“That we should be called Children of God”

Transcribed from the sermon preached April 22, 2012

The Reverend Karen Thistlethwaite, Minister of Education

Scripture Readings: 1 John 3:1-7

 (With had motions) Christ has risen! Christ has risen indeed… Wow, I am not sure about you, but there are times when I would give anything to see a loved one who has passed away. Perhaps you would like to have one more conversation with a parent, or go for a walk one more time with your child, to laugh with a friend, or to be taught again by a beloved mentor. And yet this is the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. Not only did Christ appear to the disciples, but, as we heard last week, he allowed Thomas to touch his side, he talked with the disciples, and, as we heard today, he shared a meal with them. Oh, to be part of the miracle of the resurrection.

 

Up until this point in history, no one had been resurrected, but things were changing, and people were changing too. The disciples, moved by the power of Christ’s resurrection, had received the power of the Holy Spirit and were performing miracles and spreading the Good News of the gospel all around them. In Acts 3:1-10 scripture tells us how Peter coming upon a beggar who could not walk, said to the man  “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” [1] And immediately the man’s feet and ankles were healed, and he got up, walked and praised the Lord. And all the people around him were amazed. But when Peter saw the crowd’s amazement he asked them  “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do [2]you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” Oh, to be part of the miracle of the resurrection.

 

And fortunately for us, the miracle of the resurrection did end with the disciples. Fortunately for us, the miracle of the resurrection is still alive today! In fact, we too are a part of the miracle of the resurrection. For, as our scripture reading for this morning points out, we are to be called “Children of God.” 

 

Here again the words of the Bible as translated by Eugene Petterson in The Message:

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.

All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward. So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah.[3] This is the world of the Lord…

 

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God….” And so the miracle of the resurrection is this: that God has given us the greatest gift that we could ever ask for, the privilege of being God’s child, of being in close relationship with God, and we did nothing to receive this gift, nor will God ever ask us to pay for this gift.

 

But what does it mean to be children of God? Before we go to deeply into today’s scripture, one thing I would like to point out is that being God’s earthly children does not mean that God will treat us exactly like our earthly parents, and, for some of us, God won’t even come close to treating us like our earthly parents…

 

Instead, God is the parent who, as John Calvin puts it, is the fountain of all goodness. God is the parent who’s “love is patient, (who’s) love is kind and is not jealous… (who’s) love endures”[4] God is the shepherd, in the Parable of the Lost Sheep[5], who will leave the 99 sheep behind, to go looking for one lost lamb and will not rest until he finds him or her. God’s parental love surpasses all knowledge[6], God is the type of parent who knows each hair on our head before we were born, who sent his one and only son to die for us, that we might be free from sin and be able to have a closer relationship with God, our parent. I tell you with full assurance God is a good parent!

 

So, within this context of a loving God, of a gracious parent, we see what an honor it is to be called God’s children, to be brothers and sisters of Christ.

 

And yet, this is not an easy role to take on. The Bible tells us that “even though we are now Children of God, that people will not always be able to recognize us as Children of God, because they did not even see Christ, as God’s son.” Unfortunately, the world did not recognize Jesus for who He truly was, while He was on earth; causing theologian, Ronald Cole-Turner, to note how “Jesus was rejected by nearly everyone around him, and as Christians we must learn to accept rejection too.”[7]

 

In learning about the obstacles Christians’ face as God’s children, we can begin to see the answer to Peter’s question to the crowds after he healed the beggar who could not walk. “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” “Why do you not recognize that it is through the power of the resurrection, that we are able to perform miracles?” Why, because you do not believe in the miracle of the resurrection. Why, because you did not believe in Christ. Therefore, how can you believe in me when I do things in Christ’s name? How can you believe that things have changed?

 

I wonder if our fear of rejection by the world around us causes us to miss out on modern day miracles? I wonder what joys of life we dismiss, because we don’t fully believe in the power of the resurrection, because we don’t fully recognize who Christ is, or even who we are? I wonder how, even in the face of God’s overwhelming sacrifice and Christ’s love, that we are still afraid to be known as children of God, that we are still afraid to leave our brokenness behind and stand up and walk?

 

Yet, after Christ’s resurrection, things did change. The Scripture says that the more we get to know who Jesus is, who God is, the more we will know who we are. The more we look to the future, to the day when all will be revealed, we will begin to see things as God sees them, as Christ sees them. Being a child of God changes people. We begin to see things differently; we begin to heal the world around us differently, and we begin to become pure, just as God is pure.

 

For, if we look to the future as we embrace our identities as children of God, we will see the world differently. Our impure thoughts will become pure, because we will see not just what is here and now, but what will be in the future. All of a sudden, the beggar who cannot walk, is not lazy, but is our brother or our sister, and is someone who should be helped. Or, the protestors blocking our way on the street, are not just a nuisance, but are our brothers and sisters, who are advocating for something they believe in. Perhaps in listening to them or even helping them, we are able to experience a taste of the future, where we will all be together, living life in community, living in the kingdom of God.

 

Turner says this about our ability to live in the present as children of God, but to constantly be looking towards the future, “By sheer love we are adopted out of the social system of the world and into the family of God. We still live here, usually in a home that looks ordinary. Like everyone else, we do our work, pay our taxes, support our neighborhood, and care for the common life. But, unlike everyone else, our heart’s true home is in a different place. That is why we are so easily misunderstood.”[8] Umm…

 

If we truly believe that “our heart’s true home is in a different place,” that our heart’s home is with God, then I wonder, what keeps us from believing in others and seeing the world around us with new eyes?

 

Now, I am not saying this is going to be easy. Sometimes what we see is so terrible that it is hard for us to see past the ugliness. Just look to the case of Trayvon Martin. While a court of law has yet to determine everything that happened that night, we do know that after George Zimmerman branded Trayvon as suspicious, later that night, Trayvon was shot and killed on Feb. 26, 2012. How are we to see the world around us with new eyes in situations like this? How are we to treat both Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman with respect? How are we to treat both men as our brothers in Christ? Only through the grace of God, can we allow our heart’s home to be in a different place.

 

So, our scripture reading for this morning continues with 1 John 3:4-7, reminding us that Christ came to take away our sins: the sin of judging someone before all the facts have been revealed, the sin of not having compassion or the sin of not viewing those around us as Children of God, as our very own brothers and sisters in Christ. For as 1 John 3:6 boldly proclaims, “no one who abides in God sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.” Let me say that again, “no one who abides in Christ sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.”  How’s that for a statement…

 

Or, perhaps said another way, for no one who abides in Him, who actively walks closely with God, who actively follows in the footsteps of Christ, who is aggressively seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, chooses to make sin a continuous part of his or her life. Looking to the Greek word for sin, ἁμαρτία (hamartia), we see that the word was written as a present tense active verb meaning that the Bible is not talking about several one-time sins, or causal encounters with sin.  For, let’s face it, in a broken world we are all likely to sin at some point, through this is really not a fact we should be proud of, but rather the Bible is talking about sin as a state of being; sin as “acting contrary to the will and law of God,”[9] “sin is epitomized as the failure to love one’s siblings”[10] one brothers and sisters in Christ. This is why the NIV Bible translates I John 3:6 as “No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”[11] Or as The Message states “No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward.”[12] And this makes sense right?

 

For if we have truly seen God and if we truly know God, we would not choose to live life apart from God; we would not choose to actively hate our brothers and sisters in Christ. For it is only in our lack of trust in God, our lack of seeing God, and our lack of knowing God that leads us to sin.

 

Now I know you know what I am talking about… when we don’t trust that God loves us enough we start to seek love in all the wrong places, hurting those around us along the way. When we don’t see God in all God’s abundant glory, we start to get greedy, hoarding our money, land and time, instead of allowing God to provide for us. Or, when we don’t fully know God’s grace, we have a hard time being gracious with others.

 

Yet, this is another miracle of the resurrection, that while we are given the gift of being God’s children, we do not have to accept the gift. God loves us so much that God leaves the choice up to us. We don’t have to choose to acknowledge our status as God’s children; we can choose a life of sin. Like the prodigal’s son, we can choose to leave home, we can choose a different place for our hearts to rest, and we can choose to turn away from God.

 

This is why our scripture concludes by calling all of us “little children;” for we are still learning how to be God’s children. We are still learning how to accept the gift of being God’s children; we are still learning that the world around us might not recognize us, or even themselves as God’s children; we are still learning to see with new eyes we are still learning to treat our brothers and sister in Christ with respect; we are still learning to live a life with God and apart from sin.

 

Nevertheless, just like the gracious father in the story of the prodigal’s son, who welcomes his son back home, we too will always be welcomed back into God’s loving arms. For God’s parental love is so deep that the apostle Paul writes

 

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. [13]

 

As we close our time together this morning, I would like for you to take a moment and close your eyes. Envision with me what it would be like if you were to open your bulletin, find a blank nametag, write on that nametag “child of God,” put on that nametag, walk out of the sanctuary, and wear that nametag for the rest of the day. Would it change the way you act? Would it change the way others might treat you? Would you feel embarrassed or proud?

 

“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! That we should be called Children of God.” Amen.