Family

Family is family, in church or in prison
You get what you get, and you don't get to pick 'em
They might smoke like chimneys, but give you their kidneys
Yeah, friends come in handy, but family is family

The above lyrics are the chorus to the song "Family is Family" by Kacey Musgraves. I love her music because it is very real--especially the lyrics of this song!  We are born into families that we do not choose. Some families are the picture-perfect families with the big, fancy house in the suburbs, the two car garage, the cat and dog, and the 2.5 kids. Other families are the ones that live in a smaller home, either brick, wooden, or mobile. They don't have the fancy cars to go into a big garage. Their pets run around their homes, making messes to be cleaned up. And their kids? Well, let's just say they are what we would call, "Hell on wheels!" Stock photos of families (such as the one pictured above), families in television and in movies, are typically portrayed as the first families described above--picture-perfect. Pristine. Put together. It makes us look at our own families and say, "We are all kinds of screwed up!"

This was why, as we near the holiday season, I wanted to do a sermon series on family. It's too easy to look at what a family is "supposed" to be according to the media and Hollywood, compare ourselves to them, and feel as though we have come up short. Even the families in the Bible aren't perfect--proving that our families aren't supposed to be perfect either!

The book of Genesis is, hands down, my favorite soap opera! We've got...

• Adam and Eve: they sin together by eating some fruit and are kicked out of the perfect, Garden of Eden
• Cain and Abel, the kids of Adam and Eve: Cain gets jealous of Abel's approval of God (as compared to how God approves of what Cain does), so he kills his own brother.
• Abraham and Sarah: Abraham is told by God that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars...but his wife, Sarah, struggles with infertility. She gets frustrated with her body and so gives her servant, Hagar, to Abraham so it could be like he was having kids by her (twisted logic for us today, but it was common back then). Hagar rubs it in Sarah's face that she can have kids while Sarah cannot. Sarah kicks her out while she's pregnant. God tells her to return home and safely give birth. She gives birth to Ishmael, but that was not who God planned for the promise to go through. God tells Abraham that in a year, Sarah would have a kid. Abraham laughs and doesn't tell Sarah. Sarah overhears from visitors that she will be pregnant in a year. She laughs. A year later, Isaac is born.
• Isaac and Rebekah: Rebekah struggles with infertility for 20 years. When she finally gets pregnant, she gets pregnant with twins who fight in her womb. God tells her the older will serve the younger. Esau is born first, red and hairy, a "manly man." Jacob is born second, with his hand around Esau's heel, a "momma's boy." Even though the two are the same age, since Esau is born first, he is the one who is supposed to inherit his father's material possessions and receive the coveted blessing from their father. Jacob won't give up without a fight, though. He tricks Esau into giving up his right to his father's material possessions in exchange for a bowl of stew. Then, Rebekah plots with Jacob against Esau to make sure that Jacob receives the Isaac's blessing. Once Esau discovers what they've done, Esau plots to kill Jacob. Jacob runs away. It wouldn't be until years later that the two would come together again and reconcile.
• Jacob, Rachel, and Leah: Almost immediately upon running away, Jacob sees the love of his life, Rachel, and decides he wants to marry her. He agrees to work seven years to earn the right to marry her. On their wedding night, though, Rachel's father, Laban, puts Leah into Jacob's room for the consummation of the marriage. In the morning, Jacob realizes what has happened, and Jacob has to work for another 7 years to be able to marry Rachel. Rachel struggles with infertility (sound familiar?), but Leah doesn't. Leah, Leah's servant, and Rachel's servant give birth to ten men. Finally, Rachel gets pregnant with boy 11, Joseph, and he becomes Jacob's favorite child, as he is the first born by the love of his life. 
• Joseph: He knows he's the favorite and loves it! He proudly wears the special cloak his father gives him and even has dreams that his parents and his brothers will one day bow down to him. His 10 older brothers hate him for this. They plot to kill him, but instead, sell him into slavery. They tell Jacob he had been killed by a wild animal. Joseph, meanwhile, ends up in Potiphar's house and is framed for adultery. From there, he is sent on and, because of the dreams he has, ends up in Pharaoh's palace in Egypt to help them prepare for a great famine. While the famine happens over all the land, they are the only country safe thanks to Joseph's planning. His family comes to ask for help, Joseph recognizes them, takes pity on them, is eventually reunited with his father, and forgives his brothers for all the wrong done to him. 

This is far from a picture perfect family!!! In fact, when I hear these stories from the Bible, I often feel comfort and relief because even my family isn't that twisted and messed up! Even though these families are not perfect, notice that God still uses them and all of their imperfections. 

So as you prepare to gather around a table or two with your family next week, take comfort knowing that your family doesn't have to be perfect. That cousin that is always in jail? That brother who can't stop stirring the pot and causing drama? That parent-in-law that drives you crazy? Totally normal and yes, God can still use each of them and you in His mission to help all people know they are loved by God. 

I hope you take some time to celebrate your perfectly imperfect families this next week! The love that is there in spite of the imperfections is there--don't take it for granted!