A Peculiar Family

Lets admit it, everyone’s family is a little weird. Like if you think about it, we all have some idiosyncrasies. 

As we continue to look at the condition surrounding the early church, we see that they were having some family troubles. 

In the city of Jerusalem, there were a lot of widows. Specifically, there were some that were Hellenistic Jews, meaning they were Jews in their religion and their genetic makeup, but I had lived outside of the Jewish homeland, spoke Greek, and was influenced by the Greek culture. Often these people would move back to Jerusalem in their old age with plans to be buried in the city of their ancestors. 

Also, they were the Hebraic Jews. These were people who were not only Jewish in their faith and their ethnic history, but had lived in the Jewish homeland, their whole lives. These people spoke Aramaic or Hebrew. 

Within the early church, there were groups of both of these types of people who had given their lives to Jesus and were now a part of following in the Way.  

Part of them being baptized and making a declaration of their faith in Jesus would be that often their family would denounce or abandon them. 

This was particularly difficult for them, considering in the Roman empire there was no Social Security. Women were often not educated, and so without the physical ability to perform manual labor jobs, they would depend on their family to take care of them and provide for them.

The church was aware of this need and quickly was working to ensure that both of these groups were taken care of. 

The problem was that as the church grew, the apostles were no longer able to continue spending time. Preaching the story of Jesus because there were so many people to take care of.

In Acts chapter 6, the apostles called together the church, and they elected seven deacons to ensure that the people are being served and that the word of God is going to be continued to be preached. 

All of this, we understand that the church is called to be a peculiar family. Your house and your last name are not your family; you are your family. In the same way, the church is not a building or a brand. You are the Church.

For us to be the church we are called to be. We must be people who see those on the margins and intentionally and sacrificially serve them.

In order for us to be the church that God has called us to be, we need to be a family that notices. Here in Acts chapter 6, the apostles and the members of the church noticed those that were in need. They were not so consumed with themselves that they missed out on the marginalized.

It’s important for us to consider as a church that if we were to disappear tomorrow, would our city even notice? Are there people whose lives are so blessed by our presence that they would be disappointed if we were gone?

The message of Jesus is one that continually points us to love and serve those who society overlooks. Jesus sought out those who culture deemed unworthy. Jesus healed those with leprosy. He acknowledged and healed an unclean woman. Jesus cared for children, who at the time and in that culture were thought of as property. Jesus noticed and cared for those who society had long forgotten.

We cannot follow Jesus faithfully and only love people who are convenient for us to love. James, the half-brother of Jesus, said this, “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27 CSB) 

Maybe in our context, it’s not necessarily widows; maybe it’s the kid in school who you know everyone else makes fun of and doesn’t fit in. Maybe it’s people in nursing homes. Perhaps the widows of our day are the homeless or the mentally ill. 

The question truly is, who are the people in our community that offer us nothing but need to be served and loved? My dad used to always say to us while we were growing up, the true measure of a man is how he treats someone who is of no value to him.  

I worry that in the 21st century often we are trying to build churches full of culturally “pretty“ people. God has called us to be a place that intentionally seeks out the forgotten, overlooked, and downtrodden.

The peculiar family that we are called to be is a family that takes action. The apostles and members of the early church guest noticed this problem, but they also took action.

Maybe you’re wondering, what could you do about the problems that are facing our world or community? The only thing I’m sure of is that you can do nothing about them if you do nothing. 

To be a family that takes action, we should be people who pray purposefully. Have we prayed for those who have been overlooked? Not just that they would be helped by God, but that God would use us to help them.

Have we asked God to give us eyes to see those who we often miss? Perhaps, we wouldn’t even know how to identify the forgotten or overlooked in our community because we’ve never noticed them. My goal is not to shame anyone who is tempted with the allure of being self-absorbed, but I do want to challenge us to lift up our eyes and look at the world around us. 

We also need to be willing to step in and help when we have the opportunity. Many times in churches, someone will present a problem and think, “boy, I hope someone does something about that.”

I love that we are living in a generation of people who want to be activists, but calling attention to a problem is only helpful if we’re willing to change our lives in order to help solve it. 

Are we willing to help those who are homeless even if it’s uncomfortable? Will we step in and serve in a nursing home even if it doesn’t smell very good? Will we go out of our way to love someone who doesn’t fit in even if that gets us made fun of along with them?

You are the Church. All of us are called to be a part of this peculiar family. As Lilo and Stitch remind us, “ family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”