We will be Like Him!

1 John 3:1-3

† In Jesus Name †

 Opening Blessing/Prayer

May the grace and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, as you realize you are the Father’s beloved, blessed children!

Awfully Big Shoes to Fill!

Jesus often taught in parables, so it makes sense that pastors should use them on occasion.  Stories and words that paint a picture, and that we get the lesson of, intuitively.

I also like to use them because I can then address them as “Pastor Parker’s Panoramic Parables.

I bet that doesn’t sound quite as nice in Chinese!

Well here is today’s parable, the kingdom of God is like this,

The kingdom of God is like a child trying on their Father’s shoes!

We are just kids who can’t resist trying on Dad’s shoes.

And while the desire to be “grown-up” seems a good thing, we far too often want to try on God’s shoes and walk in them.  And the usual result is that we fall down and hurt ourselves, and others.

We Can’t Walk in them Yet!

As children, we often want to be like our parents, to act like they do, and putting on their shoes is symbolic of that.  It is a cute thing, but not so much when we try to put on God’s shoes.

It happens, we play God when we want that parental level of authority, we want to be in charge.  Usually, there is another brother or sister involved, and if we have God our Father’s authority, we can judge them and put them in their place.

Instead of being responsible we want to condemn them, or get revenge, or just make sure everything is fair, according to what we perceive!

I mean, even as adults we have trouble loving our neighbors as we are supposed to love them.  Can you imagine the temptation and the damage we would do if we were actually God?

I mean – it would be nice to get on the freeway and command everyone else to get off, so we wouldn’t be stuck in traffic!

Really, we are still kids, we still can be a little self-centered, we can still do things where we try and play God.   We still mess up – we still get self-centered, we still want things our way, and will do things to try and make it happen. We even still throw tantrums when we don’t get our way – if you don’t believe me, wait until Tuesday, when some adults will be poor winners, and others poor losers.  Either way – there will be tantrums, arguments, accusations of cheating and people saying “It’s not fair!”

And God will still be God, and He will look on us and show us mercy and love, and as that love leads us to repent, our sins will be washed away

That is why the Father sent the Son to the cross – to draw us into Jesus, to restore that relationship, to make us again His children,  and to show us what we will be like when Christ appears, for we will be like Him.

But We will – This is assured!

Hear the words of the Apostle Paul that were written to the Colossian Church.

¹  Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ²  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. ³  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)

This is the same thing the apostle John wrote that we heard today

But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. ³ And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

Holiness, purity, is simply living like Jesus, being like Jesus, and that is the transformation that happens, starting when the Holy Spirit brings us to life, gives us faith and cleanses us in baptism.

It comes as the Holy Spirit transforms us, as we gain that hope, that expectation that God will complete the work, the transformation He has began in us, as He promised.

We like all children will grow up – spiritually, this happens when we arrive at being completely like Christ Jesus.  The good news, is that is His work, and the world of our loving Father.  Want to know what you will be like – you will love the Father like Christ loves the Father, you will love each other the way Christ loves us.

So trust God, depend on God, and know that in Him we have a peace that goes beyond all understanding –  that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  AMEN!