Today's Gospel

A New View of Your Family Tree

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Are you ready for God to speak to you? Are you ready to listen to the Word of God? Are you distracted? Are you doing three things at once? I was talking to someone recently and they're talking about commitment. They're talking about how people are struggling to commit in our society. And I said to the person, I said, "Yes. Most people can't even commit to one screen at a time." We can't even say, "Okay, this is going to be the only screen for the next hour." We've got multiple screens going most of the time. And so, can you commit to this one screen for these few minutes? Sit with God and listen to what he has to say to us. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke 13:18-21. He said, "Therefore, what is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his garden. And it grew and became a tree. And the birds of the air made nests in its branches." And again, he said, "To watch shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." What jumps out at you today? You're the people Jesus is trying to explain the kingdom of God to people, and they're trying to grasp it, and He's given them these parables. And I'm sure they wanted much more sort of specific, literal answers.

But He kept giving them these parables because they're so rich, engaged the whole person, not just the mind, the whole person. And He's given them these two images today. "This is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden and it grew and became a tree and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." The image that struck me when I first read that today was of a family. A family where people are open to life and they have children and then the children have children and the children's children have children. And there's this tree of life, right? And the children and the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren, they're the birds that are sitting and playing in this tree of life. That's the image that struck me for some reason when I first read this just now. And it's a beautiful image. It's great to be around families. Yes, we've all got dysfunction in our families. But there is something really beautiful about family. There is something beautiful about seeing multiple generations of a family and realizing the sacrifices and the openness to God and the openness to life that was present throughout the generations. What jumped out at you today? Sew it in your heart, carry it with you throughout the day, and have an amazing day. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself. All that God created you to be.