Light, Life, Love: Whose Brother or Sister are You?- 1 John 3:10-18
October 11, 2020Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
Friday, after prayer I was looking for a place to work on my sermon and fill my stomach. I walked into a diner and from a distance I immediately recognized someone. This fellow was sitting with two people I had never met but immediately recognized as family members. In fact, I would quickly think, “brother and father” to this person. Why? Because they looked so much alike. (I think it turned out to be brother and uncle.)
Earlier in the week I saw an ad for a new movie involving a father and his adult daughter. That’s about all you see in the trailer. What jumped out at me was the fact that they looked nothing alike. They were cast for their audience-draw potential, not for an authentic representation of a real-life relationship.
I began to wonder what casting directors are thinking when they cast people as family members. We’ve gotten so used to this in movies, we don’t even think about it. John the apostle wants us to understand that as children of God we aren’t cast for our audience-draw capabilities, or for even our great acting skills. There is a certain family-likeness that is essential. In fact, John would have us know how to distinguish real family from a fake.