“Everyone who does what is right…”

(1 John 3:1-7)

See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.  What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.  And all who have this hope in him purify themselves just as he is pure. 

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness, sin is lawlessness.  You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.   No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you.  Everyone who does what is right is righteous just as he is righteous. 

You will have noticed that it says right there in our scripture lesson that we are God’s children.  God’s beloved children. 

…You know, it may be because I am the youngest in my family of origin, but there really are times when I wouldn’t mind being a child again.  I would like to abdicate this adult role—not all the time–just now and then.  It’s like there are two sides to being children.  There’s the thought that we can snuggle down and be taken care of AND there’s the part where we must do what our parents need us to do.

I remember wondering many years ago when my mentor, Dr. Van Bogard Dunn, died suddenly, “Who’s going to rile us up so that we know how to speak out on justice issues?  Who’s going to remind us preachers how to bring the power of scripture and preaching to the world today?  Who’s going to stand up in the face of the powers that be and speak the truth?”  His students looked up to Bogie and totally respected him, as did most lay people.  We all wanted to be like him. 

Of course, the answers to the questions that I posed were that it was time for us to step up and say and do the things that our Father-figure in the faith, Bogie, had been saying and doing.  Stepping up to the plate, that is, being children of our Father, is hard, but it’s absolutely necessary.  We cannot hang back and expect that someone else will give voice to the injustices in the world.  We cannot allow words and actions that are anti-Christian, that are the very opposite of righteous, to stand.  We may be children of God, but we are no longer children….

…So, as a child of God who, nevertheless, knows that we need to get over the fear and uncertainty that silences us, I am convicted when I hear this text from the first letter of John: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are….

There is a sense of absolute comfort and nurture in being called the children of God.  It’s an assurance that we are cared for, we are loved unconditionally, we’re guided, we’re given ideas, we’re inspired, we’re shown how to be righteous.

And I’ll tell you, at this time when our nation is divided and hurting and on fire, when our world is sick and frightened, when churches are confused and lost, I am comforted to hear the words from today’s text.  To be told that we are God’s children, that we can ultimately depend on God’s creativity and guidance, God’s love and nurture—it seems like continuing on this road is possible. 

…But, here’s the thing: being God’s children is going to involve surrendering ourselves to God’s will and intention for our world and our lives.  Like children who have good, loving parents, sometimes we have to come under the surveillance of our Divine Parent.  None of us is the ultimate authority in this life, even though we sometimes conduct ourselves as though we think we are. 

One of the most difficult parts of childhood for me were those times when I had to cave in to my Mom’s authority; I had to eat some humble pie which I did NOT like to do.  It’s the same with being God’s children.  We’re going to need to be humble now and again and willing to surrender to God’s will. 

That’s hard because most of the time I am so darned sure that I know how things ought to be that I try to force solutions to situations that are not ready to be resolved.  I try to insist that my way is the best.  But until I back off and give myself to God and to God’s way, I am not going to find the best path. 

You probably have heard me say that during Lent a few years ago, I realized what my Lenten work had to be.  I had become increasingly filled with hatred for some of the folks in power in Washington DC and in Columbus, Ohio.  I was really angry with those who were spreading hatred and fear throughout our nation.  My own hatred of the haters had taken over my thinking. 

I finally realized that this was not a good place for me to be.  I did not want destructive people living rent-free in my head.  That was not the kind of energy I wanted inside me, nor did I want it leaking out to others. 

I knew I had to find a balance between recognizing and dealing with the negativity around me and standing up and working for what is right and what I know to be the Gospel of Christ.  I wanted that balance.  I wanted to be able to follow in the footsteps of my mentor, Bogie Dunn.

So, I had to go back to a simple prayer and meditation regimen.  I had to return to journaling and reading self-healing writings.  The good news is that I have improved, though there is, as you can imagine, still work to be done.   

We children of God need to admit our limitations; we need to acknowledge our sinful natures, and profess our need for God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ.  You may have noticed that the last part of today’s reading gives us a little discussion of sin.  Now, I know that we had the sin conversation a few weeks ago during Lent, but here it is presented to us in the 1st John reading.  The very end calls us to righteousness, calls us to be Christ-like.  “Little children,” the letter writer John says, “let no one deceive you.  Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.”

…Sometimes I think that in our rush to make sure that no one thinks we think we are saved by our good works, we don’t always talk about righteouness.  But notice, we’re being instructed here: “Little children, don’t be deceived.  If you do what is right, you are righteous.”  And our goal, according to this reading, is to be Christ-like, to be righteous.

Of course, we know that none of us is going to reach that completely righteous state since the bar is set so high, but we also know, as children of God, that we need to make it our goal.

Back to what it means to be children of God: we all come with a variety of experiences. Many of us are among the oldest generation now.  We are the matriarchs and the patriarchs, whether we like it or not.

But, also, there are among us new Christians of all ages.  And some of us are undoubtedly going through trying times, whether we’re old or young, new in the faith or been around the block a few times.  We may be feeling like we need all the guidance possible.  Other children of God may be young and inexperienced, and, yet, remarkably, they may be being called to step out as leaders in the faith. 

We are all on our own Christian journey.  Don’t be mistaken in thinking that you are too old or too young or too inexperienced or too timid or not bright enough or articulate enough or too tired, or too busy.  …No, we are God’s children.  What we will be has not yet been revealed, but what we do know is that we are called to be like Christ.  We are called out, set aside, as God’s children to do the right thing, to be role models, to make the best choices we can, to put our lives on the line to which Jesus has called us: to be courageous, to love one another, and to see what love the Father has given us that we have the honor to be called children of God.

In thinking how to illustrate what it means to live a righteous life I saw this quote from Maya Angelou on our daughter-in-law Kate’s Facebook.  “Do the best you can until you know better.  Then, when you know better, do better.”

We all have phases in our lives that we can look back on and wish we had made better choices.  Let’s admit those lapses and, well, do better….  Be righteous.

I recall a film at the Cleveland International Film Festival from a few years ago that has stuck with me.  It was about medical teams who took their cardiac expertise to Haiti, not only to perform heart surgery on children but also to teach Haitian doctors and nurses how to do these surgeries.  It was called, “Open Hearts.”  These missions were led by physicians from our very own Akron Children’s Hospital.  Righteous work….  right here in Akron.

These and people on missions like this are performing good work in our world.  But there is also righteous work that demands that we stand up and speak truth to power.  Righteous work is both caring for those in need, for the least of these, AND it’s using our voices for change so that we can live in a world in which all people have the rights and privileges that we enjoy.  If we had guests in our home or here in church, we would offer them food and drink and shelter.  We would look after their needs.  It would be the righteous thing to do.  As children in the family of God, we need to make sure that all people have the rights and privileges that we enjoy.  This is what we do.  This is who we are.

In Jesus’ day he was preaching and teaching and acting against those in power in the religious world who were using the their laws to take care of themselves, to keep the money coming into the coffers and not being righteous as Jesus was righteous.  The religious laws were stacked against the common folk and, of course, the women and children.  They were not only powerless, they were invisible.  As Jesus stood up against this, he was fearless in his righteousness work.

There are folks out there now who are standing up for justice, whose voices are strong and articulate, sometimes even in the name of the Gospel, even fashioning their lives after Christ.  These are the kind of people we should be looking up to. 

But don’t misunderstand when I refer to the stories of others.  The remarkableness of these people doesn’t let us off the hook.  Such stories should inspire us to answer our own particular calling to righteousness. 

I have heard a saint described as someone who not only knows but SHOWS how much God loves them….

A saint is a child of God who goes into the world and reflects God’s love.  That is what this morning’s lesson is all about.  That is the calling and the mission of those who follow Christ.  That is our calling and our mission.  We’ve got to speak out for peace with justice.  We’ve got to make our voices heard.  We’ve got to be righteous just as Christ is righteous.  We’ve got to earn the right to be called children of God, ‘cause that’s what we are.  Amen.