In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. – Alex Haley
You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. – Ephesians 2:19-20
As I write, Michyl-Shannon and I are back in my boyhood home on the farm in rural Ohio; and have been part of the loving mob that descended on Grandma’s house for a Christmas reunion. Although Covid and Flu prevented us from having everyone together, we had a good enough turnout to create that perfectly over-crowded gathering that Grandmas dream of. Four generations of us came back to celebrate as a family in the farmhouse that has been home to Beamers for over 170 years now.
My mom loves to decorate with country antiques; and her house has plenty of family pictures, furnishings, tools, and other treasures that were part of the daily life of the farm back in the days-gone-by. These heirlooms help us all feel connected to Beamers that we fondly remember and others that we never met but who inform who we are today. As new family members are born into (or marry into) our clan, these gatherings are part of the way that they learn what it means to be a Beamer and how it is that we all function as a family of families. They hear the stories, they learn to play the treasured games, they taste beloved recipes, and they sit around an expansive table that has held Beamer family meals for over a century.
Young family members learn from us old folks who we have always been, and then they in turn inform us as to who we are becoming, as they share their education and career journeys. It is so heartwarming to watch as the grandkids and great-grandkids seamlessly live into the traditions and values that they have been handed and also bring the gifts of new ideas and traditions-in-the-making that will be part of future gatherings.
Jesus knew God as his Father; and asked us to call upon and relate to God in that same manner. He also referred to us as adelphoi (brothers and sisters). The letter to the Ephesians calls the church to think of themselves as one family, and to look to the witness and example of our family members who have come before us (apostles and prophets) as to how we should live into this identity as family. Author Alex Haley knows that it is our family that both informs where we have come from and is the vehicle through which we will live into and impact the future world.
We can sit at home with our Bible (a family scrapbook, of sorts) and we can learn about the origins of our church family. We can stay home and fondly remember the gatherings of our childhoods, and all of the Sunday School teachers, Pastors, and other church family who taught us who we are as sisters and brothers and God’s children. We can remain in our individual homes and feel connected to all of our church family who have moved on and away.
But we must come back together in the old house (our church home) if we are to pass along our values and traditions to newer generations. We need to gather in the old house if we want to keep it alive and vital. We need to come together in the old house to learn from our new family members who it is that we are becoming. We need to gather as church family; a link to our past and a bridge to our future. Christ will be in the midst of our family reunions, calling us all to be loving sisters and brothers, and directing us ever towards our heavenly Father.
I am looking forward to the coming New Year full of many opportunities for the weekly family reunions that we get to celebrate together. I look forward to passing along the old ways to the new family members, and I am eager to learn from them who we will grow to be in the future!
Peace,