Monday, June 13, 2016

Who are we as Children of God?

Sunday May 22 – The Holy Trinity First Sunday After Pentecost 
Readings: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 8 (2) Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15  

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Silence.

I would rather stand here and say nothing than give you a definition of a word I must confess I myself do not fully understand.  A church doctrine that is over 1600 years old does little good to any of us if it does not somehow fit into the lives we are living right here and now.  But me giving you a definition or trying to create some metaphor to explain the great mystery of our faith is not going to help you.  Should you ask the hard questions?  Of course you should.
 
Theology is not a closed door of study.  The door is not just open to pastors.  You are invited to study and examine your faith to whatever degree you may choose.  Martin Luther was very supportive of Christian education in the home as well as the church.  From Luther we have the priesthood of all believers.  From the posting of the 95 Theses at Wittenberg to today, and into the future, we are encouraged to ask questions and learn more about our faith.  You will encounter some difficult subjects and some confusing doctrines.

I truly believe some of the most difficult questions are the ones we have to ask ourselves not about doctrine or who God is but questions about who we are as children of God.
 
I don’t want to try and oversimplify the Trinity or put it in a neat little box.  One thing we know about God, as we know God in Jesus, is that God defies lines and limits, boundaries and boxes.  The Trinity is not a mathematical problem or a logic puzzle.  How can you define that which defies definition or limit that which is beyond limits?

The Trinity is, at least in part, an experience of relationship—and it is an ongoing experience at that.  God is Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  God is God.  Jesus lived among us in the flesh.  And the Holy Spirit has worked in and through us from long ago, and will continue to do so into a future which we cannot see.

God’s relationship with God’s own self is an ongoing, ever growing thing, just as we are called into an ongoing and on-growing relationship with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  It is by virtue of our individual relationships with God that we are also in relationship with one another…like it or not.

Who are you?

You are a child of God.

You are not an only child.
You have roughly 7.4 BILLION brothers and sisters.

Yet, you matter to God.

God wants an intimate relationship with you.

Just as the psalmist wrote, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?  Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.  You have given them dominion over the works of your hands.”

We are co-workers in the care of God’s creation.  We are blessed with the responsibility of the earth and all the many gifts she brings in due season.  See, you matter a lot for God to so trust and so value you.

God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work as One to bring about the Work, Word, and Wisdom of God.  Together they strive to help us be in relationship not only with God but with all of our brothers and sisters, all of our co-creation co-workers.
 
Broken relationships…

You probably already know this—from observation of others, or from your own personal and painful experiences…

Broken relationships make care and creation difficult.  Lack of good communication.  Failure to uplift and appreciate the contributions of others.  Diminishing one’s self or anyone else and what you or they have to offer.  All these things hurt the World, Word, and Work of God.
  
Yet, oddly, all these sins do nothing to change our Worth
You are priceless in the sight of God.

God came among us in flesh, resides within us in Truth of Spirit, and will be with us always, all out of sheer, unbreakable, uncontainable love.
 
You don’t have to have 7.4 billion perfect relationships.  Maybe for today just try and focus on making one relationship better.  Just one.


For the love of God…

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