, that Jesus pronounced on the cross. Last Sunday evening we arrived at the sixth floor, but we skip the fourth to leave your consideration this morning. The text that we'll read in the Gospel of John 19:25-27 bring the fourth phrase uttered by Jesus on the cross.
Both loved Jesus more than the mother, who has a love in a deeper dimension, unsuspected, which is suffering. Seeing a child who always had a different behavior, it says that on one occasion the mother and brothers were surprised by their behavior and the brothers wanted even to arrest him because the thought out of you. But it is a mother who sees her son die a painful death, shame, suffering, with a guilt and did not suffer. At the same time there is the teenager called John the beloved disciple, who nodded at supper on the shoulder of Jesus. The two who most loved him now are approximate. Also at this time is fulfilling a prophecy made in the Gospel of Luke by Simeon when he received the child Jesus held him and says:
What a prophecy! The mother goes to the temple to present the child and appears a strange old man who says the boy will be a sign of contradiction and that a sword will pierce the heart of that mother. Maria now knows what is the sword piercing her heart.
The episode also shows us that we do not live isolated, there is a novel by Johanne Simmel, No man is an island, our decisions afestam the lives of others, he chose the cross, laid eyes toward the cross and went there, but its decision of life now affecting the mother and the beloved disciple. But the text shows the human dimension of the cross and this Sunday, Easter Sunday I would like in the morning to observe the human dimension of the cross as the cross brings people and night, in the episode of disciples walked with him down the road to Emmaus , walk with a resurrected.
Here is the human dimension of the cross, the cross brings forth a new family. At the foot of the cross comes a new family. They give you the name of the church but a [b]family[/b]. He is worried about his mother, he is a good son, loving mother and cares about her, but still has teenage friend who loves, cares about him, the two approaches and put the two that should follow his disparate lives, if not for him, their lives do not intersect, and puts the two together, is a picture of the church. We are people whose lives have probably never would touch. Pastor Benjamin is United States, I'm from Rio de Janeiro, Manaus Elke is there, each one would be living your life in your corner with another perspective, we would have not only this approach but we would not have solidarity, we would not have things in common, nothing to unite us, but the cross united us, put us all at each others' lives, caused us to become God's family.
In this episode, behold thy son behold thy mother, I would think with the brothers about three lessons we need to internalize in our life and never forget them. First, basic, fundamental, cross creates new family ties.
This is the central message of the cross creates new family, creates a new family. He had brothers and sisters. In Matthew 13:55-56 we read:
Four men and assume that at least three women. First because it is plural, sisters, and then all should be at least two more. Let us assume that seven people were under whom he could trust the mother, as the eldest so it should proceed, but John was not of his family and not any of his brothers or sisters that he trusts his mother but John, What? Because the brothers and sisters were not the group, had not the same vision so that elsewhere we read that the brothers wanted to arrest him because they said he is crazy. Matthew 12:47-50 shows that Jesus had a conception of who his family.
I know who are my brothers and my mother who was his but his question is this who are my brothers and my mother who is, is what he is saying. He puts the ties of loyalty to God as stronger than blood ties. The union within the divine purpose is greater than the union of blood, the cross then produces a new family that is the family of God. And this is a lesson we too easily forget the church. One of our worst tendencies is that we want to pasteurize and homogenize everyone and if people do not have my way of seeing, of dress, hair cut, my vocabulary so I'm angry because it's not like me. Sometimes we do not want brothers, we want clones. I have a brother who is a pastor, taking the fact that we have the same surname, the same father and the two are Baptist pastors do not have anything in common, physically quite different, we have a different outlook on life because I am of an age He and another, I am a mother and he another, yet each one of us has a place in the kingdom of God and he does a wonderful ministry and I respect him very much as a shepherd. But sometimes we want everyone to be our way of dressing, talking and even costumes.
I remember Ananias, he had certain ideas and prejudices. This was so strong that when God said to him, Ananias, there is a man named Saul, he said, Lord, lost your mind? Has no common sense? The Lord may not have heard but I heard about this man, he is a torment, arrests Christians, imprison men and women, dragged by the hair, causes them to blaspheme. The Lord comes to me talking about Saul? He is my enemy. And God says, Ananias goes, I chose this man. When Ananias realizes this he loses their prejudices and come before Saul, which is the first word? Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road to Damascus sent me. Not, you're not the one a Pharisee? You saw how I'm right and you are wrong? Probably, if he was a Baptist chat yellow, say so, he saw, is proving the medicine? But now is not their particular vision, the first word he has to Saul's brother Saul.
The church is a [b]family[/b] because we have the same Father, the same inheritance, the same fate, but we had the same cradle that is the cross and a lesson for us that can never be forgotten is this, we must love each other. We use the term sibling as a title of nobility. There are people who wishes to pick up the phone and say here is the so-brother, became a title of nobility, but not title, is treated, it is considered, it really is this experience, collapses with the same father, same birthplace and the same destination , we are called to share life in common, the best way to kill a church is to create ghettos in it. Here we have a group of intellectuals and there the group of "anarfa", here the group of rich and there of the "foot shaven, young people here and there the crowns, the" foot in the grave. " Kill a church. In this church there. We are one [b]family[/b] and when we lose this awareness of family lost the essence of the church is a [b]family[/b] that was formed on Friday of passion at the cross and we should never forget that.
Second lesson, the first was this, the cross creates new family homes, the cross creates new boundaries of responsibility. There are many people today who want a Christian free-lance, he is a sniper, or blessings without commitment, wanting to enjoy the message of the kingdom but no commitment, you want a Christianity that speaks of blessing but not service, it receives but does not give, but the text tells us so, that hour the disciple took her home, so the Living Bible translated took her under their care. John understood that he was responsible for Mary.
I want to read an excerpt from an ancient writer of the time of the Roman Empire, Aristides, writing a letter to the Roman Emperor Hadrian talking about Christians, let's hear the testimony of a Gentile writing to another about the pagan Christian, let's hear this testimony and see if the world gave this testimony to our respect.
There was the testimony of a Christian but a pagan. Another, Celso said so see how they love. In the world of law prevails Gerson, take advantage of everything "ceeeerto? We explore each other. In church law must prevail in solidarity instead of competition there is the feeling of understanding. But how easily within the church there is also competition. Quanta church is founded as a slap in another group. Come out and show that we too can be a church. How much activity within the church is exercised not for the glory of God but to human ostentation. Sometimes as our relationship is a relationship mundane. We need to understand what being church is more than hold services, rather than put people inside a building to sing. But the people who came to live in solidarity, this is the biblical principle, weep with those who mourn, rejoice with those who rejoice, but how many times the fall of a brother is a joy for us. Well done, I never believed in that guy, I never took it seriously. Or see a couple in trouble and talk, because it does not want to do as we're seeing, it looks like his son is, if he had done as I did. Sometimes what you see is not a token of love over human vanity.
In the church we went to have a sense of responsibility by others. The pain must be a pain for everyone. We need people to understand how brothers shake hands, they will sympathize. I told them in one of the time I was here, before assuming the pastorate of the church, I'll sweeten the mouth of Italians, a poem by an Italian Trelousse not remember the rhyme, but remember the gist of the story, was a lion acordor that one day, hit a paw in the cage and saw that the door was left open and all frajola. Passed pala monkey cage and ask this: where are you going lion? Look, I'll rebuild the glory of my ancestors. I am a circus lion, I'm domesticated here, but my ancestors had glory, were taken to Rome's Colosseum and the crowd was standing when they entered the arena. My ancestors killed a Christian with a kick. Devour Christians. What was real lion, not that I'm here making role, child playing popcorn. I'm going to go there and kill Christians. And the monkey said: 'Well, friend lion, you're outdated, uninformed. The lion does not access the internet. And he said this: things have changed a lot. Christians today are not rabble they dominated the world, have spread throughout the world. Christians are smart, they holds the greatest riches of the world. And the lion was becoming more open with his chin. Christians today has manufacturing operations. There are entire nations Christian. They have universities and hospitals. And the lion became completely disoriented and said so: but monkey friend, answer me one thing, who devours the Christians now? And the monkey said, let there Christians that they devour each other. And Paul warned, take heed that ye be not bite each administrative outros.Quanto worship in church is sitting bite each other. Quanta assembly and association agreement makes the Christian standards are swept under the carpet and more explicit carnality appears. Jesus said a house divided can not exist. In the house where everybody cries, everybody gets offended, for that is the word! Tions and offenses, this house is ruined, because he lost the sense of mutual responsibility, mutuality. We must remember this, creates new cross ties, the cross creates new boundaries of responsibility, we are brothers and are responsible for each other. Who is sick, one who is suffering, who is unemployed, who is in pain, is pain, disease and suffering of the whole church.
The final point: the cross creates new opportunities to help and be helped. Why wait for it. Were the two who suffered most, mother and beloved disciple. Were the two closest to the rescuer. And these two that has deep suffering, more than the other, console each other. A good description of the church. The church is where we understand the pains of each other. Why sad thing is someone getting hurt in the church with a brother and appears very holy and consecrated to rub salt. Who are suffering need not blow, you need a shoulder to cry on.
Now see how these two fit each other. The nickname of John, son dotrovão, he should be very temperamental, he was the son of thunder is not because it was mild, was really temperamental. Mary was a gentle woman. Have you noticed the few times she speaks. Words are always balanced and thoughtful, she always makes a point of being an afterthought. Mary needed a son of thunder, because what a sweet person who is suffering need is someone determined. Because a melancholic depressive supported by a melancholic depression is terrible. But a melancholic depressive temperamental needs a dynamic, energetic. John is the company that Maria needs. But it happens that an unbalanced, one burst, the less he needs is a lopsided burst, what he needs is a gentle and thoughtful person. And who was called son of thunder in their youth, old age is called the apostle of love. My, what a change. The moody, explosive, which would bring down fire from heaven to kill us, now, late in life, is the apostle of love. And as one historian, late in life, well-aged, semi-senile, he just kept repeating a phrase for Christians who would visit him: little children, love each other.
It's a beautiful picture of the church when we can exert our influence and when we can be influenced. I do not need church, someone says. Church has just hypocritical. My desire is to use the propaganda of Rexona, always room for one more may come, but will not use that expression. You do not need church? So bring your kindness, your spirituality, holiness, and help me because I need, I am a sinner, I'm flawed, I have moments of depression and crisis, in my birth certificate does not appear that I am a pastor, but males I am a human being, sway, we all go for it. Bring your spiritual strength and help in the years that we are weak. Bring your holiness and help us who are sinners. His vision of how things should be done, bring, here's the beauty, bring their virtues I bring my flaws and maybe some of my faults, that proves I'm human, can help you, for you to be less angelic and more human. The church is an excellent opportunity to live in interaction with each other. Receive influence and be influenced. When I turned there was a boy in church, you know it or not, but he was the boy who was looking at me, he is a member of a church in Rio, but I looked at that guy and say this: I wanted to be a believer like him. He was a model Christian life for me was not what he said but the way of being, his character, and how much influence he had on my young life. I lhava and it said: wow, I have nobody at home to help me be a good Christian, he is a believer that I want to be. This week when I went to visit her sister Julia in the hospital she was saying, what I do in church? And I said to this sister is a spiritual reserves, that kind of people being in church does not need to say anything, do not need to say anything, do not have a prayer in public, but we look for that person and say there is a person who knows God, who lives with God, I can be a person. When we learn that communion in the church it is not to criticize each other and point out flaws of each other but to improve each other mutually, then it works. The melancholic and depressive Mary needed a temperamental and that of a gentle woman. When we understand that we are not judges of each other, but brothers, that is not competition or destructive criticism, but solidarity and support, we discovered one of the nicest things of Christianity, life in common. The fact that we can live with each other with our differences with our singularity, uniqueness, because each of us is a world, and yet we can live well without artificiality because the bond that unites us in Christ is greater than any cultural differences that we come to have.
And so we come to an end. We saw another facet of what the church. The church is an opportunity to be enriched with the gospel. It is an opportunity to be enriched and blessed with the life of the brothers. It's an opportunity to be helped and an opportunity for us to help. This morning the challenge for us is this: that brother is not treatment but pronoun form of relationship. That we should love each other with sincerity, not treat them badly, do not speak ill of one another, that does not denigrate the message of others, that we stop practicing the favorite sport of Christians, gossip. We learn to live in this sense of solidarity and responsibility. Wesley used to say, if your heart is right before God to my coop is, give me your hand, you're my brother. At the foot of the cross formed a family. The consanguinity of this [b]family[/b] is the blood of Christ. And when we broke this bond of [b]family[/b] we would not hurt a community, we hurt God's heart and we injure the purpose of Christ to gather all men into a new race, a new [b]family[/b] called church. What is the church? The church is a [b]family[/b] that was born at the foot of the cross. Never forget this