Rethinking Relationships by: Rev. Michael R. Robinson

 

Rethinking Relationships

Rev. Michael R. Robinson

 

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)

“Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage, THIS I tell you brother, you can’t have one without the…other”

These are the opening lyrics to a famous Frank Sinatra song which served as the theme to a 1980’s sitcom called “Married…With Children”; which depicted the misadventures of dysfunctional family, the Bundy’s: Al, Peggy, and their children Kelly and Bud. This sitcom was Fox TV’s direct response to a very popular African American sitcom: “The Cosby Show”; a show which exemplified positive relationships among its family, friends, and community. The reasoning of “Married…With Children” was clear: Al Bundy’s lack of positive relationships served as the consequences of his lack of enthusiasm for his life.  I’m so glad that God loved you and I so much that He gave his only Son, so that we wouldn’t have to suffer the ultimate consequence because of the choices we made in this life.  We can be excited and enthusiastic about the life we live for Jesus!

For those of us who believe that Jesus IS our personal Lord and Savior; how are our relationships and how DO we relate to our spouses, children, co-workers, friends, fellow believers in Christ, and the God we promised to serve? Let us Rethink all of our relationships during this week of Lent.

 

In order to answer these questions it would do us well to see how Jesus related:

1.      With His Father-  Jesus did nothing on his own which was showed the love Jesus had for his father: “Verily I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these…”  (John 5: 19-20).  Jesus was fully equal to God yet totally submissive to the will of His Father.

2.     With His Disciples-   The Gospel writer writes in John 6: 67-68, Jesus asks the twelve “Will ye also go away?” Simon Peter remarkably answers “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We know and have come to know that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus invested in his relationship with his disciples as his Father invested in him.

3.     With You and Me-    “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world will believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 17: 20-21)  When you and I realize our relationship in Christ and in each other, this will become one of the basis for evangelism.  As we are together our purpose and story will become believable to the unsaved. It is imperative for us to go beyond differing doctrine, denomination, and political affiliation.

This coming July will make 27 years that I will have been married to my wife Teresa.  I can remember promising to carry her burdens upon my shoulders.  I must admit that I have not always been successful at completing every single one, but I’m glad that Jesus has NEVER Not missed his promise to be her refuge and has carried every single one of her burdens!  My burdens, and everyone else’s burdens were carried upon the old rugged cross, all the way up the Via Dolorosa and up to Calvary’s hill.  To say he did it just for me would be true yet also an understatement; for Christ in fact followed God’s eternal plan so that we would not become dysfunctional like the Bundy’s, but to better relate to one another.

To answer the question which was stated earlier, how will we rethink our relationships with respect to our spouses, co-workers, children, fellow believers in Christ, and to our God.  After being witness to such a catastrophic event as this Covid-19 Pandemic; how fervent will we be in our pursuit and worship of God?  Will we be more prudent to seek out our fellow Cross and Crown members and members of our own community? What will we be willing to do going forward to present Cross and Crown as the conduit for our neighbors to experience and be enthusiastic about salvation like we are; saved from their sin and transgression? Let’s be intentional about our “love levels this Lenten” season, and examine our love for God, our family and neighbors remembering 1 John 4:19, “We love him because he first loved us.”   May God bless you as we embark on this journey which begins right now as we Rethink Relationships during this Lenten Season.