Home | Site Map | Contact Us | Feeds

All Who are God's are His Children

            Should Muslims be allowed to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City? “The pain, fear and anger from 9/11 is still too deep to decide the Manhattan mosque issue on a purely objective basis” even though most Americans understand that “the Islamic extremists who launched the 9/11 attacks do not represent moderate Muslims such as those behind the Manhattan mosque project” (“Contradiction? Majority of Americans Polled Oppose Mosque Near Ground Zero but See Group’s Right to Build There,” The Wired Word for August 22, 2010, © 2010 Communication Resources).

            There are different kinds of Muslims, even as there are different kinds of Lutherans. According to WELS and Other Lutherans: 2^nd Edition, a book available for sale in the Grace Place coffee shop, Lutherans consist of “two large, Lutheran church bodies that number in the millions, namely, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS); one medium-sized church body that numbers in the hundreds of thousands, that is, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS); and about 46 small church bodies of various sorts that count their membership in the tens of thousands, the thousands, and even the hundreds” (John Brug, Northwestern Publishing House, 2010, p. 1). Saying, “I’m Lutheran” or “He’s Muslim” is like saying “I’d like some food” or “He drives a nice car.” Okay, but what kind?

            When a person says, “I am a Christian” we could also ask, “What kind?” meaning, “What denomination of Christian church do you attend? To which denominational belief system do you subscribe?” Baptist? Lutheran? Methodist? Roman Catholic? Christians gather ourselves into numerous church bodies because we believe differently about some (but not all) teachings of the Bible. So not all Christians are Lutheran. However, all Christians are Christian. We will soon agree in the words of the Nicene Creed that all Christians are children of “one God, the Father,” and all Christians believe in “one Lord, Jesus Christ,” and all Christians are members of “one holy Christian and apostolic Church.”

            That’s the difference between church spelled with a small “c,” called the visible church, and Church spelled with a capital “C,” called the invisible Church. The small “c” visible church is a group of church members we can see, gathered in a congregation or church denomination. The capital “C” invisible Church does not have a membership list we can count, a headquarters on Mayfair Road in Milwaukee, or a human leader in Rome, but it is the sum total of all believers who are Christians by an invisible, spiritual faith in one God, one Lord Jesus Christ. Only God knows exactly how many there are and who they are.

            Today the Bible touches on a timeless challenge when it comes to determining who is a Christian. That challenge is a confusion of the visible church and the invisible Church. Sometimes we think that a person is a Christian (part of the invisible church) because of visible characteristics. For example, to say that all Americans are Christians confuses the visible and invisible churches. As a matter of fact, to say that only Lutherans are Christians confuses the visible and invisible churches as well. We find clarity in this section of the book of Romans that will help us get along better with other Christians and non-Christians, and also help us better realize who we are (and who we can become) because of Jesus Christ.

Of privilege

            Paul writes that his heart hurts because his family – his fellow Jews – fell into this confusion. They thought they were God’s children, but only because of their DNA as “the people of Israel” – descended from Abraham through Jacob whom God called “Israel,” meaning “he wrestled with God” and strove to trust in God’s promises. As a whole the Jewish nation at Paul’s time tended to steer clear of Christ or even to be openly hostile toward Christianity. That’s sad when you consider that the Israelites enjoyed exceptional privileges from a kind, generous Father. “Theirs is the adoption as sons, theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all.” Like the prodigal son who had it all and ran away, they turned up their noses at God and the privileges he arranged, and then the people of Israel actually claimed to be his children by physical birth. So Paul had to set the record straight, “Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”

            Not every Jew with Jacob’s blood flowing in his or her veins is a child of God. Not every American, not every good Republican, not every person who goes to church is a Christian. Some of these people turn their noses up at the spiritual privileges of God’s fatherly love and– based on physical connection – claim to be his children. If you die and stand in front of God and say, “I’m your child because I’m an American,” he’ll say, “I don’t see my signature at the bottom of the U.S. constitution under a prologue that says, “All Americans are Christians.” If you say, “I’m your child because I went to church on Sunday,” he’ll inquire, “Then why didn’t you behave like that Monday through Saturday?” “Sir, open the door for us!” “I don’t know you or where you come from” (Luke 13:25).

            Pay attention to the privileges that make you a child of God, a Christian. They are invisible, but they are real and make a difference in a visible way. You were adopted away from a birth attachment to sin and, in baptism, claimed and chosen by God. That makes you a Christian. You are forgiven by the promise of God in the new covenant of blood, a covenant made certain by the living and dying of your Substitute and Savior. That makes you a Christian. “Christ, who is God over all” extends every spiritual privilege in heaven to you as his own. Take inventory of those privileges, if you can, and when the devil tells you that God has forgotten about you, remember how privileged you are as God’s adopted child whom he never forgets and always loves. Visible characteristics can not make anyone a Christian, and neither can visible characteristics demote anyone from being a Christian or threaten a child of God.

By promise

            The Jews, both in Old Testament times and in Paul’s day, weren’t born into God’s family. Yes, they were born as physical Israelites, but the privileges of being God’s children were offered and given to them as believers of the promise. “It is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” God had made a promise to childless Abraham that he would have many descendants and one of them would be the Savior. That promise came true not in Ishmael – the son of promiscuity Abraham had with a servant girl – but through Isaac, the son of promise Abraham had with his wife Sarah through faith in God’s way.

            The Bible says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). You are a Christian not naturally, but supernaturally. You are God’s because God promises that you are, and that’s true even against all odds and all reason, like when God promised Abraham that he’d have a son or promised Gideon’s depleted army a victory.

            You may wonder if you could become a member here at Grace even though you grew up in a different Christian denomination or no church at all, or sometimes you may wonder if you’re even a Christian, or you may wonder whether you’ll be welcome here at Grace if you’ve strayed from the church. The answer to those concerns is not found in some church rulebook (with a convenient appendix of fees attached) but is right here in God’s Word. You are a Christian and a child of God because God promises that you are. You have privileges as a child of God because God promises that you do.

            Like Isaac you are a miracle. Do not live like anything less. Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on August 29, 2010

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

Home | Site Map | Contact Us | Feeds