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Sunday April 26 "Children of God" 1 John 3: 1-3 |
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Location: Blogs Brad's Blog |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 5/5/2009 1:53 PM | “Children of God.”
How many times have you heard that phrase? And of all those times that we have heard the phrase, how many times did we stop and really think about what it means? Probably not very often. It is familiar, it is comforting and in our 21st century hearing, it probably speaks more to who God is than to who we are.
For me, the image of God as loving parent is one that I have grown up with and one that sustains me. My experience of what a parent is helps with that image.
Since I have been nothing but blessed to be one of the children of Erwin and Dorothy Miller, how much greater must it be to be one of the children of God?
The parenthood of God is slightly different because my parents did not choose me, but still they showered me with love and wisely guided me. God, however, chose me and you and you and you. We are God’s children because God has claimed us as such.
The scripture passage we heard this morning speaks directly to that. This is how much God loves us, the writer says. We are called by God, we are loved by God and that sets us apart from those who do not accept that God is real.
The writer of this scripture is someone who writes and teaches in the same style as the gospel writer John, probably because they were disciples of John and so carry his theology forward. It should not surprise us then when this writer evokes the phrase “the world.” It is something that John the Gospel writer did often and it helps to separate those who believe and follow the teachings of Christ, and those who are pagan idol worshippers, unable or unwilling to grasp God’s truths. Believers are not of “the world”, but stand over and against it.
Because we are children of God, the writer asserts, the world will not understand us. We say things they do not say. We do things that they do not do. We believe things they do not believe. But because we are children of God, we need not worry about what the world says or does or believes. As children of God, we will be nurtured, comforted and protected by our loving parent.
The writer is correct: as children of God, we are different. In the midst of a highly individualistic world, we seek out and find community. In a world where violence is met by violence and retribution, all in the name of security and safety, we seek peace and forgiveness. Why? Because God has shown us the better way, and so we seek to follow that better way.
Notice I said we “seek” to follow that better way. I did that on purpose. The fact is, we try to act so that we honor our parent God, but we are not always successful. In our heart of hearts, we know that God’s way is the right way. We are overwhelmed that God has claimed us as children. But much in the same way that we don’t always live up to our earthly parents standards and wishes, so it is with our relationship with God. Like the loving parent God is, God never abandons us because of falling away. When we recognize that we have strayed, ask forgiveness, and are ready to try again, God welcomes us back with open arms, gives us a clean slate and gives us a new start.
But so far all we have really talked about is God’s end of this deal. We have a pretty good idea of what God’s parenting style looks like. But what does it mean to be the child in this relationship? What does it mean to be a CHILD of God?
For now, I think it might be useful to separate the “…of God” part of that question and concentrate first on what is left: What does it mean to be a child?
The first thing I tend to think of when I ponder this question is age. We tend to think of children as being a certain age – say, birth to age 18. But childlike qualities, good and bad, can continue long beyond the age of majority. And in the same way, some chronologically young people show strong traits of wisdom and discernment usually associated with adults.
So, I’m not sure I want to hang my hat on defining children by age. What do children do?
Maybe the way to go is to think of the time when we were young, when the world called us children. Maybe our own experience will help us understand a bit more of what it means to be a child.
I can only speak for myself, but when I reflect on my childhood, the first thing that came into my head was that there was a real belief that anything was possible and that the future was a wonderful journey that would lead me to great places. Now I didn’t have a concrete idea of what the future held, but I was surrounded by all kinds of possibilities to be explored. Would I have the chance to see the world? What would I do for a living? Where would I settle?
As I try to take myself back to that time, I am aware that a big part of my childhood was immersed in dreaming of what might be. For the longest time, my dream was that I would take my place as the shortstop for the Detroit Tigers. Ahh, who am I kidding, I still have that dream.
I remember talking with friends about what we would do when we were adults. The places we’d go, the things we’d see. Some of us couldn’t wait to get older so we could leave the neighborhood behind, while others seemed offended at that idea and saw themselves growing old in the same house they grew up in, surrounded by the same friends they had their whole life. Our dreams were exciting. Our dreams were comforting. Our dreams were important.
A second thing that was important in my childhood was the constant stream of new things to learn that came at us every day. In my minds eye I am keenly aware of when I learned certain things for the first time. It is very odd the things that flood back into our memories when we undertake this type of exercise.
I remember my father and I standing in the driveway when I was about 5 or 6. For some reason, he motioned me over to the side of the house and picked a long flat piece of grass that the lawnmower had missed. He stretched the blade of grass between the thumbs of his clasped hands and blew across the blade. It made the most wonderfully piercing high tone and I was amazed. To this day, I’ll be in the yard and find myself looking for just such a long blade grass so I can recreate that sound.
I remember learning things in school. I especially remember learning to read. I don’t remember the process, but I do remember the feeling when suddenly letters made sense and the marks on pages actually spoke to me. It was exhilarating, and I have not stopped reading since. I could and can get immersed in a book and lose track of time. Once in about 2nd grade I was made aware of the teacher tapping me on the shoulder and then even more aware of the rest of the class laughing. They were laughing at me, because in my reverie of reading, I had slid off my chair, was laying on the floor, with legs looped up over the seat of the chair. Not the preferred way to sit in a second grade classroom.
But there were other things we learn as a child, too. Not things that were taught in classrooms, or even things taught us by our parents. Childhood was the time when we learned how to play together. We learned how to work together. We learned how to negotiate with each other when we had a common goal. We learned how to play reasonable facsimile of baseball when we only had 5 or 6 people. We learned that we needed each other, even when we didn’t seem to get along. We learned what our strengths were. We learned what our weaknesses were.
Most of the important lessons I learned, and I would guess that it is true for you, too, were lessons of this type: discovering how to get along with others, how to find our place in the group, how to live in the world. Maybe the biggest lesson of all was that we learned that we were all different, no matter how much we seemed the same.
This realization leads to some of the hardest lessons we learn. It is as children that we learn to notice the differences. No kid wants to be different. We want to be accepted and popular, but that is not always the case. The lessons we learn about inclusion and exclusion are some of the most powerful lessons we learn. As children, most of us crave inclusion, but sometimes, we are excluded because of some artifical difference. And sometimes, when we are in the included group we take the risk to reach out to the outsider and bring them in.
In about the fourth grade, a girl named Marie moved into our neighborhood. She was different. She didn’t look any different but she was. She was a member of the Christian Science church. They didn’t go to doctors. She didn’t participate in certain activities because of her religion. And for a long time, she was excluded because of it. One day, she got involved in a game on the playground and we were amazed at how skilled and fast she was. We began to look at her a little differently and slowly, she became more and more included. And because of that inclusion, we learned about what Christian Science is, and why some people follow the principles of Mary Baker Eddy. We learned that she was really, at the heart of it, no different than we were, and over the years, Marie became a strong part of our community.
Another thing that characterizes children is their need to eventually strike out on their own. They have questions, they have doubts, and they have ideas about how things should be. Even when there parents tell them that it will be a mistake to follow a certain path, they will sometimes do it anyway. Their parents experience is no match for their curiosity and need to find out on their own. Childhood is about a testing boundaries and gaining experience.
This leads directly to the most important part of being a child: childhood is a time of growth. In all sorts of ways. A child is every growing, ever changing, ever exploring, always evolving. A child is asking question after question, and as each question is answered, through experience or example, a new question pops up. As each new question pops up and each new answer is gained, a child grows. As growth comes, children learn how to express their own individuality, even as they seek to be part of the community. They learn how to be heard, and they learn how to be present for others. Children never lose their capacity for wonder, nor are they ever completely satisfied with the answers given. They have doubts and they have fears, and so they keep asking questions, keep seeking answers. They keep growing. Not yet complete, but always growing.
This then, is the main attribute of a child: the capacity for growth.
And as true as all of these things are for children of earthly parents, they are just as true and moreso for the children of God.
Like the child dreaming about their future, children of God we know that because of God’s grace, anything is possible. We cannot fully envision what the future holds, but because we are children of God, we know that it will be wonderful. Our understanding of what it will mean to be in God’s presence when this life is over is not fully knowable, but our dreams are rooted in the joy that we feel from our loving God.
Like the child who witnesses the pain of exclusion, children of God work to overcome their own fears and recognize that because God has included them, they must work to build an inclusive community of faith, so that all might feel welcomed and all might know of God’s love.
Like the child who is constantly learning lessons big and small, children of God are constantly learning and constantly growing. Like the child whose sense of wonder and curiosity leads to an endless stream of questions, children of God feel free to raise their doubts, to ask their questions, so that they might continually grow and evolve into the full and complete person God would have them be.
As we grow older, we sometimes begin to see the world through jaded eyes. Age sometimes makes us wise to the ways of the world and can be marked by disappointments. But we must remember that childhood has no chronological limits: when we push ourselves to look at the world around us with the wonder of a child, when we feel comfortable raising our questions about God and God’s plan, when we celebrate the inclusive love that God lavishes upon us, when we begin each day with an eye to learning something new, then, we will fully understand the joy at being a child of God.
Each of our parents had high hopes for us on the day we were born. God has high hopes for us, too. For we are God’s children, and the sky’s the limit.
Let us pray: Gracious God, we have heard that Jesus told his disciples to gather the little children around. He told them that we must be like children to enter into your presences. Help us to view you through our child-like eyes, longing to be close to the parent who loves us more than anything in the world; seeking to please the parent who nurtures us; striving to honor the parent who guides us through this world and waits to welcome us home. May your love for us be extended to all we meet, so that all might know that you are our God, and we are your children. Amen. | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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