SERMON: "Children of God"

Children of God
I John 3:1-7

One of my favorite true stories of preacher and writer Fred Craddock happened when he and his wife were at a restaurant in Tennessee.  It was a holiday and an old man started a conversation with them about what they were doing to enjoy their holiday.  At one point in the conversation, the old man asked Craddock what he did for a living.  Craddock thought his answer would finally cause the man to leave them alone – “I’m a preacher.”

To Craddock’s dismay, the man grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the table where he and his wife were sitting and started in: “A preacher, eh?  Well, that’s great.  Let me tell you a story about a preacher.”  As the man continued to talk Craddock’s mood changed from one of being annoyed to one of being humbled.

The guy told Fred and his wife that he was a bastard – not in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense.  He was born without knowing who his father was.  He was illegitimate according to the way the people in his small town in the early part of the twentieth century referred to him.  It was a source of great shame to him growing up in that community.

The old man explained that he never went to church growing up.  Until this one Sunday when he decided to hear this new pastor preach.  He said he thought he was very good and so he went back again and again.  In fact he started going just about every week, always arriving a little late and leaving a little early so that he wouldn’t have to talk to anyone.  He just knew everyone was thinking, “Look at that illegitimate boy.  Why, what is he doing in church?”

One Sunday though he got caught up in the sermon and forgot to leave early.  Before he knew it the service was over and people were crowding into the aisles blocking his escape.  He hurried as fast as he could to try and get to a door, but as he did he felt this heavy hand suddenly grab him by a shoulder.  It was the preacher - a big tall man.  The preacher looked down on him and asked, “What’s your name, boy?  Whose son are you?”

The old man said that he died inside as he struggled to offer an answer.  It was the very question he most feared having to answer.  Before he could come up with anything the preacher said, “I know who you are.  I know who your family is.  There’s a distinct family resemblance.  Why, you’re the son, you’re the son, you’re the son of God!”

The old man sitting with Fred Craddock and his wife said, “You know, mister, those words changed my life.”  And he got up and left.

The waitress came over and said to Fred Craddock and his wife, “Do you know who that was?”

“No,” they replied.

“That was Ben Hooper, the two-term governor of Tennessee." (1)

The author of I John proclaims that it’s true for all of us – “we are God’s children” – children of God’s.  That ought to be a source of comfort for all of us – we belong to God – we are God’s offspring.

Now, the author of John is describing here what our relationship with God is like, not describing how we should behave.  He wasn’t giving us a license to be childish.

On an Easter Sunday afternoon a few years back all of Dorothy’s family and my mother had Easter dinner at our cottage on Indian Lake so that Dorothy and I could catch an early flight to Florida on Monday.  Caleb, our niece’s son, is the oldest grandchild.  He had been the only grandchild for several years.  He had been used to all the attention of the whole family.  Our two oldest grandchildren were born that year and thus shared the spotlight.

Caleb liked trains.  He had a collection of trains.  Evan, our grandson, was a little over a year old – 14 months.  Caleb got out his collection of trains and Evan went over to observe – er, uh, take a hands-on look at Caleb’s collection.  Everyone held their breath as they watched to see what Caleb would do.  His mom tried to ward off the inevitable as she started to repeat over and over, “Now, Caleb, it’s OK for Evan to play with your trains too.  Caleb, it will be OK.  You need to share your trains with Evan, Caleb.”  She was successful for awhile.

Watching Caleb and Evan reminded me of a piece I’ve seen a time or two over the years.  It’s titled The Toddler’s Property Laws and goes like this:
1. If I like it, it’s mine.
If it’s in my hand, it’s mine.
If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.
If I think it’s mine, it’s mine.
If it’s yours and I steal it, it’s mine.
If I saw it first, or last, makes no difference, it’s still mine."  (2)

So, what did the author of I John have in mind when he referred to us as "children of God?" First, we should note why the author wrote the letter and to whom.

 It's believed by some bible scholars that John was writing to persons in the early church who were beginning to become discouraged – who were having their doubts.  A lot of time had passed since Jesus had lived, died and was resurrected and the thrill of it all was beginning to fade.  Their commitment was waning and false teachings were finding their way into the thinking of the day.  The letter by this author of the first letter of John was believed to have been sent to all the churches in that day to challenge these false teachings.

In addition, the scholars believe that the letter was written to a mixed community of faith – that Jews and Gentiles alike were the recipients of the letter - which further contributes to the really radical nature of the author’s assertion – all members of the community of faith are children of God – ethnic origin makes no difference. (3)

We are children of God because of God’s doing.  It’s God’s choice for us to be children.  We are members of the same family because we have the same Father, Parent, Mother, Creator.  We do not choose God.  God chooses us.  We don’t earn a spot in the family by our good deeds or noble thoughts or winsome personalities, but because of one thing – God’s generous love. (4)

Actress Jeanette Clift George tells about a very turbulent flight home one time with a woman and her young baby.  The mother tried to feed the young baby a little fruit and orange juice every time she cried.  Because the flight was so bumpy whenever she did, it would come back up.  When the plane landed it was quite a mess – the carpet and the baby looked just awful.

When they got off the plane, a young man who simply had to be “daddy” was at the gate waiting.  He was dressed in white pants and a white shirt and had some flowers in his hand.  Jeanette George said that she was sure that he would run to the baby, take one look, and keep on running.

That’s not what happened.  She said that the young father ran to his wife and small child, grabbed the messy baby from his wife, and without hesitation held the vomit covered little one against his white shirt and whispered loving things into her ear.  He continued to hug and kiss the little one – continued to stroke her hair – continued to welcome her home all the way to the baggage claim area.

Jeanette George reflecting on this scene asked herself, “Where did I ever get the idea that my father, God, is less loving than a young daddy in white slacks and white shirt?" (5)  God chooses us – embraces us – accepts us with open arms, no matter how messy or how messed up we are.

Another thought of this author of I John is that as a result of this relationship with God through Jesus Christ – as a result of our being children of God’s – we can expect to be at odds with the world.  We are expected to behave differently as children of God and the rest of the world is often not crazy about our different behavior.  It just doesn’t look right – it sometimes causes discomfort with the way world has come to believe it’s OK to order things – think about people – treat people.

I appreciate the way one preacher phrased it: “People who are loved behave differently from those who aren’t.  We are loved.  We are called therefore to love.  This affects our relationship with God and the community." (6)

We’re important to God and we live by a different set of rules now than we did before we understood ourselves loved by God – children of God.  This “different set of rules includes:
We love our neighbors as ourselves.
We listen for God’s voice, not our own.
We consider ourselves to be subject one to another.
We practice kindness and charity.
We bear each other’s burdens.
We forgive rather than bear a grudge." (7)
Jesus had some things to say about how we should behave out of which the just stated list grows.  He said that we should love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves.  The message we have heard from the beginning is that we should love one another as God loves us.  It ought to guide everything we think and do.

The preacher I referred to a moment ago went on to say: “Civility is merely following the golden rule – treating others as we wish to be treated.  What could be more Christian than, ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you” (Matthew :12).  If you want people to be kind to you, be kind to them.  If you don’t want to be cut off in traffic, don’t be the guy who cuts off other drivers.  If you want to be let out into traffic, let others out.  If you want civil treatment at the grocery store, or in your kitchen, treat others with civility and respect.  Even if you don’t get civility in return, keep your cool, and let the civility flow." (8)

A final note about being children of God it would be well to take note of is that children grow, develop, mature.  The author of I John noted in verse 2: “What we will be has not yet been revealed (I John 3:2b).”  What we do know is that we will be like Jesus when our growth is finished.   Our growth means many things then:
* it means that we need to be prepared to find new ways to share the good news -
* it means we need to serve the poor -
* it means we need to heal the sick -
* it means we need to bind up the brokenhearted -
* “It means walking the self-denying, cross-carrying path of discipleship and following Christ’s example of eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, loving enemies and turning the other cheek.  It means swimming in the same gene pool of Jesus, opening ourselves further to the movement of the Holy Spirit and allowing ourselves to become ever more effective channels for the ever-flowing love of God." (9)

Brothers and sisters in Christ – fellow children of God – this relationship with God which labels us “children of God” doesn’t carry with the title reasons to turn up our noses at the rest of the world.  Rather, it carries with it the notion that we have special responsibilities – we are called to live for the good of the world, not our own.


1 Tony Campolo, It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’, a quote from Fred Craddock.
2 “Newportance,” Homiletics, March - April, 2006, p. 71-72.
3 Ibid., p. 69.
4 “Charlemagne’s Children,” Homiletics, May – June, 2003, p. 12.
5 Ibid.
6 “Newportance,” p. 69 -70.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 “Charlemagne’s Children,” p. 12.