"Pointing to his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.' "

         Jesus says he has a special relationship with those who do God's will. They are his mother, brothers and sisters.

         If we are doing God's will we are the family of Jesus. Otherwise, we feel lost in life. Some friends of ours, who are retired, took a trip to Arizona one winter. One day they went to visit some old friends who were living out in the desert, in an area for mobile homes that was really quite primitive. They were some distance away from the urban areas, the golf courses, the ballparks. So as they sat on the porch, our friend asked the man who was living there, "What do you do here?" His reply was "Who says I have to do anything?"

I have thought about that reply for some years now, and for me it captures a life that it lost, aimless, without purpose. I do not mean to imply that this man was caught in sin, or that he was a bad person. But to sit in Arizona and do nothing is a picture for me of a lost person.

         It is when we do God's will that we are found, that we become the family of Jesus, that we live in community with Jesus. When I hear stories of people who do God's will, it seems a common theme runs through them all. There is a commitment to Christ, a sense of being called or led by Christ, an obedience to that leading, and then a surprise or amazement at what God is able to do through that obedience.

         I was given an article from The Economist on Roger Schutz, the founder of the Taizé community in France, who died in August at age 90. He was known simply as Brother Roger. In 1940 he came to that little community and stayed to pray in a little house he bought. At first the house was used mainly to house Jewish refugees on their way to safety. The author writes,

         "From these humble beginnings sprang an extraordinary Christian revival. On the day Brother Roger died, 2,500 people were in the church in Taizé. More than 100,000 visitors come each year. The order has 120 monks, some living at the monastery and some with the poor, in the slums of cities all over the world.

         "Brother Roger offered, to anyone who wanted it, a way to the spirit of the risen Christ through candle light, music and silence. The music was simple melodic phrases sung over and over again until they became a meditation. In between these songs would come long spells of silence when, as Brother Roger puts it, 'with childlike trust, we let Christ pray silently within us.' "

         The brothers and sisters of Jesus simply do what God's Word says, and then allow God to work in small and great ways. Maybe it begins with an action in obedience to loving the neighbor as ourselves. There are some actions of obedience to God's will that are going on in our church now that help us understand how God uses obedience to do his will. For one, out of neighbor love and a willingness to do God's will in this community and our Bringing My World to Christ praying, we began to consider beginning an Alpha study a few years ago. Nothing happened for some time, and then Matt Brunton came to us, and he did the research on the program and began a trial run last fall, called "A Taste of Alpha." It was not terribly successful in terms of numbers of people, but the groundwork had been laid. Then it sort of simmered as a possibility through the winter and spring, when the Andersons and Lundstedts made a commitment to lead the first ten week session. Last week nearly 20 people came to the first session. Others are giving support by cooking dinners and offering child care during the sessions. Now we will see how the Lord will work in this.

Notice how this works. The will of God is received and upheld in prayer. Then a practical way of expressing that will is identified. It goes through a number of stages and times of waiting. When willing people respond, it begins. Once you have planted the seed, you have to give the crop some time to grow, before you can se what kind of fruit you have to harvest.

         Then you will face resistance. Whenever you hear God's will, you will also hear "It can't be done." That is the first thing that Matt Brunton said to me after he read what Alpha really entails: "It can't be done." The sun comes out and scorches those little plants. There is always a very valid reason why we cannot do God's will.

         But if we will make some space in our lives, and simply obey without getting too far ahead of ourselves, maybe it can be done. That means you have to start by identifying what it is that is choking you. In verse 22, Jesus says the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth are two places to start. And if you can make some space, then you can let God work through your willingness.

         Jesus told a parable. He said the will of God, or the message of the Kingdom, is sown by Jesus Christ. It is not drilled into the ground; rather it is broadcast. So it goes all over, and some of it will get on you. If you are hard towards God's will, it will just lay there. But just like the birds that gather on the hard path to eat the seed, Jesus says the evil one snatches away Gods Word when we resist it. In other words, watch out: if you ignore the will of God in your life, you invite the presence of Satan.

         Some of God's will goes on the rocky soil. It sprouts but then dies in the heat. The power of resistance is great in each of us. It takes us a while to become convinced of God's Will. It is in fact good to let it sink in. On my trip to Russia last January I saw in a new way that there really is a lot of important work to be done in the world right now. This is a crucial time. Not only are the needs great, but if the church does not respond, the risks become great too.

Jim Sundholm tells of a recent trip to Sudan he took for Covenant World Relief. In one town, which is largely Christian, there have been serious attempts to eradicate the Christians by the Government troops from the North. The attempt to eliminate Christianity by killing the Christians has not been successful. So now a new strategy has begun. They are establishing radical Islamist schools in the town. These serve one meal a day to any children who will come. The children of the town are malnourished, even starving. There is also a Christian school in the town. One Pastor told Jim, "You can't allow this school to die."

Or consider Alaska Christian College, which lost $200,000 in Government funding for scholarships because of a lawsuit against the Department of Education by the "Freedom from Religion Foundation." I don't know if we should expect Government funds for our school. But we need to keep that school open, too.

         I have been thinking more this year about resources, and what could be done, what needs to be done. That is what is sinking into my soul these days. In so many ways, Gods will needs to sink into our thinking, and into our desiring, into or decision making.

         Then of course, Jesus points out that on any field, the wild thorns and weeds and thistles grow better than the planted agricultural seeds. Thorns are aggressive and well suited to competing for space in good soil. The point is that God's will is foreign to our natural state. The worries of life and deceitfulness of wealth are very aggressive, and grow quickly in our thinking and are quite well suited to the natural man. They are well-adapted to the soil of our lives. I know you have buckthorn here, but I was thinking more of the blackberries that grow our West. They are tasty, and so it's nice to have a small patch. But blackberries take over, and are tough to eliminate. But they are tasty. It takes constant attention and a realistic attitude to manage them. Both worry and wealth are tasty, but they take over our thinking if we let them. We need to prune back our worrying and the influence of the deceitfulness of wealth that can distort our thinking, if we are going to do God's will.

         It is the good soil that produces a crop. Jesus says the good soil is when people hear the word and understand it, receive it deeply. James says our faith must have action to it, or it is no good. But what makes good soil of our lives? It is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that makes good soil. He died for the forgiveness of sin. He rose again so that you might live in a new way, so that you might be people with hope, not lost, but brothers and sisters of Jesus. It is personal faith in Jesus Christ that makes good soil of our lives.

         Today we sang: "Lord, Let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word. Lord, let my heart be good soil, where love can grow and peace is understood. When my heart is hard, break the stone away. When my heart is cold, warm it with the day. When my heart is lost, lead me on your way. Lord, let my heart; Lord, let my heart; Lord, let my heart be good soil."

         Amen.