Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and the Family We Didn’t Ask for (John 7, Matthew 12)

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and the Family We Didn’t Ask for (John 7, Matthew 12)
The Ratchet and Clank series has been around for almost twenty years, and throughout this long-running and incredibly popular franchise one constant burden has surrounded Ratchet, the plucky hero of these games…. his entire civilization was ripped into another dimension, leaving him as the only Lombax he knows. Sure, he runs into a couple of other members of his species during his adventures, but “Spoiler Alert”… they don’t tend to hang around for too terribly long. And as a result, he runs through each and every one of the games in his series with only his loyal robotic companion Clank to count on when the going gets tough. Until now…

In Rift Apart, Ratchet finally meets a fellow Lombax named Rivet, a female of his species who has more than just a few things in common with Ratchet… namely, that the only other Lombax they know is standing right in front of them, and they have the shared burden of saving the galaxy. After all this time he finally finds a partner, even if they are from an entirely different dimension and were never actually intended to share the same space or time. Technically, despite being the same species, they aren’t technically even related, because they are from entirely different realities. By the end of their journey, what they share in common more than makes up for the dramatically different backgrounds they have come from, and united by their joint mission they forge a familial relationship that didn’t require a long-lasting heritage or the benefits of a “bloodline” to generate. They may have come from completely different dimensions, but their bond was forged in fire… a family they didn’t intend to find was the one they actually needed to accomplish their destiny.

Sometimes we are blessed to have a family who sees and appreciates our mission, supports us, and locks arms with us in our battle to save as many souls as we can through the gifts the Lord has provided us. Unfortunately, just as many times, I have observed that either due to the old “familiarity breeds contempt” issue or simply the lack of a shared vision that our flesh-and-blood family members may be… let’s just say “less than supportive” in our mission for Christ. They may not believe that the call He has placed in our hearts is sincere… and due to their proximity to our life choices (prior to Christ’s redeeming work in our hearts), they may not trust that the change in priorities from our past sins is genuine. The burden to save souls can be heavy enough without adding the challenge of receiving the least amount of support from those who we desire support from the most. And if you have faced this battle or are currently pushing through it, you are in excellent company.

Most of us are probably familiar with all of the battles and struggles Christ faced on this earth, but it can be easily missed that at the beginning of His earthly ministry He was not only rejected by His hometown (Mark 6:1-6), but most painfully by his own flesh and blood family.

John 7:1-5 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For even His brothers did not believe in Him. Jesus had come to the place that should have been a safe space… his home. Under pursuit from people who were LITERALLY trying to kill Him, Jesus sought refuge with His family. But instead of providing welcoming arms of encouragement and reassurance that they were there for Him and believed in His mission, they pushed Him to head right back into the very danger He was trying to avoid. Few Bible verse are as depressing to hear but completely relatable as reading, “Even His brothers did not believe in Him”. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of a virgin, didn’t even have the support of his own flesh and blood family. And interestingly enough, when they finally DID show an interest in seeing Him, Christ had this to say…

Mathew 12:46-50 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

It is natural for all of us to desire the validation from those who knew us throughout our early years. But even Christ was not supported or received by those He grew up with, shared a home with, ate lunch with, and as the oldest brother probably did His fair share of diaper changes and boo-boo kisses for. Like Ratchet from the gaming series, we can spend our entire lives looking for those we desire validation from, or we can continue on our mission and find that much like Christ Himself, our spiritual family will be revealed along the journey… because they are the ones sharing in the mission with us.

I hope this encourages you that regardless of your background or the battles you have faced in the past, those of us on the battlefield with you are on the same side, part of the same family, and united with the same purpose… to do His will here on earth and reach others for Christ. If you have the benefit of a loving and supportive DNA-related family, that is fantastic. But if not… you have us, and we have you. We are a family… eternal and unbreakable, brothers and sisters in Christ, freed from our past and aligned on a shared future. You may have thought you would never find another Lombax… well, here we are. And there are more of us to find, and we will continue to find each other as we continue along the way.

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