[John 6:35-51] Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day…”
When the Whole Family Comes
There was a woman who prepared thanksgiving dinner. Her sons and daughters, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and the grandchildren all came.
As they sat down to eat, the woman began to cry. She said, “There are 8 billion people in the world, and only twelve of them came to my dinner. So few! There must be something wrong with my cooking.”
Said no one ever. That is, of course, a made-up story. Because that’s not how it works. When you count chairs around the dinner table, you don’t count them in comparison to the 8 billion people in the world or the 8 million people in your city.
Instead, when the whole family has come, you say, “Everyone is here!” Everyone is here. In some families, that’s five. In others, it’s thirty-five. In either case, when the whole family has come, everyone is here.
The same is true for the family of God, the family of believers in Jesus Christ. For a congregation. When the whole family has come, everyone is here.
And when some members of the family of Christ are not here, that should be painful and a source of concern for all of us.
The disciples of Jesus, in certain places in the Gospels, sometimes seemed to think like the woman in my made-up story. They would ask Jesus, “Will those who are saved be many or few?”
They were likely perplexed by Jesus’ way of talking, because at one and the same time our Lord says that those who find His kingdom are few but also that there will be a great and lavish harvest of believers —
— That most of the world will refuse faith in Christ. But also that the gathering in heaven will be a great multitude that no one can number, from every tribe, nation, and language.
How can both be true? Because when the whole family is at the feast, everyone is there. It is a great and grand gathering when all the family of heaven comes.
The same is true when the family of Christ gathers here on earth in its congregations. Whether its twenty-five, thirty-five, or a hundred and five. When everyone is present, it feels great.
It makes a difference to the others just that you are here, gathered in Jesus. Your presence encourages one another.
Why do I say all this today? Because our Gospel reading today is a place in Scripture where Jesus promises us that His whole family will be present when He raises us up on the Last Day. None will be missing. All who will ever believe, He will gather; and they will be found with Him there.
Families in this life are formed and defined by birth, or adoption, and by family names. You were born or adopted into a family and received that family name as your name.
But this connection to family by birth and name is not our forever-connection. It belongs to this world and life and passes away with it. Just as the whole human race has fallen in sin, so has family and name.
Your forever-connection is your connection to God’s name and God’s family. Your forever-father is God the Father. Your forever-brother is Jesus His Son.
Our forever-family is not defined by our physical birth – as important as that is – but by our faith in Christ and by our baptism into God’s family. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” [Mark 16:16]
By birth, I became part of a family on earth. By baptism, I became part of the family of heaven, God’s family. The family of Christ is those who live by faith in Jesus and are baptized into His name, the “name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” [Matthew 28:19]
In our Gospel today, Jesus is speaking to descendants of Abraham who are all connected by birth. Yet He tells them, “You have seen Me, but you don’t believe in Me.”
And then Jesus says, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out” – “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me but raise it up on the last day” – “everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him…”
That whole family of those who look to Jesus and believe in Him will be at the feast when Jesus raises up our bodies on the Last Day. He will lose none. He will cast out none who come to Him. His “everyone” will be there. The whole family.
Just as Jesus will gather together all who are His on the Last Day, He also wants all who are His to be gathered in the Church on earth in the meantime – to receive His saving Word and sacraments together.
Therefore, in the meantime – and this is a word of warning – it is a great offense, a sin, when our actions or our words cause some of Jesus’ forever-family to not be here where the congregation gathers. He holds you accountable if your conduct becomes the reason others are away.
Our Epistle reading [Ephesians 4:17 – 5:2] reminds us today not to be “callous” – not to have “hardness of heart” – not to dwell on our anger – not to hold on to bitterness – and not to let any “corrupting talk”, any ungracious words, which only tear others down, come out of our mouths.
Whether in the family of God or in your families at home, if your words – because you spoke callously or made yourself the judge – cause one member to feel unwelcome or uneasy, that is sin.
It is something to repent of, to amend, and to seek Christ’s forgiveness for. Its an area of your life to seek to improve and do better at. And Jesus does forgive. And He does help us do better, by His power.
By His power, we are called to “put on the new self” – to “be renewed in the spirit of our minds” – to speak from our mouths words that are “good for building up” which give “grace to those who hear.”
To “be kind to one another, tenderhearted” – and most importantly – “forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
God already has forgiven all of your sins through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross – even those sins that disrupt His family. Those sins are forgiven in the cross of Jesus. You have His forgiveness.
All sins – the sins you’ve committed – and the sins that have been committed against you – are nailed up on His cross. Therefore, be forgiving and patient toward one another from the start.
Jesus’ promise of forgiveness gives us confidence to seek to do better today what we failed at yesterday. His mercy is new every morning.
And His promise that He will gather all that His Father has given Him – His “everyone” at His feast – gives us confidence to reach out. All His own will be gathered in. Therefore, your effort will not be in vain.
Our right conduct – putting on the new man and walking together in kindness – makes this household of God a place where those who believe in Him can gather so that everyone can always be present.
And our right conduct makes it so new Christians, visitors, and people inquiring about the faith can come to faith in Christ – or grow in their Christian faith – here in our church. The more the love of Christ is cultivated among us the more fruitful it is for God to draw people here. And He does.
There is not a guarantee that everyone we care for or everyone who shares our family name will believe in Christ. None of us are unfamiliar with that heartache. But we are baptized into our forever-family and share the name of God with all believers in Christ.
And we are guaranteed that heaven will be a joy because there we will be completely renewed and will be gathered with our whole baptized family and truest “everyone” around Christ’s table. Amen.
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