Romans 8:14-17
“Children of God”
Preached Sunday, June 5, 2022
If there is one thing I’d want our confirmands to know.
If there is one thing I’d want my own child to know.
If there is one thing I’d want everyone here to know.
If there is one thing I’d want everyone alive to know…it is this:
You are a child of God.
Turn to the person next to you and tell them: “You are a child of God.”
You are a child of God.
Repeat after me:
I am a child of God.
I am a child of God.
Good. You all know it. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Okay, not quite done yet - but it will be a short sermon today cause we’re going to reaffirm that two young men are children of God through the rite of confirmation today.
And we are going to reaffirm that we are all children of God through the sacrament of Holy Communion.
That these young men and each and every person here is a child of God and if a child of God than heirs WITH Christ, adopted by the Holy Spirit. And it is through that Spirit of Adoption that each of us has the right to to call God, the Creator of all the Universe: Abba! Father! Mother! Divine Parent. And we are loved by God the Creator of the Universe as a parent loves their child.
For today is the day of Pentecost - the traditional day for confirmations in the Church - the day we remember how the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples and to all of us. That, following Jesus’s ascension, the disciples were gathered together and the sound of rush of wind came upon them and tongues of flame landed on them and they went out on the street and preached about Jesus and all that were gathered heard them speaking in their own native tongues and that day many came to know Jesus and accept their adoption as children of God.
And that same Holy Spirit is the Spirit given to us. The Spirit that IS a member of the Divine unbreakable Trinity. Before Jesus ascended he promised he would be with us always: and he is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. God who is wind and fire and presence and breath. We always say that the Spirit is never farther from us than our next breath. God is WITH us always, claiming us as beloved children of God as Paul talks about in our reading from Romans today.
And the 8th Chapter of Romans might just be my favorite chapter in all of Scripture. Later on in the chapter from today’s reading we get this passage of Scripture:
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God is with us always through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us a spirit of adoption, making us children of God along with Jesus.
And because we are children of God along with Jesus there is nothing, literally nothing, that can separate us from the love of God.
When we baptize children, we claim the title of Children of God for them.
At confirmation, they claim “Child of God” for themselves.
Today we get to celebrate that, affirm that they are beloved children, and remember our own belovedness as children of God through affirming them and through Holy Communion.
When I give Communion to children I say “God loves you very much” as I give them the bread and the cup.
For adults I say “The Body and Blood of Christ.”
And really, it’s the same thing: when we take Communion, we remember how much Christ loves us. That he gave all of himself for us, and as children of God and joint heirs with Christ, we share in his death and resurrection - Holy Communion being a powerful reminder of that.
So today in multiple ways, we will tell each other and remind ourselves that we are all children of God.
Turn to the person next to you and tell them: “You are a child of God.”
You are a child of God.
Repeat after me:
I am a child of God.
I am a child of God.
Good. You all know it. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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