Pastor Jim Jackson

Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church

They come in all colors, sizes, and shapes…families. You can’t get here without having one. Prayerfully there will be some yet with you when you are setting sail for yet another family, a heavenly one.

Being a family member isn’t always easy, simply because those members aren’t you. You are separate entities with your own personalities, preferences, prejudices, and imperfections. You had no choice in their being your family.

Your genes were destined to make you like them in some undeniable ways, some of which you may have preferred doing without.

But families, as imperfect as they may be, are the human cradle in which we were introduced to this world. Seems to me that we humans are among those of God’s creatures most dependent for the longest time after we are born. So thank God for families, for our need of each other lasts for life. The benefits of being in family are too numerous to list, but there is one that stands out most in my mind. Family is most likely where we are best known for what really are— both our assets and liabilities So as for me, the greatest gift received from our family is that they know us best and love us most. Belonging to a healthy family means being a recipient of unconditional love. It’s not a matter of “I love you if,” or “I love you because,” rather it is a matter of “I love you anyhow.”

Watch out! Here comes the preacher in me. Our Heavenly Father is the finest example of that kind of family love. In Ephesians the writer speaks about our being alienated from God by our sins, yet it then says: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith he loved us, even when were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are you saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” ‘Did you notice? The word “together” is used two times in that short statement. We are together in sin and together in forgiveness.

Yes we are in God’s family. He knows us better than anyone, yet loves us more than anyone. God loves us just as we are, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

In Christ, we belong to the best family of all — God’s.