You can’t pick your family.

You know how last week I mentioned I was going to probably watch a few more fairytales before the end of the Christmas season, well later that afternoon at the church Christmas party, I put National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on in the background so that my guest could enjoy one of the classics.  I didn’t see anyone sit down to watch the movie, but I saw a few people pause to watch a scene or two.  Especially the scenes with Cousin Eddy in them.  I think everyone’s favorite character in that movie is Cousin Eddy.  Cousin Eddy is the nut that know wants to claim as part of the family tree.  Cousin Eddy wears ill-fitting and out of date clothing, he is oblivious to social norms and lacks the ability to pick up on social ques, and he is constantly saying something rude or inappropriate.    

I think every family has a Cousin Eddy.  Whether it is a politically incorrect parent who says racist, sexist, or homophobic things to the casher at Walmart, or an obnoxious sibling who derives some sort of sick pleasure from sharing your most embarrassing childhood moments with your friends and coworkers, or a 30-year-old gamer still living in their parent’s basement, we all have that person we would rather not admit is part of our family tree.  If you don’t know what I am talking about then I have news for you, you’re it.  Chances are you’re the Cousin Eddy the rest of your family would like to see pruned from the family tree.

But what are you going to do?  No matter how inappropriate, no matter how embarrassing, no matter how disappointing your family members might be you are stuck with them.  As they say, you can’t choose your family… but can you imagine how awesome it would be if you could?  If you could graft yourself into a different family tree, which family would you pick?  Would you pick the Nahyans family of Abu Dhabi?  According to the financial analyst at Bloomberg the Nahyans family fortune is 305 billion dollars.  Can you imagine the things you could buy if you were part of that family tree.  Even if you were the Cousin Eddy of the Nahyans family you would probably still be a billionaire.   If being part of a wealthy family doesn’t appeal to you perhaps the Rothschild family might interest you.  The Rothschild family is consistently ranked as one of the most powerful families in the world.  When countries are in trouble, they turn to the Rothschild family for support.  As a result, conspiracy theorist believe the Rothschild family secretly control global politics, banking, and the weather.  I wouldn’t mind being part of a family that controls the weather.  But that does sound like a lot of responsibility.  Might be better to be part of a famous family of whom little is expected.  If fame is what you seek than you will find it as a member of the British Royal family.  Today the Royal family is a symbolic figure of Britain’s power.  They don’t have any real responsibilities but they get invited to lots of parties and parades.  That might be fun, at least for a while.

Which family would you choose if you had the choice, a rich family, a powerful family, a famous family?  It’s probably not a good idea for us to dwell too much on which family tree we would choose to graft ourselves into, because, as I said, you can’t choose your family.  At least 99.99999% of us can’t.  Jesus had a choice.  Take another look at our gospel lesson from Luke 1:26-38 and you will see what kind of family Jesus chose to graft Himself into. 

In verses 26-27 saint Luke tells us, “26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”  The angel Gabriel was sent, not to a capital city like Jerusalem, but to a nowhere town in Galilee, he was sent, not to a king sitting on a throne, but to a subject working in a field, he was sent, not to a prominent priest, but to an unknown peasant.  Gabriel was sent to tell the peasant, “31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” This is perhaps not the choice that you and I would make.  I don’t mean to disparage Mary and Joseph; I am sure they were a lovely couple.  From everything we know about Mary she seems to be a kind and compassionate person.  Likewise, Joseph comes across as a man of honor and integrity.  I am not suggesting that either Mary or Joseph were the Cousin Eddy in their family tree but honestly there is not much there to brag about.  A common village girl engaged to a day laborer… There is no obvious reason why Jesus would choose to be part of their family.

The angel Gabriel did mention Mary and Joseph were descendants of David.  Which might lead you to believe the reason Jesus chose to be part of their family lies further down the trunk of the family tree.  David was the kind of guy you would be proud to have in your family tree.  He was a poet and a musician, He was a skilled and fearless warrior, He was a rich and powerful king.  But that doesn’t mean David wasn’t without his scandalous moments.  No small amount of shame was brought to the family when it was discovered that David was guilty of adultery and murder.  David doesn’t seem to be the reason Jesus chose to be part of this family.  Now, we could keep looking further down the family tree, but we won’t be impressed with what we find.  Even when we go to the deepest root of the family tree, we discover a man and a woman clothed in nothing but guilt and shame. 

In verse 33 the angel Gabriel makes mention of Jesus reigning “over the house of Jacob forever” Gabriel says Jesus’ “kingdom will never end.”  This could cause you to think the reason Jesus chose this particular family tree was not because of past relatives but because of a future offshoot branch of the tree.  Maybe it’s you?  You may not be a direct descendant of Mary and Joseph, but through Adam and Eve you are an offshoot branch.  Maybe Jesus chose to be part of this family because He knew one day you would be part of it.  Maybe you are the reason… you know what, I am not even going to pretend to entertain that thought.  As I was typing out this sermon, I couldn’t bring myself to imagine circumstances why we might be the reason Jesus chose to be part of our family.  I know there are people who are so full of themselves that they imagine reasons why Jesus might want to be part of their family, but I am not one of those people and neither are you.  We know what Jesus sees when He merely glances in our direction.  He sees people who do things that go far beyond embarrassment and shame.  He sees judgmental gossips, He sees greedy gluttons, He sees arrogant manipulators, He sees dishonest liars, He sees lustful perverts, and He sees a host of other sins that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are most certainly not the reason Jesus chose to be part of this family.

Clearly the reason Jesus chose to be part of this family has nothing to do with the past, present, or future members of our family.  Which means there is something about Jesus that made Him want to be part of our family.  I suppose you could suggest Jesus wasn’t all that different than you and me.  You could suggest there were things in us with which Jesus identified in Himself.  There are some who make suggestions such as these.  They imagine Jesus to be a great moral teacher, a pious religious leader, a champion of the weak and downtrodden; they imagine Jesus to be the best of us, but still a flawed and imperfect man, just like the rest of us.  You could suggest Jesus chose to become part of our family because He was just like everyone else in our family, but you would be disagreeing with the angel Gabriel.  Gabriel told Mary her Son Jesus 32 …will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”  Gabriel said to Mary, “35… the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” 

Jesus did not choose to be part of our family because he could identify with a bunch of flawed sinners.  So then why did Jesus choose to become part of our family?  The angel Gabriel answers that question with one word and he repeats the word three times to make sure we don’t miss it.  The reason Jesus chose to be part of our family is because of His favor.  The first thing Gabriel says to Mary is, “28… Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” He says, “30… Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”  Very literally in the Greek Gabriel says, “Favor, one having been favored!  For in God you have found favor.”  Favor is the reason Jesus chose to be part of our family.  A favor is not something one earns, and it is not something one deserves, it is something that is done simply because the one doing the favor wants to do it.  To drive this point home, it might interest you to know that the word “favor” can also be translated as “grace”.  Perhaps that is a word that communicates more clearly to Lutherans such as us.  From early on we are taught to define “grace” as “God’s undeserved love”.  One of our favorite bible passages remind us that God’s grace is not by works of which we can boast but rather grace is a gift of God.  Whether you choose to translate the word as “grace” or “favor” it is the only reason Jesus chose to be part of our family. 

When Jesus chose to be part of our family, he did not simply choose to be born into it, but He also chose to die for it.  Sooner than you might think we will find ourselves in the season of Lent and we will talk in great detail about what Jesus chose to do for His family.  But for now, let’s focus on the family of which Jesus chose to be a part.  From the deepest root to the newest shoot our family tree is infected with sin.  It doesn’t matter if your particular branch is wealthy, powerful, famous, or full of Cousin Eddys.  Every single person in our family tree deserves to be pruned from the tree, including you and me.  But Jesus didn’t come to prune our family tree He came to be part of it.   Keep that in mind especially this time of year when you find yourself in close proximity to the more challenging members of your family tree.  If you find yourself tempted to prune an inappropriate parent, embarrassing sibling, or disappointing child from your family tree, think of the favor Jesus showed to Mary and Joseph, the grace He shows to you and me and find a way to embrace those challenging family members as Jesus has embraced you.  It might help if you remember, while you may not be able to choose your family, Jesus was able to choose His, and He chose them just as much as He chose you.  

This Christmas I encourage you to reach out to every branch of your family tree and share the favor and grace of God with them.  I’ll pray that God give you the compassion to embrace the cousin Eddys in your family, I ask that you pray that I be given compassion to embrace mine, and lets all pray they be given the compassion to embrace us.  Let’s pray.  Dear Jesus, family can be challenging, but you know that better than anyone.  This Christmas, remind us of the favor and grace you have shown to us and fill us full of compassion for every member of our family.  Help us, Jesus, to embrace them as you have embraced us. In your name we pray.  Amen.