Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2006 : May 7, 2006

Theme: God Has Called You His Child

Church year occasion: Easter 4

I'm not sure if any of you likes jigsaw puzzles or not, but I'm sure you can understand the sense of completeness when you finally put that last piece in place and look back on your work. I remember one Christmas in particular when my whole family got together, and my mother wanted to keep us out of the kitchen while she was preparing the meal, so she bought us a huge 2500 piece puzzle. It took up the whole dining room table. I can still remember vividly what happened. We had been slaving away on this puzzle for 10 days by this time, sometimes wanting to throw it out the window because it seemed like we weren't getting anywhere. When we were nearing the end, we heard some whining at our front door. We looked to see what it was and found a little puppy outside in the cold, shivering and scratching at our door while the snow was falling. Since it was Christmas time, we all felt rather good-willed to man and beast alike, so we brought the dog in the house. It drew our attention for a while, but we eventually let it explore its new surroundings on its own, and we went back to work on that puzzle that was almost done. In an hour, after putting all the pieces together, we noticed that there was one piece out of 2500 missing. We looked all around, on the chairs, under the table, under the dog who was under the table by that time chewing on something, but we couldn't find that last missing piece. Then we saw it -- it was being chewed into a slimy mess by that puppy we had brought in for the night. Now I like puppies just like everyone else, but at that moment that little puppy couldn't move fast enough before I had my fingers digging in his mouth trying to salvage the last piece. But to no avail. The piece was mush. It ruined 10 days of hard work -- all for nothing! Suddenly, our good-will no longer applied to that mangy dog, and out he went, back into the cold evening.

Thank God that he didn't treat you and me like we treated that dog, even after we ruined his six days of creating a perfect heavens and earth. Instead, God loves you. No matter how hated you should be because of your sin, God still loves you. And even more than that -- God has called you his child. That is the amazing fact we'll explore this morning as we look at 1 John 3:1-2:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

The Apostle John wrote this letter from the city of Ephesus around A.D. 90 to Christians that are a lot more like you and me than you might think. The Christians at John's time were struggling to hold on to the truth of God's Word that Jesus had revealed and had committed to his apostles. But the Christians were under a constant barrage of persecution and false doctrine. Satan used these against the Christians in an attempt to take their faith away. So John wrote many words of encouragement to these struggling Christians.

Even though we are separated by centuries from those first century Christians, we have one thing in common with them. John points it out right away for us: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" The believers at John's time, as well as you and I, can call ourselves children of God. Can you pick up on John's excitement here? He is amazed when he thinks about what he is -- not because of who he is by nature, but because of what God made him -- his own dear child.

Why was John amazed at that? John had heard Jesus' own words from his own mouth, yet he had still been obsessed by who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God. It took him a long time to finally understand what the kingdom of God was all about -- it wasn't about who was the greatest, but about who could serve. He must have looked back on those times when he had been so blind and just felt like crawling under a rock because of his shame. Then he would have thought about all the other times he had sinned against his Lord in everything he had done and left undone, and it must have made him cringe to think about it.

Is it any different for you and me? When you think of the fact that we are children of God, maybe it helps to think about a child from a parent's perspective. Is there a reason why parents of newborns shuffle into church on Sunday mornings almost bumping into walls, looking like they just got run over by a Mack truck? Chances are pretty good that they didn't get a whole lot of sleep the night before. Chances are also pretty good that they aren't in all that great of a mood as a result. As the child grows up, they might get a little more sleep, but they are pushed to the limits of their patience when the kids fight with each other, or when they put peanut butter in the toaster, or silverware in the microwave, or have the police show up because they were throwing rocks at passing cars. (By the way, kids, all of these are bad things -- don't try these at home.) Children are a lot of work, aren't they? They can be a pain in the neck and pocketbook. But would a good parent ever stop loving their children even when they do these things? Never. Because they are part of the family.

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, when we look at how God has been like a shepherd to us, his sheep. There's a reason why we are called sheep. From one perspective, it's not a very nice picture. Sheep are not smart. They will blindly follow where a leading sheep is going, even off a cliff if they're not careful. Sheep wander. They can be stubborn.

Whether we are seen as a rebellious child or a wandering, dim-witted sheep, we should have no problem seeing our problem. Every day I follow my own sinful desires. It's kind of like we are that cute, little puppy. Oblivious to God's will for our lives, we lie down under the table and chew on whatever we want. What are you chewing on right now? What sin are you dealing with that is trying to get between you and your God? For each of us it's different. But for each us, the result is the same. By what we have done and thought and said in our lives, we deserve God's wrath against us. The fact is, we aren't cute at all in God's eyes by nature. Luther, in only the way Luther could say it, called all people magot sacks by nature, himself included. We don't deserve just to be thrown out into the cold for a brief time, we deserve to rot in hell forever for the constant failings and sins we have committed against God. Who would want to put up with us when we wander, when we do things directly against God's will, when we show very little evidence of being a child of God or a sheep in the fold of the Good Shepherd? That's John's point -- God wants to put up with us.

And that is why John writes as he does. When he thinks of his sins and what he has done against his God, he despairs. But then he sees the cross, and he lives in the resurrection. He realizes that God knew all about those sins, too, but that he decided to punish his own Son, Jesus, instead of us. Simply believe that Jesus took your punishment on himself and earned your salvation for you at no cost to you whatsoever, and the salvation that Jesus won for the world by his life and death becomes yours. That's the excitement of John: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" In spite of what God should think of you, God loves you!

John goes on: "The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." The world doesn't get that. Jesus did everything for your salvation. First, they don't think that they need saving. They look at themselves and say, "I'm not that bad. At least I'm not as bad as that other guy. God has to love me more than him." And even if they do realize they are sinners, the world still doesn't understand how sinful. They assume that they can earn salvation by being good. "If I live a pretty decent life, if I go to church once in a while, if I feel sorry for my sins, that's more than most would do -- God will surely have to let me into heaven." And won't they be surprised when they go to hell because they didn't believe in Jesus alone for their salvation and in nothing they could do! That's why the world can't understand the Christian and will look down on the Christian, just as it looked down on Christ. And you were no different. Yet by God's grace he took you, his enemy by nature, you who were dead in sin, and made you alive and his friend, his own child.

Yes, God does love you! Believe it! You are his child. Rejoice in what you are by God's grace through faith. But also rejoice and marvel in what God still has planned for you and what you will become, because John says you will become just like him.

The Holy Spirit through John tells us, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." God says that if we think we know all about God's love for us, then we have another thing coming -- another thing that is so great and so grand that we can't even imagine how wonderful it will be. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard" what God has prepared for those who love him. Only when God reveals it to us on the Last Day will we finally see and understand just how amazing God's love for us is. Even the souls of Christians already in heaven don't have their complete redemption because their bodies aren't yet in heaven. How much more for us! We can't even begin to imagine what it will be like when we are body and soul in heaven, where we'll be with the Lord our Savior forever.

Imagine, if you can, that you are a little dog who just ate the last puzzle piece. Yet instead of being thrown out away from that comfortable home you ventured into, and being thrown away forever is what you deserve, the master of the house takes his own beloved son, treats him like you should be treated, and throws him out of the house even though he did nothing wrong. And out in the cold snow that master's son dies while you live a comfy life with the master. That sounds absurd, but that's what God did to his own Son so that you could live forever with him in heaven. We are given the status of being as perfect as God himself because Jesus willingly gave us his perfection. It is no wonder that John writes with such amazement about the gospel.

You have much of your life ahead of you before you reach the final goal of your faith. You have that time to show your God just how appreciative and thankful you are to him for making you his child and for some day becoming just like him. Live for your heavenly Father who loved you so much that he sent his Son to die for you in your place. Live for your Redeemer Jesus who gave his life willingly for you. Live for the Holy Spirit who brought you to faith in your Savior and keeps you in your faith. Live for your loving God because God loves you. Believe it, and now live as the child of God that you are. Amen.