"He is out of his mind."  Who would say such a thing about Jesus in the gospel?  We can imagine the adversaries of Jesus leveling a charge like this against him, but what about his own family?  The subject of the verb that means "saying" is unclear here.  Do "certain people" think Jesus is out of his mind, and so his family is trying to "seize him," or does Jesus' own family think he is mad?  Whatever the case, Mark's Gospel tells us the ugly truth about doing the work of God's kingdom.  Sometimes, even those closest to us will wonder if we are out of our minds.  I suspect, sometimes, we will wonder this ourselves.

Who would choose to do the work of loving service that often offers no respect, no praise, and certainly no status in the world?  Early Christian servant leaders like Timothy and Titus and Paul had learned the hard way of selfless love that leads to suffering.  Jesus paved the way for them.  Early Christian martyrs like Perpetua and Felicity, Justin and Polycarp all suffered persecution and death for the gospel of love.  In our own time, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day, and Jean Donovan suffered rejection and ostracizing from their own communities for their dedication to the gospel of love.  They had to be a little out of their minds.

What is my state of mind as a Christian these days?  Often, I can live with the little snubs and mean-spirited exclusions from those with whom I am peripherally associated, but what if I could not count on "my own" to love me?

Much of what the gospels teach me is about broadening my vision of what "family" means.  Jesus, when told that his family is outside, waiting to see him, responds that all those who do the will of God are his family.  Jesus offered social and spiritual communion to those who should have been considered "outside" his family.  Jesus also suffered and died for those who were "his own" in the world, even though his own had rejected him, as John's Gospel tells us.  He cured the children and servants of the Gentiles as well as the Jews.  He did not succumb to retaliatory hatred of the Romans.  He did not curse those who crucified him.  They were as much included in his family as his own disciples.

The disciples, Jesus' "own," were not crucified on the scaffold with him.  They were scandalized by Jesus' love!  Jesus' inclusive love even shocks and paralyzes us today.  We want our enemies to be enemies, and we want them to be categorized as evil so that we can hate them complacently.  We certainly do not want them in our home, or near our family.  Our love is so small.

God's love is large and wide and deep.  Paul's letter to the Romans notes, "Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.  But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (5:7-8)  God's love, in other words, is very large; it extends to us sinners.  If I am to be faithful in my baptismal promises, as a member of the Body of Christ, I too must embrace those who are "outside."  I must risk rejection, alienation, and even hatred from those who are my own if I am to be faithful to the gospel.  I must recognize as family those who are my enemies.  I must be a little bit "out of my mind."

Today, I pray for the peace that comes from knowing I am at home, among family.  Wherever there is suffering from alienation and hatred today, let me bring the blessing of peace.