Growing up in a large extended family, we always joked about Uncle Leo. Uncle Leo was a colorful character. At all the family picnics he always had one beer too many. He would ask the same questions over and over again. “What grade are you in this year?” “Have you ever flown in an airplane?" "Someday I’ll take you for a ride in an airplane.” Yeah, right. At other family events throughout the year he repeated the same things. None of us cousins wanted to get cornered by him. It became a family joke. Other family members would look at each other and smile knowingly, or roll their eyes while thinking, “That’s our crazy uncle Leo.”

We all have crazy uncles in our families. Maybe not an uncle per se, but a family member that is, well... different, to say the least. Everyone is a bit embarrassed by them, perhaps cringes when they hear they will be at the wedding or barbecue, but in the end, puts up with them. The “crazy uncle” may be loud, uncouth, unkempt or just plain odd. They always bring up politics, tell off-color jokes, or are famous for introducing non sequiturs into conversations. They speak, and everyone goes, “Huh?”

As we saw at Church in the Park, we are a family. Our message Sunday was inspired by an eight-year-old girl in our church named Amelia who gave me a drawing she had made. In the drawing she wrote, and I quote exactly:

Dear Church,
Thank you for teaching us about God and Jesus.
And I am writing this letter because we are more than friends,
We a family.
Yours truely, Amelia

Amelia reminded us of an important biblical truth. We are the family of God. We all belong. We are more than friends. Friends may come and go, but your family is your family. You can’t change that.

That goes for the crazy uncles (or aunts) in our church family as well. Like all families we have people who are different. They may not measure up to our expectations. We may even be embarrassed by them. We may avoid or ignore them, just like we try to avoid the crazy uncle at the family picnic.

But is this right? Of course not. We do not choose who is part of God’s family. God does. Our responsibility is to love one another regardless of whether or not one is lovable. After all, who’s to say you are lovable?

The Apostle Paul put it this way, “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God” (Romans 15:7). Pretty much says it all. We are accepted by Christ Himself. Why? Because we are smart, attractive, well-spoken, talented or capable? No, we are all sinners saved by grace. Christ accepts us in spite of our imperfections because He took care of our sin problem. We are accepted as a gracious act of God. Our acceptance by God is to His glory. And the admonition here then, is to accept one another in the same way we have been accepted by Christ.

So, crazy uncles and all, “We a family!” We should always be gracious, loving and accepting of all in the family of God. We shouldn’t be critical or dismissive of each other regardless of eccentricities, looks, or personalities. God placed us all in His family. Crazy uncles are memorable because they are different, but we can also learn from them. I learned from Uncle Leo that family is important.

By the way, my crazy Uncle Leo—Leo was not his real name. I changed it out of respect. He finally took me on that airplane ride. I learned to love him and had the honor of officiating at his funeral.