Who are you?

Who are you? Who are your people? Who are your family? Where are you from?
These are questions we’re asked in many different ways every day.

We ask this type of question in so many different ways of just about everyone we meet, that it’s become habit. We assume the person we’re talking to has a family, a place to belong, to talk about, and we’re often taken aback or don’t know how to respond if a person says, “I don’t know, I was brought up in foster homes,” or “My family doesn’t care about me anymore, I’ve just got out of a mental health unit.”

If we’re caring people, we feel for people who find themselves adrift and alone for whatever reason, because that sense of belonging is so important to us as human beings.

You remember the old song, “People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world.” But if we’re honest, hasn’t each one of us has had a time in our lives when we felt completely alone – cut off even from family and friends? I know I have… in hospital.

What happens to us when all we see or feel is darkness? What happens to our sense of self if we feel that the darkness is our fault? What happens when it is our own fault – a bad decision, deliberate selfishness? There’s no one there to reach out to.

Have you ever felt that way? It’s really hard. What do we do? Some despair, others stay wrapped in anger, others hang in with hope. How do we choose?

Lots of questions. These questions may be overwhelming or they may be questions we’ve never really thought about, but the mere asking makes us think about some of our more difficult days.
Are they unanswerable questions? Not at all, because all of our readings today give us a reason to hope. All of our readings today give us ways to have relationships with others, even when we’re not family.

Being part of a family is what each reading today is all about: God’s family. Saint Paul gives a wonderful definition of how we belong to God’s family.

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

There we have it! None of us ever need to fear being completely alone even if we don’t have an earthly family. We all are part of God’s family. We can cry “Abba!” We can be absolutely sure that, as the spirit of God is within every single one of us, we are brothers and sisters of Christ and heirs of God’s glory. Paul also reminds us that this family connection doesn’t break down when we suffer. Christ suffered – we suffer, but we are not left alone as he was not left alone.

When people get ill or we see that people’s suffering is not of their own doing, we often hear things said like, “God never gives you more than you can take” or “This suffering will make you a stronger person.”

But think about how some people react to suffering they think is brought on by a person’s bad choices. A homeless person asks for some change, a young man who’s just got out of jail can’t find a job – that’s their problem, isn’t it? We often hear some say, “It’s their own fault,” or “They’re lazy,” or “My taxes have been supporting him in jail, he doesn’t deserve any help.”

It’s hard to imagine a loving God living in us, calling us children, and yet deliberately giving us something to suffer in order to test us or make us stronger, and if we’re honest about it, the homeless and poor and those who have made bad choices are still children of God, our brothers and sisters, and we must be willing to love them and reach out as we’re able.

What Paul shares with us is that God is with every one of us through whatever happens in our human lives, whether we acknowledge God’s presence or not. God is present no matter what and waits for us to say yes to that presence. God is a very patient and loving God.

Now we might be thinking that this all sounds too easy, that we don’t have to worry about anything but knowing God’s spirit is within us and we’re all set. Of course, we know better.

Hard or easy, whatever our gift, whatever our own suffering may be, we can be sure we’re never alone. God’s promise is all through both the Old and New Testament.

God promises to be with us and keep us. God promises to stay with us until we are with God in eternity.

We are all very fortunate because when someone asks us about our family, we can all say, “My family is all God’s people and we have God’s promise that we will never be alone.”
Amen.

Loyalty... Part of the Scout Law

In The United States of America, it's still common for school pupils to take the Pledge of Allegiance. This happens quite publicly and may even take place on a daily basis in some schools. Typically, it would involve the pupil facing the flag of the USA and with hand over heart reciting these words:

'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'

We don’t do that in Britain but Scouts have Laws and Promises...

Scout Promise
On my honour, I promise that I will do my best,
To do my duty to God and to the Queen,
To help other people,
And to keep the Scout Law.

Scout Law
A Scout is to be trusted.
A Scout is loyal.
A Scout is friendly and considerate.
A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts.
A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.
A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.

So Scouts are called to be loyal… to keep promises…

Do people keep their promises? You can probably remember times when you haven't. Promising something is easy − seeing it through is less easy. Is there any point in making promises these days? What kind of world would it be like if no one promised anyone anything?

And what about loyalty? Where are your loyalties? Are they to your country, your family, your community, your favourite football team? Or, are they really only to yourself? Perhaps we do need to look at ourselves and ask what has happened to loyalty to others beyond ourselves and our families and communities.

Perhaps our loyalty should not be to any particular way of life, but to life itself. Perhaps our loyalty should be to the idea that every person who shares this world with us deserves the chance to live a fulfilling, safe, happy and meaningful life, free from pain, poverty, prejudice and anything else which prevents them from living life to the full.

Christianity believes that life has a fundamental value and that we're all responsible for each other. It's everyone's job to make sure that everyone else's life is worth living.

Now that would be something worth pledging allegiance to.

Here is a pledge of allegiance, a pledge of loyalty which perhaps we could all share…

I pledge allegiance to a world where no one is hungry.
I pledge allegiance to a world where people are free.
I pledge allegiance to a world where truth reigns.
I pledge allegiance to a world where suffering is banished to the history books.
I pledge allegiance to a fair world, a world where everyone has opportunities − no matter what their race, gender or disability.
I pledge allegiance to a better world − a world where there is peace and justice.