{"id":1161,"date":"2011-06-26T01:18:54","date_gmt":"2011-06-26T06:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?p=1161"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:38:59","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:38:59","slug":"sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

God Places the Lonely in Families<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n

Psalm 68:1-35<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

God places the lonely in families;
\nhe sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.
\nBut he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Psalm 68:6<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

When I read Psalm 68:6, the first sentence of this verse grabbed my attention: \u201cGod places the lonely in families.\u201d The Hebrew reads literally, \u201cGod causes the solitary ones to dwell in homes.\u201d In context, but literary and cultural, this is not simply a statement about where people live, but also and especially about their relationships. \u201cGod places the lonely in families\u201d captures the sense of the original.<\/p>\n

When I began my pastoral work at Irvine Presbyterian Church, almost everyone in the congregation lived with their nuclear families. We had a few college students and single adults. But they were the exception to the rule.<\/p>\n

During my first few months in the church, several of these \u201cexceptions\u201d came to see me. They wanted to share their feelings of being nobodies in the church. \u201cEverything here is oriented to families,\u201d one woman said. \u201cI often feel left out.\u201d I saw what she meant during one of the churches traditional communion services. In this service, families were invited to come forward and serve the elements to each other. For them, it was a profoundly moving experience. But, the person in charge of the service invited the singles to \u201ccome forward and serve yourselves.\u201d Ouch!<\/p>\n

It was wonderful and, indeed, biblical for Irvine Presbyterian Church to seek to support natural families. Yet we seemed to have forgotten that the family of God includes all sorts of people, people who needed to belong, people who needed to experience the \u201cfirst family\u201d of the church. So, we began to find ways to be more inclusive and supportive of the single people in the church. For example, realizing that some of our single members had no place to go on family-oriented holidays, we encouraged people to open their homes on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Moreover, because single adults often have freedom that married folk do not, we encouraged them to become leaders of ministries and mission trips. I\u2019m quite sure we didn\u2019t get everything right. But I know we grew in our awareness of and openness to those who needed the church to be their family.<\/p>\n

In a day in which more and more people are feeling alienated, Christians have a marvelous opportunity to be channels of God\u2019s love. We can be the families\u2014and the church family\u2014in which God places the lonely.<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION:<\/strong> Have you ever been one of the lonely whom God placed in families? When? Have you ever been one of the families that provided a home for the lonely? When? How might you open your life and family in order to welcome others?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

PRAYER: <\/strong>Gracious God, thank you for putting the lonely in families. Thank you for calling your church to be a family that welcomes all people. Help us to live out this calling with faithfulness and grace.<\/p>\n

Thank you, dear Lord, for welcoming me into your family. Thank you for calling me your child and embracing me with your love. Thank you for the mutual ministry and friendship I have experienced in your church. Help me, dear Lord, to be aware of those around me whom you want to place in my family. May my heart be open to you and to others. Amen<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

_________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how . . . .<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This devotional comes from The High Calling: Everyday Conversations about Work, Life, and God <\/em>(www.thehighcalling.org<\/a>). You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace. The High Calling<\/em> is associated with Laity Lodge, where I work.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God Places the Lonely in Families Psalm 68:1-35 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Psalm 68:6 When I read Psalm 68:6, the first sentence of this verse grabbed my attention: \u201cGod places the lonely in families.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7933],"tags":[404,21642,10370,10369,278],"class_list":["post-1161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration-high-calling","tag-community","tag-inspiration-high-calling","tag-lonely-in-families","tag-psalm-68","tag-singleness"],"yoast_head":"\nSunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"God Places the Lonely in Families Psalm 68:1-35 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"God Places the Lonely in Families Psalm 68:1-35 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-26T06:18:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-13T20:38:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/files\/2011\/04\/high-calling-screenshot-new-4.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/\",\"name\":\"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-26T06:18:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-13T20:38:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"God Places the Lonely in Families Psalm 68:1-35 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/\",\"name\":\"Mark D. Roberts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families","description":"God Places the Lonely in Families Psalm 68:1-35 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families","og_description":"God Places the Lonely in Families Psalm 68:1-35 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2011-06-26T06:18:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-13T20:38:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/files\/2011\/04\/high-calling-screenshot-new-4.jpg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/","name":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-26T06:18:54+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-13T20:38:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"God Places the Lonely in Families Psalm 68:1-35 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/06\/26\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-god-places-the-lonely-in-families\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling: God Places the Lonely in Families"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}