My Tuesday evenings are a little more lonely these days. Like many of you, for the last six years, I spent Tuesday evenings with the Pearson family enjoying the series "This Is Us." I marveled at how the writers pulled stories together, wondered about the cause of Jack's death, was firmly Team Toby (right up until I wasn't), and watched Rebecca slowly slip away. 

(I guess I should have warned you about spoilers, but it's been six years, so that's kind of on you) 

One of the elements that I loved in the series was how the title defined the family. While they might have their squabbles and outright showdowns, in the end, it was about the dynamic they shared. No matter what, they were family. This Is Us.

I see the lines of division being drawn up in our world today. I hear politicians telling us who's in and out. And I see preachers putting up walls where Jesus opened doors. We need a reminder that we dare not divide who we are. Yes, we have our differences, but at the end of the day, "This Is Us." Together, united, one in Christ.

This Is Us: The Way; Hebrews 10:19-25

The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel connects the United States to Canada by traveling nearly a mile under the Detroit River. When we popped out of the tunnel on the Canadian side, my friends, Mark and Kimm, turned to me in the backseat and said (in unison), “Bret, when the guards stop us at the gate, keep your mouth shut.”

I’m still not exactly sure what they thought I was going to say. But it was imperative that I not joke around or try to have fun with the guards. I was a visitor to their land and needed to respect that. My friends knew me well enough to warn me that my mouth might get us in trouble . . . again.

The apostle Peter reminds us that we are strangers in this world; sojourners just traveling through. Our language and character should both inform those around us that we don’t belong here and cause them to wonder where we might be from. “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,” Peter writes. In a world that seems drunk on conflict and drama, the Christian is to stand apart, not join in. Sometimes that means keeping your mouth shut when you find yourself. Other times it means making sure the words you DO use broadcast the love of Jesus to those around you.

You're Not From Around Here, Are Ya? 1 Peter 2:9-17

Life for the fatherless was difficult in the ancient world. Children were often left with no recourse but to beg, and it could be far worse for widows. Again and again, in the Bible, we read commands like the one found in Zechariah 7:10, "do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart." God's heart is with the fatherless and the poor. 

Jesus came with that same heart but called his followers to go beyond merely not devising evil against the oppressed. Instead, he called us to identify with them, to make a home and a family for them. When Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor," he called us to be that blessing by identifying with the poor and being a family for the fatherless.

Are We Poor? Luke 14:12-24

Robin Hood was my favorite. As a kid, it was just bows and arrows, good guys and bad guys; I didn't understand the setting or conflict that gave birth to the story. Good King Richard is off fighting, and miserable Prince John is in charge. Robin and his band of Merry Men remained loyal to the king, even though he was absent. They held to the true king's standards and fought to maintain his kingdom.

Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come," but I wonder if we shouldn't hear it more as a rallying cry than a prayer. "Your kingdom come," tells us all is not right in this world and calls us to loyalty to Jesus and to live in such a way as to bring His reign, along with his love, to all those we encounter.

His Kingdom Come; Acts 1:6-8

Nothing was ever quite good enough for the old man. So he often “improved” items by adding a few new parts. There was the wire running from the TV across the living room, and dangling a speaker next to his chair, so he didn’t have to walk across the room to turn it up (if only he could have invented a remote back then). Extra handles on his old boat made it easier to transport. And, of course, some of you would remember his old van. Chalk it up to creativity or “hillbilly ingenuity,” but there were few things dad couldn’t improve upon. Though, they might not have looked better when he was finished (I’m thinking specifically of the van).

When it comes to our Heavenly Father, though, his plan for us isn’t just to cobble on a few spare parts—glue a little holiness on here or weld on some forgiveness over there. No, instead, God calls us his “New Creation!” Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “The old has passed away, the new has come!” You are not someone God merely repaired or refashioned. You are recreated brand-new! And not just you, but everyone who accepts his Son’s gift.

I'm a New Creation! 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

The anniversary came and went with barely a notice last week. This past Friday marked eleven years since the fire that destroyed our old building. I looked through the pictures and thought about how far we've come and how many things have changed.

The last couple of pictures from that day were of the destruction of the few walls still standing. Those walls had once brought us closer to God and each other. They made us feel safe and secure in our worship, but now they were hazards and had to be torn down. 
There is something familiar to me in Paul's words from Ephesians 2:14. He writes of Jesus, "For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility." Paul had a very real and solid wall in mind, a wall in the Jerusalem Temple that let some people in while keeping others out. It allowed some to approach God for worship and told others they were not welcome. That wall had become a hazard and had to be torn down. 

Tearing down a physical wall is easy with the right equipment. Yet, somehow, walls of division and hostility still pop up in our hearts and heads, separating us from those who need us and need the peace Jesus offers. What does peace with God look like? It looks a lot like peace with each other.

People of Peace; Ephesians 2:13-18

Dad said I was named for one of his favorite westerns. Mom said she picked my name because it worked well with my brother's. I like dad's story better, but whether the name had meaning or they just liked the sound of it, I'm stuck with it. 

There are far worse names to be stuck with. For example, in the Bible, the prophet Hosea has a son named "Lo-Ammi," Hebrew for "Not my people." Can you imagine being stuck with a name like that? Whenever Hosea introduced his son, he said, "He's not mine." 
People want to belong, be included, and be told they matter. But unfortunately, we have to confess that we often draw lines that exclude more than wrap arms around to include others. It's not just the names we call others but our actions and attitudes that tell them, "you don't belong here."

God's heart does not exclude. God speaks in the next verse, "In the place where it was said of them 'You are not my people,' it shall be said to them, 'Children of the living God.'" God adopts the rejected, includes the forgotten, and welcomes home those who have no place to belong. The question is, do we share his heart?

The People of God; Romans 9:22-26

The most frequently used designation for Christians in the Bible is the word "Brother." It appears over 250 times in the book of Acts and the Epistles. So while you and I call ourselves Christians and speak of ourselves in groups as churches, the Bible shows us, again and again, that we cannot understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus without the concept of family. 

We often worry about the state of the family these days. We see the struggle of broken homes and absentee parents and the aftermath in children left with no role models. Unfortunately, the problem only gets worse as it perpetuates into new generations. And yet, here we are, called "The Family of God." That's a gift our world desperately needs. 

When I started attending church, families invited me to sit with them, adopted me for church activities, handed me an extra plate at potlucks, and made me feel . . . well . . . like family. Those gifts made lasting impressions, and they all stem from understanding that above all else, we are the family of God.

His Kingdom Come; Acts 1:6-8

Bret Hammond

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