I remember a man complaining that there was too much dissention in his family. He used a memorable phrase to describe their connections: “In a given month, who’s in and who’s out?” There were always these shifting lines of inclusion and exclusion, these judgments as to who was welcome and who was not. He wished that they could somehow come together and share the good they all had in common.

As seen in Mark’s third chapter, Jesus’ relatives were not always on the same page. Some had been listening to the Scribes who were casting Jesus as Satan. Others thought he had gone out of his mind.

In the middle of all this family upheaval, where does Jesus himself come down? Or in the terms above, where does he draw the line between who’s in and who’s out?

As Jesus continues, we see those boundaries not only redrawn, but more to the point vastly expanded. He looks around at his newly enlisted disciples and proclaims, “these 12 individuals, though not related to me by blood, are members of my new family.”

He then bursts all the boundaries: “My family – my brothers and sisters and mother and father — are all those who strive to carry out the will of God.” In a rephrase of that: “The boundaries of this new family stretch out to include anyone who is intent on bringing my Father’s love into the world.” The old markers have been supplanted by these wider ones, drawn not by blood ties or neighborhoods or ethnic groups, but by a willingness to love and serve one another. ‘Who’s in and who’s out’ is now assessed by this world-inclusive criteria.

Perhaps too many words to express Jesus’ simple but earth-shaking message. The usual boundary lines for who is included and who is not have been reset. It is a “new family” he proclaims and dies for, one that takes in everyone (young and old, white and black, men and women, rich and poor), everyone who strives to love, to forgive, to help, to build up, to be truthful. Or as Jesus names it, everyone who takes it upon him or herself to do the will of His Father. And that will? To spread the Father’s love through all our world.

In his day, we know that Vincent did much to push boundaries. One memorable instance comes in a letter describing the history of his Congregational headquarters in Paris. “This house, Messieurs, was formerly a refuge for lepers; they were welcomed in it, and not one of them was cured. Now it’s used to welcome sinners, sick persons covered with spiritual leprosy, but who are cured by the grace of God. Or rather, let’s say that they’re dead persons who have come back to life. What happiness that the Saint-Lazare house should be a place of resurrection!”  (Volume: 11 | Page#: 13) Retreat Ministry added on 6/28/2011

Vincent’s Family today continues to expand that line of “who’s in,” and to shrink the boundaries of “who’s out.”