Loving God, you have made us your children through our baptism into Christ. Teach us to resemble Jesus more and more in word and in action, that others might see Christ at work through us. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

So... we have been adopted through baptism into Christ and made children of God. I wonder how many of us knew what we were getting into when God made us members of his family. Don't get me wrong. It's a family well worth belonging to. It's just that some of us want it both ways. We want to be children of God and remain exactly the same as we were before, and that just won't work.

It is true that God was the one who took the initiative and welcomed us into the family. It is true that God did this in love and gave us the promise of eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ. Through water and the Spirit, God adopted us as children and gave us forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus. All this was God's doing, and was given to us as a gift.

However, this is not a gift that we are forced into accepting. If we decide that we would rather go our own way and don't have any particular need for forgiveness or for eternal life, we are free to do that. God does not force us into accepting anything, but has given us the freedom to choose. However, we do need to be aware of what we are doing in making that choice.

The gospel of John in particular uses many images to describe the difference between being a child of God and being a child of the devil. Jesus talks about the vine and the branches as if he is the main vine, and each one of us is like a branch that has been grafted onto that vine (Jn. 15:1-10). Those who have worked a lot with plants will know that it is possible to make a slit in the main trunk of a plant and insert a shoot that with careful tending will become part of the original plant and grow there.

When we become children of God, it is like the same thing happening. We are taken by God and grafted onto God's family tree, and with careful tending will grow there. In fact, when God does this, growth is expected. We are expected to grow in faith, love and obedience to the will of God. Otherwise, we are about as useless as a branch on a fruit tree that isn't growing and isn't bearing any fruit either.

We are free to cease to grow. We are free to disconnect ourselves from Jesus and go our own way. However, our soul will be just like a branch that has been cut off from the vine or from a tree -- pretty much dead wood. That is the image that Jesus uses to show the difference between staying connected to him or cutting ourselves off. It is the difference between a soul that is full of life and growing, or a soul that has shriveled up and is ready to die.

However, you need to know, too, that this is not just theory. We're not talking here about somehow spiritually staying connected to Jesus while life goes on as it did before. Only a few verses after the reading that we had today from the first letter of John, we are told how to recognize the children of God.

The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters (1 Jn. 3:10).

Abiding in Jesus or staying connected to him is always defined in terms of how we live and how we act. We are to walk as Jesus walked (1 Jn. 2:6). We are to replace hatred with love, and never refuse to help others who are in need (1 Jn. 3:15-17). We are to obey Jesus' commands, the main one of which is to love others as he has first loved us (1 Jn. 3:24). We are to confess Jesus and never knowingly sin (1 Jn. 4:13-16; 3:6). We are to share in Christ's body and blood and allow others to see God's love in us and to see Christ in us (Jn. 6:56; 17:26). This is what it means to live as a member of God's family.

Meanwhile, the first letter of John states that we will be like foreigners to the world. In other words, people might genuinely think that we have lost it, because our way of doing things is so different from the rest of the world. I'll give you just a few things to think about as examples.

Many in this world believe that we are to look after our own and leave everybody else to look after their own. However, Jesus teaches that it is our concern whenever there is anybody who is in need. Many in this world spend countless hours and a great deal of money and effort on looking younger than they actually are and perpetuating the illusion that they're not getting older and they're certainly not going to die. However, Jesus teaches that we could be called home at any time and that it would be wise of us to make sure that we have treasure in heaven, where it will really matter in the end.

Many in this world believe that they will have real freedom if only they would have the right retirement plan or life insurance policy or win the lottery next week. However, Jesus teaches that true freedom will only be found in him. Many in this world believe that it is quite all right to fudge their income tax a little or to get whatever they can from "big businesses" even if it means just taking it. However, Jesus teaches that taking what belongs to another is never okay, and that if we're that hung up on hanging on to every little bit of money, then our treasure's in the wrong place anyways. Many in this world believe that if it feels good, it must be right. However, Jesus teaches that loving God with our whole being and loving others as ourselves is always the most important, and not what feels good for me.

Perhaps you begin to get the picture. To be a child of God is not simply to go along with what everybody else is doing. In fact, to actually abide in Christ -- stay connected to him -- learn from him daily through the Scriptures -- to do this is to have your life changed as you start to take on more and more of the family resemblance.

Not so long ago, I read an interview with author Mike Yaconelli in which he talked about Jesus as being wild and dangerous. He pointed out that Jesus made many people uncomfortable, and that the same thing would be likely to happen if Jesus actually showed up in any one of our churches. We tend to make Jesus nice and respectable and forget that Jesus took on a whole system and really shook things up wherever he went. Do we really know what we're asking for when we ask Jesus to come and be present?

Where Jesus is present there is life -- more life than you have ever known before. Where the Spirit is present there is power -- sometimes seeming scary and often unpredictable. You have been made children of God through your baptism into Christ. Are you really ready for the abundant life that follows? Those who are need only to stay firmly rooted in the vine -- firmly connected to Jesus through Word and Sacrament, study and prayer. As we continue to grow in faith, love and obedience to the will of God, the family resemblance will become more and more evident in the love that we have for others. Amen - so be it - through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Easter 3(B)      1 John 3:1-7
April 26, 2009
St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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