Sometimes the readings which the lectionary suggests we consider are really hard to think about. This week’s reading from Mark’s gospel is one of these. In Mark 3:20 – 35, Jesus has just healed a great many people of various illnesses, and in particular of possession by various demons. His family come to restrain him, and the Scribes accuse him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus talks to the crowd, asking how Satan can cast out Satan. All of this is bewildering enough for us in our western scientific world. But what is perhaps even more difficult is the last part of the reading, in which the crowd says to Jesus ‘Your Mum and your brothers are outside asking for you!’ How do you respond to this? What do you expect Jesus to do? I know that I would expect my children or me to get up and go. But Jesus doesn’t. He says ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ And he looks at everyone gathered around and says ‘You are my mother, you are my brothers, you are my sisters. The person who obeys God’s will is my mother, my sister, my brother.’

Who is our loyalty to? Our family of origin? For some of us, our family of origin is a place of security, love, and nurture. For many of us it is a complex web of love and resentment, security and anxiety. For some it is a place of confusion at best and terror at worst. Unquestioning loyalty to the family of origin can lead to the violence of family feuds which last for generations, or the hiding of abuse and domestic violence.

What does family mean in these days where our attention is drawn often to families that are failing in almost every aspect of what we hope and expect family to be?

This week a lot of media attention has been given to a proposed policy to address our terrible child abuse statistics. This is something which comes up often in our prayers. The torture, death and beating of children by their parents breaks my heart. The proposed policy would forbid parents who had tortured or killed children in their care from having further children or from living in households where children are present. What do you think of this as a possible solution to the prevalence of child abuse in New Zealand today? Do you think this would strengthen families and make them better able to cope with the inevitable stresses and strains of living together? Who gets to decide who is fit to be a parent and who is not? I don’t have answers to these questions. My gut reaction is that there is a deep flaw in this proposal. And I am still trying to think about how my faith in Christ shapes my response to the issues raised by this proposal. Does this text from Mark have anything at all to say about this question? What ‘demons’ inhabit our society and our lives? What is needed to cast them out? What does obedience to God’s will mean to us in this situation?

How do we contribute to building a family of God?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Sally