"Adopted" - January 4, 2015

Ephesians 1:3-14

“He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  [Ephesians 3:5-7] 

Consider the full depth of that for a little bit.  Do you ever think of what it means that God has adopted us?  You and me: adopted by God, made part of his everyday life, treated as his own, watched over when we get the sniffles, missed when we don’t stay in touch, mourned when we turn our backs, loved every second.

A child who is adopted becomes as much a part of the family as one who is born into it.  When I was in school, there was a family that was about as German-looking as any you could imagine.  They all had blond hair and blue eyes and perfect posture.  Their youngest daughter was the exception.  Jenny was Korean by birth but had been adopted as a baby.  The only difference between her and her brothers and sister was her hair and eye color.  They had the same sense of humor, the same manner of speaking, the same outlook on life, and (yes) she also had perfect posture.

That really is what adoption is supposed to be.  It means that somebody not only gets a legal guardian and legal status as part of their family, but really becomes their child no less than any biological offspring.  You can get into that whole “nature and nurture” discussion, where scientists debate how much of our personality is inborn and how much is taught or acquired through experience.  Different people reach different conclusions but there is no one who denies that many of a person’s most important attributes may come, not through biology, but in the one-on-one sharing that is part of the parenting process.  For example, there is a clear record of a boy named George born in Baltimore in 1895 and sent to an orphanage when he was seven.  Although he wasn’t directly adopted, Brother Matthias, of St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys took George under his wing and taught him, among other things, how to play baseball.  Somewhere in there, George Ruth got the nickname “Babe”.

So if you and I are adopted by God, if we are God’s daughters and sons, what effect does that have on us?  I think of it in terms of the two sons in the parable of the prodigal son.  There’s the first son who makes a mess of things, and his father never gives up on him and, when he comes to his senses and returns home, gives him a party.  That’s the one who would understand being part of God’s family in terms of the mercy that a parent shows a child, as he puts it

“redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.” [Ephesians 3:7]

That is a big part of it.  The prophet Hosea [11:1-4] spoke of the love of God as that of a parent who could not and would not forget his children, no matter what.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
   and out of Egypt I called my son. 
The more I called them,
   the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
   and offering incense to idols. 
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
   I took them up in my arms;
   but they did not know that I healed them. 
I led them with cords of human kindness,
   with bands of love.
I was to them like those
   who lift infants to their cheeks.
   I bent down to them and fed them.” 

            There was another son in the parable, though, the older son, whom his father had to remind,

“Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” [Luke 15:31]

That, too, is part of what it is to be part of the family and is actually the better part to play, if you can avoid the petty jealousy that he showed toward his brother.  It is to be let in on God’s plan,

“a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” [Ephesians 3:10]

As God’s children, we are to be a part of the whole wondrous picture of God’s glory.  Sin, which is part of our old self, is to be put away and put behind us.  It is real, but it is the childish part of us that God seeks to help us put away so that we can give our efforts to things that matter, to the aspects of our lives that are part of our full maturity and, in the end, the parts that reflect best not only on us, but also on God.

Think of it: a parent who is a great person is honored all the more when the children also show greatness.  There was a Hungarian baker who had to flee to Germany because being a Lutheran in a Catholic country was dangerous in the early 1600’s.  He took with him a little guitar and a love of music, which he passed along with his last name (he was, as I said, a baker, or, in the local dialect, a Bach).  He had a son who was a part-time piper and a grandson who was a professional musician of some sort and a grandson who was a violinist, and a great-grandson named Johann Sebastian who took up work as a church organist and composer.  You may have heard of him.  You may also have heard of some of his many children: Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Johann Christian Bach, all of whom wrote music that is still played. 

God’s greatness increases when we, by his help and encouragement and empowerment, do wonders or show, in any way, the family resemblance.  On many of his compositions, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the letters “SDG”, which was his abbreviation for “Soli Deo Gloria” (“To God Alone the Glory”).  He is said to have written that

“The aim and final reason of all music should be none else but the glory of God and refreshing the soul. Where this is not observed there will be no music, but only a devilish hubbub.”[1] 

Not everyone will be a great composer, obviously.  But those who turn to Christ to remove the stain of sin and let his renewing Spirit work within them will find that whatever good they do in his name becomes both part of them and part of the wonders of heaven.  Irenaeus, the second-century bishop of Lyons, wrote that, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”  To be adopted by God is a mandate to cherish and develop the image of God that lies within you. 

Here at the start of the New Year is as good a time as any, and a better one than most, to take a step on that road.  Ask yourself what makes you feel most fully alive.  Is it something that brings you closer to God?  Is it something that makes you more aware of Jesus’ love?  Is it something that speaks to your soul, not just something that fills up time?  If it is, ask how it can be used to glorify God.  I guarantee that there will be some way because

“In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.” [Ephesians 3:13-14]

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[1] Cited many places, including Rick Marschall, Johann Sebastian Bach (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 78.  I have been unable to find the original source.