[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage #574, Pentecost 16, 9/16/07

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

Pentecost 16 – September 16, 2007

Jeremiah 4:22-28
Psalm 14:1-7
I Timothy 1:12 17
Luke 15:1 10

A New Heaven And A New Us

Children are a reflection on their parents, and the chosen people are a 
reflection on God.  It must be true because, more than once, God finds 
his own reputation sufficient reason to change a punitive plan.  It can 
work the other way too.  God's people, aware that the world is 
dependent on them to know the forgiveness of God, have a motivation to 
live godly lives that go beyond self-interest.   There are a lot of 
proposed identities for God out there in the world, from indifferent to 
indulgent to punitive to vengeful to non-existent.  Fools say in their 
hearts, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1) Yes but it makes a difference 
what theists say in their hearts too. I know of no other God than the 
God of Abraham and Isaac, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is 
both deeply committed to human righteousness and to forgiveness when 
that righteousness fails.   I know of no other image of God that 
combines a zeal for justice with an equal zeal for reconciliation, 
where love is steadfast but so is the demand for right living.  The 
revelation of God that we serve is that of a perfect parent in an 
imperfect world.  Our faithful witness is not just self-interest but an 
act of mercy toward the world around us.

The image of God in Christ is not that of a judge holding court but of 
a parent seeking a lost child.  The mercy of God is evangelistic in the 
sense that it doesn't wait for an appeal process.  It seeks out the 
child who needs mercy.  Jesus proposes to his audience an absurdity,  
"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does 
not leave the ninety nine in the wilderness and go after the one that 
is lost until he finds it?"  (Luke 15:4)  The answer, of course, is …

"None of us would do that.  We'd cut our losses and go on.  What's 
more, we'd fire any shepherd that would leave ninety-nine unattended to 
look for one. The coin hunt we'd do, but, if we found it, we wouldn't 
throw a party costing more than the value of the coin.  We didn't get 
our MBA’s for nothing.”

Jesus is revealing another facet to God's image.  Not only is God 
intent on preserving relationship with the group, God's zeal is also 
for the individual.  God comes with all power, justice and mercy 
seeking you.  It has nothing to do with public relations.  It has 
nothing to do with the general outcome of the human race.  God comes 
out of love for you, a love that can set aside all other considerations 
in pursuit of reconciliation.

Now, this reconciliation that God seeks is not like that between human 
beings where we rise to our best selves and consign the worst to 
history.  God has no rising to do. Reconciliation between God and us 
means a new creation, a new "us".  "Behold!  I saw a new heaven and a 
new us," Paul might have said to Timothy when he wrote, "But for that 
very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost [of 
sinners], Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an 
example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life."  
(1 Timothy 1:16)  Paul was transformed by the "faith and love that are 
in Christ Jesus" not by Paul's ability to put an evil past behind him 
and rise to his best self.  He became a new self.


May these thoughts strengthen you.

An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor
(an e-mail service)

[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message coordinated with 
these lections.]

http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/

Multiple Sermon Starter Essays are available at
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