Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 19 verses 27 and 29-30:
27 Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ . . . 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold,* and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
In recent years, I have heard lots of stories of families being split apart by so much of the political division in our country.
Fathers have lost sons and vice versa. Even when families are still on speaking terms, a great feeling of estrangement colors every encounter.
Jesus did not deny the estrangements in his own family and amongst those of his followers. They were real, and they were painful.
But Jesus did tell his followers to take consolation from what has been gained, the community they had found with one another.
Families are split. Friendships are lost. Long-time members feel they must move elsewhere. This is all very painful.
But there are also new friendships to be made, and new spiritual families to be formed. A church community we truly belong to can become a new home for us.
In fact, that is what we often say, that we want our church to be a person's or family's home.
These are tough times, friends. Find consolation where you can. Find your people. Embrace them. Take care of them. Let them take care of you.
Watch out for one another -- like family.
Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
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