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God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized! The Plan Reveals Who We Are! A Sermon on 1 John 3:1-3
God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized!
The Plan Reveals Who We Are
1 John 3:1-3
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ help you to accept that you are His child and that you are pure and holy!
I am Your Father!
On Friday, I was over at the retreat Bob was heading up, with the purpose of meeting the team, and giving a 20 minute talk about what it meant to be friends with God.
The format that they gave me required some pretty deep thought about my identity and who I was, and what I’ve went through in life. The basic idea – was that God was there, in the midst of the trauma, in the midst of it all…
Jesus no longer called us slaves or servants, He calls us His friends.
Which means something we can hear and know with our minds, but it will take a lifetime to really, really understand with out heart and our soul…
Think about how long it took Luke Skywalker to comprehend that Darth Vader was his dad—no I have a better illustration, a real one. Rather than being a reunion with a dad, it was one with a mother, my birth mom. (and it didn’t cost me my hand!)
In July of 2006, at 10:16 in the lobby of a casino in Vegas, I met the lady who gave birth to me 41 years before. It was an awkward, confusing, joyful, amazing time as we gave each other a hug and talked for 4 or 5 hours.
Over the next few days, I learned a lot, had a number of questions answered that gave me insight into who I am, and oddly enough, enhanced the other relationships I have in my life, including those with my adopted parents.
My point is simple here… whether we are talking about Jesus calling us his brothers, or the Father calling us His sons and daughters, there is a lot to think through, a lot to understand this truth here in our head, and then it boil in our hearts and souls as this truth begins to affect out life.
The world can’t help us! They have it all wrong!
The first challenge to this, the transforming truth comes from the world. The Apostle John describes it with these words. “But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.”
I first read this with a sense that the people of this world were antagonisticly evil, that they were opposed to us so viciously, and so violently because they didn’t like God, and therefore they didn’t like us.
But then I thought of my birth mom and my conversation, finding out that our families ate at the same restaurant on Sundays, that her mom was a nurse where I often was a patient, and fifty other times and places where we could have been a couple of feet apart.
But we didn’t know…
In the same way, people don’t understand what it means to be a Christian and child of God, because even though they are close. They don’t see a God who loves us as a good Father loves His children, but instead they see God as a Darth Vader type character, who will cut anyone in half, if they don’t do what He expects.
Using our theme for October and November, they didn’t know the plans God has for them, they didn’t even have a clue about God’s love, so they are without a future and a hope, which is why sin doesn’t bother them in the same way as it does us.
Or the way it should bother us…
John wrote, “3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
If you don’t know God’s plan, if you don’t understand the relationship we have with God, then you can’t understand the doctrines affecting holiness, the doctrine of having a pure, unmarred, unmarked by sin.
If the relationship matters, even if we don’t comprehend it completely, then our attitude toward sin is different. We realize the division sin causes in the relationship with God, and we dread the consequences.
And when we are thinking properly, we communicate about sin that way – talking of being saved from it and wanting people saved from it, rather than being in bondage to it and the condemnation it carries with it.
The love of a parent
That is why it is so essential to see God as our heavenly Father, or even better, as our Abba – our daddy. The one who cares for us so much that He sent His one and only begotten Son Jesus, to join with us.
Martin Luther described this passage with these words, As if he were what we are, he makes whatever concerns us to concern him as well, and even more than it does us. In turn we so care for Christ, as if we were what he is, which indeed we shall finally be—we shall be conformed to his likeness. As St. John says, “We know that when he shall be revealed we shall be like him” [1 John 3:2]. So deep and complete is the fellowship of Christ and all the saints with us. Thus our sins assail him, while his righteousness protects us. For the union makes all things common, until at last Christ completely destroys sin in us and makes us like himself, at the Last Day. Likewise by the same love we are to be united with our neighbors, we in them and they in us.[1]
This was God’s plan, to reveal to us in Christ what the transformation, that’s what God’s plan has always been, to make us like Jesus… to unite us to our Dad, God the Father, and all our siblings AMEN!
———
[1] Luther, M. (2012). Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings (W. R. Russell & T. F. Lull, Eds.; Third Edition, pp. 190–191). Fortress Press.
The Secret to a Blessed, Peace-filled New Year!
Devotional Thoughts to start the year:
12 How can I know all the sins lurking
If God’s conversational walk with us makes us think we are people of great importance, his guidance will certainly be withdrawn. For we cannot be trusted with it. In the kingdom of God, those who exalt themselves will be abased, and pride comes before a fall. If God speaks to us, he does so to help us become a part of what he is doing in the world to care for and guide others
We lack the simplicity that would enable us to stammer “Abba”. In fact, there is, in us,
The Year of our Lord, 2018 is finally over. It was, in so many ways, a tiring, draining, traumatic year.
You might call it the “year of faith” because so many things occured that all that is left, is to depend on God. A lot of people lost people close to them, a mother, a brother, a good friend, a husband. Others had to deal with their sin, no longer able to hide it. People struggled in their marriages, in their workplaces, with their health.
And God was there, crying with us, laughing with us, reminding us that we aren’t equal partners with God, but His people, those His covenant promises
Even as the psalmist points out,
There is also the sin we know about, that we deliberately commit. As God’s
This is how we need to start the year, even as we ended it, depending on God, trusting Him to do what is good and right and necessary to help us live in His peace.
And so, the prayer of the pastor/priest before we
May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, YHWH, my ROCK and my REDEEMER! AMEN!
Willard, D., & Johnson, J. (2015). Hearing god through the year: a 365-day devotional. Westmont, IL: IVP Books.
Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (I. Grassl, Ed., M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans.) (p. 9). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Crying Out Loud
Crying Out Loud
Galatians 4:4-7
† IHS †
We are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father!”
A Lightening Strike….
a great quote!
A few weeks ago, at 3:40 in the morning, a loud thunderclap woke up people from here to Irvine, and all the way up to Santa Monica.
I know, for immediately afterward, my phone was going off with facebook messages about it from those two places, and everywhere in between. People were posting about the children and their dogs flying into my friend’s bedrooms, diving under their covers, trembling and scared.
I figured it would eventually make for a great Pastor Parker Parable, and with our readings today, it does.
How many of you remember that happening, either the invasion of your bedroom, or invading your parents’ bedroom, after a particularly loud thunderclap, or a frightening strike of lightning?
Well, Christmas is somewhat like that thunderclap.
For it sends us racing to the Father’s arms, the place we belong, not just when we are anxious or scared.
Because of Jesus, it is the place we belong….
For we’ve been given the right to cry out loud, to use the name of the Lord, to call out to Him in prayer… and in praise.
That’s the point of Christmas, of the name of Jesus which means Yahweh Saves, and His being Immanuel – God with us,
It is the point of Paul in our 2nd reading as well…
This What the Right Time is about!
When the time was right Paul says, when the moment was perfect, when the plan came together, and every aspect that God had promised, revealed in the Old Covenant and the words of the prophets,, when that time happened.
It was Christmas… Mary gave birth to God and Man, one being, yet… beyond our ability to comprehend.
He was born within the very covenant relationship, yet fully representing both sides, the Sovereign Lord, and the man God would bind himself to, for eternity. I love how one theologian-pastor put it:
Christianity is not a religion of fear but of trust and of love for the Father who loves us. Both these crucial affirmations speak to us of the sending forth and reception of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Risen One which makes us sons in Christ, the Only-Begotten Son, and places us in a filial relationship with God, a relationship of deep trust, like that of children; a filial relationship like that of Jesus, even though its origin and quality are different. Jesus is the eternal Son of God who took flesh; we instead become sons in him, in time, through faith and through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation…. He destined us in love to be his [adopted] sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:4).[i]
What amazing words, we who had chosen to rebel against God, who sold ourselves into slavery by choosing to sin rather than obey God, are welcomed as children, His children!
No matter that threat of the storm, we are invited to life in Christ, He’s opened the door, welcomes to live as His very own children.
Knowing we will be the children who struggle, who get frightened by storms and thunderclaps.
It will take us a while to learn to run to Him, but that is what children need to do.
The Blessing of being the Trinity’s family!
That is why I love to talk about baptism, that time when God makes it all right. He joins us to Christ’s death and resurrection, It is that point where the promise of God’s work is made clear, as the Holy Spirit is given to us, the Spirit sent into our hearts to convince us that we are the children of God. Another Christian leader put it this way:
“With Baptism we become children of God in his only—begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Rising from the waters of the Baptismal font, every Christian hears again the voice that was once heard on the banks of the Jordan River: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). From this comes the understanding that one has been brought into association with the beloved Son, becoming a child of adoption (cf. Gal 4:4–7) and a brother or sister of Christ. In this way the eternal plan of the Father for each person is realized in history: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8:29).
You are God’s son, you are God’s daughter,
We are the children of God, given the ability to cry out loud for our Abba, Father. Indeed we are expected to, whether the cry is the cry for comfort and protection; or whether it is the cry, when we realize we have come home on that holy day when Christ brings us home.
The pastor went on….
It is the Holy Spirit who constitutes the baptized as Children of God and members of Christ’s Body. St. Paul reminds the Christians of Corinth of this fact: “For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:13), so that the apostle can say to the lay faithful: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27); “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Gal 4:6; cf. Rom 8:15–16).[ii]”
That is the Holy Spirit’s job, to bring us into the family, to bring make us one with Christ, To bring us to faith. He makes it happen, as we become aware of our part in the body of Christ.
That is what Paul is talking about – why Christmas and being a Christian is like a lightning storm’s ear shattering thunderclap – for we know where our comfort, our peace, our family belongs.. in the presence of our dear heavenly Father, for there, there is peace.
Even as we look forward to the day when we cry our loud – “Abba Father!” and we hear in reply, “welcome home, my dear children!”
AMEN!
[i] Benedict XVI. (2013). General Audiences of Benedict XVI (English). Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
[ii] John Paul II. (1988). Christifideles Laici. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Will God hear even me today, in this mood I am in?
Devotional THought of the Day:
9 And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks. 11 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish? 12 Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13 (TEV)
469 Lord, I do not deserve to be heard, because I am wicked, a penitent soul prayed: But he added: Yet… listen to me quoniam bonus—because You are good. (1)
I am in a lousy mood today – so lousy that it is now 9:30 and I am just getting to my blog. I am not even sure if I wrote one yesterday, which was very busy and tiring. I am sitting in front of my computer, after wasting time in a doctor’s office, after dealing with traffic and long lines and in starting to do the bills, and tearing up a letter that I wrote no less than 8 times to a friend, who doesn’t quite see eye to eye with me regarding Christ’s church. What I wanted – on this a “day off”? To spend some time writing my book, or to re-read “Between Heaven and Hell”.
English: Gian Lorenzo Bernini – Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, stained glass, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There is a old phrase, misery loves company…which I believe is totally false. When I am in such a miserable rotten mood, I don’t want company – i want God to leave me alone.
I wanted to write the blog about what my friend and I disagreed on, or about the 50th anniversary of Aldous Huxley’s death, (as well as some guys named CS Lewish and John F Kennedy ), but did so as my pattern is, and looked at a passage of scripture, thought about it, then looked at St. Josemaria’s book and remembered – oh yeah – dealing with that section on prayer.
I so resonate with his words, for I too do not deserve to be heard. Not at all. In one of those moods that makes the impulsive and hotheaded Peter look like a saint. ( Uhm… well – you know what I mean) My attitude isn’t great, and to be honest, I am not sure I want it to change – even as I know it must! Lord, I trust you can deliver me, help me trust enough to want to be!
This is one of those things I adore about God. That I don’t have to be perfect to be heard. Because of Jesus, because of His perfection, because of His love and sacrifice, the Father hears my prayers as if I was Christ. The Holy Spirit helps by interpreting those prayers into a manner consistent with both my heart – and more importantly the Father’s heart.
So trust I will- that God will, as He promised listen to my prayer, that He will forgive my sins, that He will not just give me what I ask- but that He will provide what calls me home, heals my horrible mood, and reminds me that He is my loving Abba Father…
Even in this mood, I can praise Him, knowing this!
Lord, Father in Heaven, have mercy!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2064-2065). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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