July 26, 2015
We are children of God…heirs of God!
“Congratulations, you have just won, the Publisher’s Clearing
House Sweepstakes!” For years these
words were dreamed of by many people throughout our country. Television commercials were filmed, media
hype was in full gear on television, in the mail, newspapers and even magazines. Everybody knew what Publisher’s Clearing
House was and that you were going to win at least a million dollars. At that time, it was a large sum of money. There were even some people who would on the
day the winners were announced would keep an eye out at their door, because,
they wanted to be the big winners. Unlike
today of seeing the post on Facebook that the ‘prize van’ has been spotted in
the neighborhood, the excitement was so tangible before cell phones and the
internet that if someone saw balloons or the ‘prize van’ in their neighborhood,
people would run out into their yards, chasing the van, hoping to be the heirs
of the prize being given.
In light of this, why are Christians not as excited about eternal
life? Why are Christians not as excited
about coming to church, where we hear the Word of God or receive the gift of forgiveness
and eternal life from God? Why are Christians
not as excited about being the heir of eternal life from Jesus Christ? Why are we not as excited about church as
people were for ‘Publisher’s Clearing House’, the fair, a new restaurant or
even Friday night football under the lights or watching a wrestling match at
the Max? Simply it may be we do not
clearly understand that we Christians, we who gather at church, whether here at
Emmanuel or any other Christian church, “We are children of God…heirs of God!”.
Paul, the author of the Letter to the Romans and our epistle this
morning gives a little insight to our heritage and puts flesh on what being an
heir of God means. Some would even say,
Paul rolls up the proverbial newspaper and whacks Christians on the nose. We don’t like the feeling of being ‘outed’
for what we have chosen to do and what we make a priority, yet Paul goes so far
as to say, “we are obligated” as Christians.
Yet, we probably wonder and ask, what are we obligated to as
Christians? We think of school and
making sure our children get to school as an obligation or ‘requirement’, paying
our taxes or bank and land payments, making sure the pivots that water the corn
is an obligation to our employer, our job and our lifestyle, but our obligation
here in the church is not ‘law based’, but Gospel based. We live by grace, how can grace and the
forgiveness of sins have an obligation associated with it?
Paul wants us to understand we should be excited about church and
about bringing others, not out of obligation, but out of the sheer joy of what
we will receive, eternal life as heirs of God.
Last week, it was stated by Paul earlier in Romans that we receive
eternal life, for since “we are children of God…heirs of God” we receive the
greatest gift of God entrance into heaven for all eternity.
Yet, as a free gift we should want to share it with others and
have a desire to bring others to hear the good news. But it is sometimes hard for us, because we
don’t want to be seen as an evangelist or ‘fundamentalist Christian’. Just as we love to tell our friends,
neighbors and family of the impending birth of a child or grandchild, the Good
News of Jesus Christ should have the same urgency and joy. We should feel a clear desire to get up and
tell others about what God is offering us through His Son Jesus Christ.
If we don’t feel this way, don’t want to share the message of the
Gospel, don’t want to share what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary,
don’t want others to hear about free salvation offered by Jesus Christ we then
must not love our neighbors, family or friends.
But I don’t think this is our intention, nor our personal belief. But our not telling others is exactly what
the devil wants us to do and be, not tell the Good News. The devil wants us to be apathetic and not
share the gift of God for all of mankind.
Recently, I was reminded of how important our mission and ministry
here at Emmanuel is for not only the church, but each of us individually and
what an influence we can have upon others.
So profound is the mission and ministry of Emmanuel that it was clearly
demonstrated by an event that began in our Vacation Bible School.
One of the craft ideas that was used for the Pre-Schoolers was
painting Crosses. This may seem like a
no brainer, the painting of a cross at VBS, but in the end it had a profound
impact. When the activity was first
conceived, there were enough crosses that each of the children could make more
than one. An idea was thought up by
Michele, my wife. What about having each
of the children make an extra cross and they be taken to Wheat Ridge to be
given to the residents. One thing led to
another and the activity was completed by the kids during the week. The kids were excited and loved having the
opportunity to paint a little more. So
Friday afternoon the week of VBS, Michele took, the crosses, with one of the
children who helped make the crosses and two other campers from VBS.
As was told to me later, the residents at Wheat Ridge loved the
gift of the crosses. These simple gifts
made by the small hands of the Pre-School group made the residents feel they
were connected, to our Vacation Bible School here at Emmanuel. Not only were they connected, they were
purposefully thought of and were remembered with the cross and what it stands
for, eternal life offered by Jesus Christ.
What makes this more poignant, is that the idea was originally
meant only for the members of Emmanuel who live at Wheat Ridge. However, once word spread around Wheat Ridge,
which was surprising since the residents don’t move as fast, of the gift of the
crosses, residents who saw the three little girls stopped them in the halls and
were asking if there were enough crosses for them to have one as well.
The cross decorated by the children, though simple to make, showed
how important our connection with the residents at Wheat Ridge is for the
message of the Gospel. How profound the
message of Jesus Christ is and what an impact it can have when we take the time
to share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet. We are called to this mission and ministry to
share in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all of mankind, but
especially including all of mankind knowing the truth that “we are children of
God, but especially heirs of God” who are offered eternal life through Jesus
Christ. Let’s share that Gospel message
and the love of Jesus Christ for all of mankind and be the Church. AMEN.
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