I ran across some interesting material the other day with
the answers to science test questions as rendered by 5th and 6th
graders.(1) For example, one described the law of gravity as
saying, "no fair jumping up without coming back down." Pretty
good. Another said, "You can listen to thunder and tell how
close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got
hit, so never mind." A couple of them responded to questions
about clouds. One said, "I'm not sure how clouds are formed, but
clouds know how to do it, and that's the important thing." OK.
Another said, "Water vapor gets together in a cloud. When it is
big enough to be called a drop, it does." Uh huh. One defined a
monsoon as a French gentlemen.
A couple more. One youngster said, "When planets run around
and around in circles, we say they are orbiting. When people do
it, we say they are crazy." True. One defined the spinal column
as "a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the top, and you sit
on the bottom." OK.
None of those have anything to do with the sermon, but this
one jumped out at me because it surely does. One youngster
wrote, "Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if
you don't, why you should." In the context of our lesson, this
one really hits home: "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..." Is there any family resemblance? There
SHOULD be.
Several years ago, Stephen Carter's book, The Culture of
Disbelief,(2) looked at how our society wishes us to treat God as a
hobby. Our culture sees faith as something that we should not
bring with us into the public square when making decisions about
life and how life might be lived. Our society's message is
clear: Practice your faith, if you must, but please do it
PRIVATELY. I John says no. I John tells us that what we believe
will determine how we behave...and publicly. If we are children
of God, the world should be able to see the family resemblance.
Wait a minute. Aren't ALL people children of God? Well,
yes and no. One commentator explains it this way:
There are two English words which are closely
connected, but whose meanings are widely different.
There is the word paternity and the word fatherhood.
Paternity describes a relationship in which a father is
responsible for the physical existence of a [child];
but, as far as paternity goes, it can be, and it not
infrequently happens, that the father has never even
set eyes on the [child], and would not even recognize
him [or her], if in later years [they] met. Fatherhood
describes an intimate, loving, continuous relationship
in which father and [child] grow closer to each other
every day. In the sense of paternity all [people] are
children of God; but in the sense of fatherhood [we]
are only children of God, when God makes [that]
gracious approach to [us], and when [we] respond.(3)
I love what follows: "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 is not done with us yet. And amazingly, what
lies in store is so wonderful it is beyond our comprehension.
Now, we encounter this audacious statement: "No one who
lives in him keeps on sinning; no one who continues to sin has
either seen him or known him." The expectation is not that we be
sinless, because that is clearly impossible. Rather, the
expectation is that at least we TRY. If we find ourselves off
track, we will not be content to stay there. We will do our
level best to get ON track once again. In other words, our
profession and practice...our beliefs and behavior...as far as is
humanly possible, match. We do not just "talk the walk," we
"walk the talk."
Does that mean we will all walk identically? Not at all.
There are Protestant Christians: there are Catholic Christians.
There are Republican Christians; there are Democrat Christians.
There are pro-life Christians; there are pro-choice Christians.
There are straight Christians; there are gay Christians. There
are crew-cut Christians; there are dreadlock Christians. And on
and on and on. There are some striking differences in this
family. But there is one distinctive that will insure the world
will note the family resemblance. Jesus himself said it: "By
THIS everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have
love for one another."(4)
A Civil War chaplain approached a wounded soldier on the
battlefield and asked if he would like to hear a few verses from
the Bible. The wounded man said, "No, I'm so thirsty, I'd rather
have some water." The chaplain gave him a drink, then repeated
his question. "No sir, not now -- but could you put something
under my head?" The chaplain did so, and again repeated his
question. "No," said the soldier, "I'm cold. Could you cover me
up?" The chaplain took off his inside coat and wrapped the
soldier. Afraid to ask, he did not repeat his question. He made
to go away, but the soldier called him back. "Look, Chaplain, if
there's anything in that book of yours that makes a person do for
another what you've done for me, then I want to hear it."(5)
Walking the talk.
"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!"
You are a child of God! You! Sure. I should have known. I see
the resemblance. You look just like your Father.
Amen!
1. Carl Horton via PresbyNet, "Bottom Drawer," #3156, 4/9/97
2. New York: Basic Books, 1993
3. William Barclay, The Letters of John and Jude, Daily Study Bible Series, (Philadelphia,
Westminster, 1960), p. 87
4. John 13:35
5. Carlos Wilton, via PresbyNet, "Sermonshop 04 17 1994," #5, 4/12/94
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