The Importance of Family at Christmas
This morning we are continuing our Christmas Series “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” where we are looking at our favorite parts of Christmas & tracing those themes to see how they point to Jesus.
We already covered how our Christmas tree comes to us from the Tree of Life and points to the tree Jesus was hung on, thereby giving us eternal life.
And last week we looked at how music is so integral to our Christmas celebrations, the same way it was recorded all over the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke 1 & 2. And I showed you how music is all through the pages of our Bible, praising God for who He is and what He’s done.
And today we are going to look at the one thing Covid took away from many people’s Christmas celebrations last year – family. I know for me and Michelle, it just felt different last year not gathering with extended family because Christmas is the one time of year family almost always gathers together, no matter how many miles people are apart.
And one of the signs that Family is one of the foundational elements of having a homey Christmas is the fact that the cameras always come out at Christmas to capture that perfect family picture.
But sometimes, what we imagine a picture looking like isn’t what develops. Countless families have tried to get a little too creative with their Christmas family photos – and the results were AWKWARD. Granted, many of us are guilty of these same mistakes. I’m sure many of you have been a part of those silly family photos that include matching sweaters for all the kids or everyone in their pajamas. Sometimes people take Christmas photos with their pets and other times with odd, Christmas props.
The Concept of Family in the Bible
As I’ve already said, being with your family is a huge part of what makes Christmas, Christmas. But today I want us to rethink who our family actually includes – as laid out in the Bible. Now what shouldn’t surprise you is how often our Bible uses the language of family. In fact, when we trace the theme of family through the pages of scripture – we end up at the very beginning, again in the garden in Genesis.
Garden – God creates Adam and Eve as the first family unit – become one – not just partners for procreation.
Genesis 2:24 – That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
This is where we get our nuclear family structure from – God appointing a man and a woman to create a new entity – a marriage – and the foundation for families.
Abraham – As the story of Genesis continues, God chooses from all the people of the world, a single family to bless so they can be a blessing to the world. He shows up to a man named Abram whom he later renames Abraham, and he makes a covenant, an eternal promise, with him:
Genesis 17:3-4 – Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
And at other points in the story of Abraham, we know that God intends for Abraham’s family to become very large and to multiply – thus the language about being the father of even many nations.
Moses -In Exodus 4, we see for the first time God referring to Israel as his first born son – implying He is Father.
Exodus 4:22-23 – 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
This is no longer just the family of Abraham and Sarah. The Israelites are God’s special family. And he wants them to return to him. He will take them to the promised land to be with him.
Isaiah – Again, the people of God are about to be captured by the Assyrians to the north and the Babylonians to the south. And God prophetically speaks about how after those things happen, he will again gather his people back to him.
Isaiah 43:6 – 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
Here we see the language of men and women being called sons and daughters – again pointing to the fact that all the Israelites were one large family of brothers and sisters in God’s house.
Jesus – Refers to God all the time. Lords Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven”. Then after the resurrection in Luke 20, he says his father is now our father.
Luke 20:17 – 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
What’s interesting is that this is the only place Jesus explicitly refers to God as Father to us all. He connects to the language of Isaiah in that God is the father to all in Israel who put their trust in God. But it doesn’t stop with only the Jews.
Paul – More fully explains how the family of God shifts from just a single ethnicity, a single extended family to every tribe, nation, and language. He describes how ANYBODY who puts their faith in Jesus is adopted into the family of God. So the church is God’s family.
Galatians 4:4-6 – But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, BORN OF A WOMAN, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Through Jesus – the family unit which began as just the immediate family of Adam and then became the special family God choose to work through from Abraham, ultimately is opened up to all who trust in Jesus for salvation.
And we know this is true because we are given the Spirit of God into our hearts. And it binds us to God and to one another! So we are now brothers and sisters to one another and to JESUS!
Revelation
Final Act: God gathers all his family together in the new heaven and new earth
We are all reunited with God as the family of believers together. Revelation is a message to the church, which is the representation of the family of God on this earth.
And it tells us of the day we will all be brought back home one final time:
- First from Egypt,
- Then from Assyria and Babylon
- And finally from this broken world
Redefine Family
As I’ve shown you, this concept of family is woven through the pages of our Bible, including the theme of family often being pulled apart with God desiring to bring it back together to be with Him!
When we think of God as a father, it helps us to know more about his character. Rather than just being an all-powerful deity in the sky like the Romans and Greeks worshiped, the Jews, worshiped a god portrayed as a father who loved his family so much that he would do anything to be with them – even sending his son to die for us.
But to enter into this Biblical story of the family of God and to participate in the life of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to be willing to redefine who are family is.
Jesus says something very countercultural to our American idea of family:
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 12:46-50
I know this sounds like heresy in almost denying his own biological family in this moment. Or we can make it easier to swallow and just spiritualize it . But it seems clear that Jesus wants us to redefine how we view family and extend that photo frame a lot wider than just our parents, children, and siblings. It should include the whole family of God!
In fact, throughout the ages, this was how many people HAVE HAD TO VIEW FAMILY. Because so many people were disowned by their bio family when they chose to follow Jesus. If your family is Muslim and you convert to Christianity – you are cut off, and you need a new family. And the church is a beautiful way God prepared for this situation. Here’s where we can learn a lot from our brothers and sisters from other nations around the world who view their family as people far reaching beyond just blood relatives.
Diversity of Family
Today I challenge you to think more broadly about your family – and everyone it includes: those here in First Baptist, and in churches across Lucas country, but also Christians around the globe, both those currently living and those who have already passed.
And your family includes people you might never have thought – like Methodists and Presbyterians, and even Russian Orthodox and Catholics. I think when we get to heaven some people will be surprised by all the differences between everybody who’s part of God’s family.
But what that shows is that God is gathering a diverse family full of differences – in appearance, cultural norms, and even theological nuances.
But that’s not unlike your own family. You have family who are conservative, liberal, pro-vax and anti-vax, family who stays far away and others who are tight. Plus, we all have that strange uncle we can’t quite figure out. But they are still our family.
So Who is Your Family?
Now if everybody who has put their faith in God is a child of God, then this has implications for every guest, visitor, and new person who walks through our doors here at First Baptist.
You see, some churches: have a tendency to be clicky – to not trust new people when they show up or they have a clear tiered system between the long-standing members and the newer folks. Some churches treat one generation as more important than another and ignore the older generation or the younger generations. But that’s not how family works. Once you marry in or are adopted in – you are family as much as anybody else.
And speaking of multi-generational – a family can’t skip 2 generations! And neither can this church! To be a family, you should have people from the youngest to the oldest and everyone in between. And in a family, everyone recognizes that some events are for the younger kids while time flipping through old family pictures may bore the kids but grandpa and grandma love it! And in the same way, as a family within this church, we have to recognize that some things are for us and some things the church does will be more tailored to other ages – and that’s a good thing!
A final implication of this message on family is that we should want our home, this building, to be an incredibly hospitable and welcoming place for new family members. That’s why we’ve been making small changes like bringing donuts and coffee back and trying to make a welcoming atmosphere when people first arrive. Nobody wants to worship God with strangers and feeling like an outsider. We want to worship alongside people who feel like kin – and its our job to create that feeling for every new person who walks through our doors.
Conclusion
Christmas isn’t Christmas without family. And this year, due to various circumstances, some people may really need the church to be their family. And not just a cheap substitute who does the bare minimum, but to feel like real family who cares and who is willing to help where help is needed. Plus, as more new people show up in the new year, we have the opportunity to show them a love and acceptance that being a part of the family of God means. So let’s step into that role God has given us, to be his family, to be brothers and sisters to one another, and to treat each other how we would treat our immediate family this Christmas season and beyond.
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