June 28, 2015
We are adopted as sons and daughters!
The year was 2002. Having
been married for nearly three years and trying to have children the news we
heard on September 13, 2001 from the fertility doctor was still raw. It would cost us upwards of $40,000 to
attempt to have a child. And with a job
in education, the cost was way more than we could afford.
We prayed after that faithful day and determined there may be
other ways of having a family. We
thought, there are plenty of children in the world who do not have parents, why
not adopt and create an instant family? It
would be easier we thought, but then it happened.
After filling out all the paperwork, making sure all the required
forms were complete, the medical exams were complete and the background
information about our past lives was complete, we thought we were ready for the
next step. Then it happened that
faithful day in April 2002. I was rushed
from a routine doctor’s appointment and instantly put into the Intensive Care
Unit. For the next three days I was
hooked to blood pressure cuffs, oxygen sensors, pulse and heart monitors and
had more blood taken than I can imagine.
I walked on a treadmill and was stressed to see what was wrong with me.
With that one stay in the hospital the hope Michele and I had of
having a family of our own was dashed upon the rocks of reality. During some of our preliminary information
sessions, they said, if one was ever hospitalized, for other than routine
procedures, that would be an automatic disqualifier. So we even by adoption would not be able to
have a family of our own. It was a tough
pill to swallow and one that wasn’t fully and completely resolved until March
14, 2009 and you know the rest of that story.
During those next seven years, I was reminded of the passage we
have heard this morning from Paul in our epistle. Paul, writing to the Romans explains a truth
we need to hear and clearly understand as Christians. We are promised that in our baptism, we are
adopted as sons and daughters of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ claims us and since
we are adopted we become children of God in and through our baptism through
Water and Word.
With the Water connected to the Word of God, we are intimately
connected to the love that Jesus Christ has for all of mankind. Just as we have been reminded since Pentecost
that God is a God of love and He loves us unconditionally, Jesus Christ as
God’s Son loves us just as much even to giving Himself on the Cross in order
that we might have eternal life.
Since we who gather here today are adopted into the family of God,
we are also heirs of eternal life. And
as heirs we cannot earn God’s love, nor can we earn our salvation, but each of
these are gifts freely given unto each and every one of us without cost. God’s love for us is clearly shown by Jesus
Christ life, death and resurrection.
What we get to do is share it.
Not just share it with our friends, but share it with everyone we meet.
This week we have had Sky Ranch here at Emmanuel for our Vacation
Bible School. Like in years past the
staff has been high energy, high octane and high impact upon the kids we have
coming for Day Camp. This year 54% of
the kids here for our day camp were from families of members of Emmanuel. That’s 20 of the 37 who attended this year,
both pre-school and school age kids. The
theme for this year was “A Love That Never Ends”.
In one sense all of the kids that came this week were adopted and loved
by the leaders, counselors and you the people of Emmanuel and have been taught
about God’s Love. This sharing of God’s
love is not only clear and manifest in the children, but has impacted our
church. We have had fun and have made
fun of ourselves, from my being given the gift of a cow bell to help people
know I was coming, to enjoying the kids faith development, this has been an
awesome week. But the greatest
opportunity is adopting each and every one of these kids and each of us
gathered here and showing all of us the love of Jesus Christ.
May we as a congregation continue to show love for one another and
share what Jesus Christ has done for all of mankind. For God’s love never does end as we are
adopted into His family and feel and share the love of God with everyone we
meet. AMEN.
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