Children of a Triune God

Romans 8:12-17

 

I met a young man this week who had never in debt before.

       That is an oddity in a world that glamorizes debt

                   Calling it “building up our credit rating.”

          He didn’t own a credit card, bought cars with cash,

                    He simply didn’t wanted to be financially obligated

                             To anyone or anything.

          Of course I met him as all this was coming to a crashing halt

                   Because he was making one of the biggest investments.

                             He was getting married and buying a house.

          And he told me that this was one financial obligation that

                   He believed in and was willing to be obligated to.

                             I didn’t asked whether it was the marriage

                                      Or the mortgage but they were connected.

 

But this perspective is one that the Apostle Paul builds on

          In his letter to the church at Roman today.

                   Paul begins the letter with the words:

          “So then brothers and sisters, we are debtors,

                   not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-

                        for if you live according to the flesh, you will die;

                            but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,

                             you will live.”

 

Paul doesn’t explicitly tell us what we are indebted to

          But he tells us what we shouldn’t be indebted to-

                   Earthly things or things of the flesh.

          And by implication then, we are and should be indebt,

                   To the things that pertain to God,

                             Things that we believe in, that give life.

 

Sometimes at a wedding I will humorously try to ease the moment

          In a unison praying of the Lord’s prayer where the Methodists

and Catholics in the congregation will say “trespasses”

          and the Presbyterians will say “debts and debtors.”

          I tell people that as we say the prayer together that the

                   debtors will wait for the trespassers to catch up.

 

But just between you and me the Greek word “opheletai”

          In Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (Mastt 6: 12)

                  Really does mean “debts” as in “to owe someone something”

                             Or “to be under obligation to someone”. 

          The word “trespasses” come later in Matthew (verse 14)

                   And is the Greek word “paraptomata”

                             Which means to “commit a fault” or “go astray”.

 

This may be less important in the Lord’s Prayer

          Where both images are speaking symbolically of sin

                   But the distinction is paramount in Paul’s letter

                             Where he is literally challenging us to consider

                                      What or who we are indebted to,

                                                Obligated to, who do we owe?

 

Paul is not talking about getting rid of our debt.

          He says “we are debtors”

                   But his point is that we are not indebt to the world

                             But rather the creator of the world.

                                      And at this point he shifts his imagery

                                                From debt to children:

          “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

                   For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear

                             But you have received a spirit of adoption.

          When we cry ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit

 bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God”

 

Remember two weeks ago when I talked about Christ’s call

          To move from being servants, slaves or even disciples

                   To being “friends in Christ.”

          We talked about how big of a responsibility that was

                   To be a friend of Jesus: it required sacrifice, obedience,

                             love, understanding , bearing fruit and

                                      being willing to hang out or abide with Christ.

Well Paul is upping the stakes even more.

          Not only are we “friends” but not Paul is saying that

                   We are “children of God”

                             We are related to God through adoption

                                      As sons and daughters.

 

The Bible is filled with birthing images and sometimes they

          Refer to the “world groaning in labor pains”

                   But here Paul specifically uses the term

                             “adoption as children of God.”

That’s an interesting image for Paul to use.

          It has all the rights and responsibilities of natural birth

                   And yet we get there is a different way.

As I have talked to adoptive parents they speak of

          Making the commitment and decision to adopt a child

                   And then there is a time of waiting until the call comes

                             “You child is ready to come home”

          And then there is the mad dash to get everything ready,

                             Sometimes involving a journey,

                   For a lifetime shared with the child they have chosen

                             As a son and daughter for the rest of their life.

                                      And from that first moment of meeting

                                                There is a love and commitment

                                                          That will not be broken.

 

Paul uses this imagery to speak to the Romans

          About being children of God.

                   They undoubtedly encountered Jews

                             Who were comfortable with the notion

                                      Of being children of God

          And Paul is trying to let the Romans’ know that

                   They too are children of God with all the privileges

                             But also all the responsibilities and obligations

of daughterhood or sonship.

 

That’s where the term opheilatai “debts” comes in.

          If one ever were to add up how much it costs to raise a child

                   And the U. S. Department of Agriculture actually did,

                             The cost of raising a child from 1-17 years

                                      Is over a quarter of a million dollars- $269,520.

          The web site that carried that statistic says:

                   “Children are priceless but raising them is probably

                             on of the most expensive things you will every do.”

          And yet we do it without the expectation of payback

because of the deep seeded love that we have and

          the joy that we feel for our children.

That is the image Paul is inviting us to consider for God.

          If we have a sense of how much we love our children

                   And how much we are willing to give for our children

                             Even our own life,

          Then we have just an inkling of the love God has for us

                   And the sacrifice God has made for us,

                             And the desire God has for our life and happiness.

 

We are obligated to God for not only our food, shelter, and education

          But for the very gift of life and relationships,

                   And the air we breath and the land on which we walk,

                             And the faith, hope and love we share.

          If we are obligated to our earthly parents for $269,520

                   Our obligation to our heavenly parent is priceless,

                             And yet God offers that price willingly

                                      Because we are God’s children.

 

Phillip Yancey, who wrote a book called

 “What’s So Amazing about Grace” said:

          “Nothing we do can make God love us any more,

          nothing we can do can make God love us any less,

                   God just loves us- that’s grace.”

 

Of course Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian reminds us

          Of the costly nature of God’s freely given grace:

          "Costly grace is the gospel...

                It is costly because it costs a man his life,

and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."  

                  

We owe everything to the God who created us

          And adopts us as children,

                   Who makes the ultimate sacrifice for us,

                             And who breathes life into us.

          We are heir of this God as Paul says:

                   “If children then heirs, heirs of God,

                             joint heirs with Christ.”

 

Now one thing I’ve discovered in my own life as a son,

          And my son’s reflections of me as a father,

                   Is that children sometimes reflect the traits of the parent,

So it’s helpful to know more and more about this God

      Who is our Father, Abba and in whose image we were created.

Notice that Paul uses Trinitarian language to describe this God.

          “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God…

                    when we cry ‘Abba! Father!’…

                             joint heris with Christ.”

When Paul is talking about our parent God

          He is talking about Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

                   He is talking about the Triune God of scripture.

                             He’s talking about God who loves because

                                      It is God’s nature to love.

                   And we do share a spirit with that God.

 

Paul also challenges us in living as children of the Triune God

          Not to live in fear but to live in expectation of glory.

                   And this is the so what part of today’s lesson.

          If we acknowledge that we are children of this Triune God.

                   If we accept the fact that we are in debt to this God

                             And nothing we do can ever pay back this debt.

          IF we buy into the fact that this is the most important debt or

                   Obligation that we can have in our life,

                             To be obligated for everything to our God,

                                      Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

          Then we are not people of fear.  As Paul says:

                   “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into

                             fear, but you received a spirit of adoption.”

A great sadness for me is the pervasive fear that is around us.

          We are told to be afraid of people from Mexico, the Middle East,

                   People whose politics or lifestyle is different from ours,

                             And even now to fear the Canadians.

          We live in the strongest country in the world and yet

                   We have a color scheme threat level

to tell us how afraid to be.

          That is the world’s way but it is not God’s way.

                   In Romans, Paul reminds us that God’s plan is not

                             To fall back into fear but rather to live

                                      In relationship to God “Father! Abba”

                             And to know that even in suffering

                                      We are heirs of Christ’s glory. That’s the Gospel, the good news of being children of the Triune God.