All of us are part of a family, the people with whom we grew up. We don’t choose them, and they certainly don’t choose us. If we are fortunate, our families work as they should with members supporting and loving one another. Some are less fortunate with families torn by strife and dysfunction. No matter how we feel about them, however, those people are our family. As the saying goes, we can’t deny them.

Some have read this passage in Mark as Jesus rejecting his physical family and preferring those who are seated around him. But I don’t think that’s what’s going on here at all. Jesus can’t deny his earthly family, just as we can’t deny ours.

What he is doing instead is identifying those who are around him and those who “do God’s will” as part of his family. Can you imagine the connection you would have if you could say Jesus was your nephew, your cousin, or your brother? What if you could think of Jesus as a family member, a person who would be loyal, a person on whom you could always depend, no matter what.

And beyond Jesus himself, we become part of a spiritual family that loves and supports us and to whom we can give love and support. Our family becomes anyone who does God’s will. Jesus in these verses is offering us a powerful and inclusive invitation.

Our Father, help us to recognize the opportunity to be part of your family, and help us every day to be always worthy of membership in that family. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

At first glance, this verse may inspire a reaction of scepticism. “Hope does not disappoint us?!?” How many times have we hoped for something that simply didn’t come into being?

In my house when there is potential for something good to come our way, my wife has said to me on more than one occasion, “I’m not getting my hopes up. If it ends up happening, I’ll just be pleasantly surprised. I’d rather that than be disappointed.”

But I don’t think that’s exactly to what this verse refers.

In the verses leading up to this one, we read, “we boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” before we read that hope does not disappoint.

So, are we to understand, then, that we cannot have hope without first enduring suffering? That doesn’t seem right.

In Romans 8, we read “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” And later on, that we “who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved.” And finally, it says “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”

In other words, this is not the hope we might feel for something that we think might happen, which may or may not actually materialize. This is a different hope. The hope for God to hear us, the hope for eternal peace with our Maker, the hope for “adoption and redemption.” That hope is one about which we can have greater certainty. And it isn’t saying that in order to be with God, we must first face affliction. No, it is saying that when we face affliction, we must remember that the surety of God can still give us hope. Our hope is grounded in knowing that, whatever suffering we may experience, we have the goodness of God’s redemption to hope for. Thanks be to God.

God, when we face affliction in this world, remind us that we have the surety to hope for your adoption and redemption. Remind us that it is never futile to hope in you, for you will not disappoint us. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Dwight Dockery.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Originally aired 2024-09-02

Thank you for joining us for today's Grace for All podcast.

On Saturdays, we pause for a few moments to look back on our week and to review the scriptures that we have used in our podcast.

We encourage you, after listening to this episode, to go back and listen to the episodes you missed, or to review the ones that were particularly meaningful for you. We trust that the thoughts that we have shared with you this week have provided a full portion of the joy, peace, and love of Jesus Christ.

Now, let's hear this week's scriptures.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.