“…A Huge Crowd, too huge to count…” – Revelation 7:9-12 MSG
So, the HGBDF Family Reunion is coming to NY next year. It will be hosted by my family here, who migrated to NY from Alabama back in 1968. It started out in Alabama where everybody went back “Home”, and it grew from a few to many. Now though, a lot of those who started the history on which the Reunion was built upon has passed on. And while their passing has impacted the family in a great and real way, we still stand on the foundation that they built. That speaks volumes to me about family, family values, and the urgency to maintain and retain it. Nevertheless, things, they are a changing and the changes are impacting family structure.
The modern family now consists of 2 moms, or 2 dads. The blended family now consists of a mixed-race mom, or dad, and bi-racial children; or any one of myriad of assorted combination that make up our family. There are step children, foster children, and God-children, and the family no longer looks like dad, mom, the cat, the dog and 1.5 children. My husband grew up in a family of 9 children, 1 mom, 1 dad. My mom grew in a family of 12 children, 1 mom, 1 dad. I grew up with 3 children, 1 mom, 1 dad. So, no two families are the same, but I dare say the foundation on which the family is built ought to be the same: God First. Without God-even Christ & His Holy Spirit, our families are doomed to fail; more likely to fall into the traps of society, and far from God.
The first family failed. The father failed to lead, the mother failed to follow, and the children did not fight for peace. Since that time, our families have been under attack. But I was reminded by Pastor, in a recent Bible Study (in the context of our failures to live up to who and what God has called us to be) that, God is immutable. He does not change. He meets us where we are, and His shed blood is the propitiation for our sins. We may fail, but there is no failure in Him. He expects us to grow in His grace, from our pitiful state to a higher place in Him, as we move progressively through our relationship and responsibility with Him. You know what that means? Hope! Hope, for my family, and hope for yours.
September is the time on our church calendar when we focus on the family. Let us be prayerful for one another. While my family may not be like yours, and yours unlike mine, we have a Father who is God. He is in His Holy Temple. His throne is in Heaven. His eyes behold; His eyelids try the children of men (Psalm 11:5). The physical family is the most important building block to human society, and as such, it should be nurtured and protected. But more important, is the new creation that God is making in Christ, compromised of a spiritual family; the Church, made up of all people who call upon the Lord Jesus as Savior. The parallels are quite clear. When we are born physically, we’re born into a physical family, but when we are “born again,” we are born into a spiritual family. This spiritual family is not bound by ethnicity, gender or social standing. It is a family drawn from every nation, tribe, language and people, and the defining characteristic is love for God, and love for one another. God’s desire isn’t just to save isolated individuals, but entire households.
Submitted by Deaconess Irene Gardon