5.20.12--Sermon on Romans 8

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

            -Romans 8:12-17

As most of you know, I have a little sister who is twelve years younger than me. Katherine was born on February 24^th, at 7:47 pm, weighed 8 lbs 1 oz, and was 21 inches long. Now, because I was twelve at the time, I can actually remember the birth of my little sister. My brothers and I have actually been able to help raise her and be a part of her life in a wonderful way that is very different than it would be if we were closer in age. We’ve been able to attend her softball games and dance recitals, take her and her friends on adventures, and guide her through life as she grows and matures.

The age difference hasn’t always made things easy on her, though. By the time she was 9, all four of her brothers had graduated from high school and moved away from home. The house went from being full of people to nearly empty, and I know this was not an easy thing on her. She also had to grow up a lot faster than most kids, because we expected more of her and treated her like she was our age most of the time. I honestly wonder and worry sometimes if we took away some of the joy of her childhood because of that.

But Katherine is a tween now, which seems unreal, and has grown into a wonderful young lady. Most of our interactions for the past few years have been playful as we joke and tease each other as siblings do. It used to be that Tomas, Ben, Korey and I would be the teasers, and Katherine would be the teasee, but as she’s grown older, she’s also grown wittier and sharp on the uptake. I know that if I joke around with her today, she can now give as good as she takes!

Growing up, our favorite way to tease her was to try to convince her that she was adopted.

In a home where two of the brothers actually were first foster children and then adopted into the family, this was not simply a throw away comment. Mom and Dad would assure Katherine that she was in fact not adopted and that Mom had the medical records and memory to prove it, but that never stopped us from trying to persuade her of the “truth”. We were relentless, and a few times, I think we actually had her going.

Now, she’s too smart to fall for this, or really pretty much anything else we try to say. She just finds a way to cleverly turn what we say back on us, proving to us again and again that even at twelve years old, she’s smarter than all of her siblings put together.

One of the last times we tried the whole “you’re adopted” approach, her response caught me off guard and really got me thinking. She smiled and said “That wouldn’t be so bad. This is a pretty cool family to be a part of. Thanks for bringing me in!”

She was right. My family’s pretty awesome, and even if I found out one day that I was adopted and not related by blood to any of my family, I would still count myself lucky to be a Cain. My parents, brothers, and sister all love me, and my very large extended family is supportive and interesting. As Katherine said, it’s a pretty cool family to be a part of, and I’m blessed to be a member of it.

I’m also blessed that the Cain clan, as my Dad calls it, is not the only family that I am a member of. I also belong to the family of Christ. In our Scripture reading for the day, Paul wrote about how we groan inwardly while we wait for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. He believed that wrapped up in the new life that each person receives in Christ was the installation into the family of God. When the Holy Spirit takes up residence within an individual, she is adopted into God’s holy family. Christ becomes her brother and God becomes her father, and every other person who has experienced the new creation is her brother or sister as well.

That means that in a way, I was not lying to my sister all those times that I tried to convince her that she was adopted, for in Christ, we are all adopted into the holy family of God. And that includes you.

You are adopted. You are a son or daughter of God, a brother or sister of Christ, and a part of the absolute largest family to have ever graced the earth.

That’s a pretty cool family to be a part of.

And yet, like the Cain clan, it’s also a strange family, broken in many ways and full of very interesting characters. It includes Jacob and Esau, twin brothers who seemed to be at war with each other even before they left their mother’s womb. It includes Rahab, a prostitute who betrayed her kinsmen to join the people of God. It includes Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Jonah, all of whom had strange visions and shared crazy stories of sitting among hungry lions, speaking to God, seeing bodies in a mass grave resurrected, and even being swallowed by a giant fish. It includes John the Baptist, who walked around in leather and ate bugs. It includes a eunuch who was baptized by Philip, a Pharisee named Paul who turned toward the Way after being temporarily blinded, a pastor named John who was exiled to an island and shared a vivid revelation from God.

And it includes many more. Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity the state religion of Rome. Joan of Ark, who was burned at the stake for living out her beliefs. Martin Luther, the great reformer, who spent the majority of his later years drunk so that he couldn’t feel the pain of the kidney stones that were slowly killing him. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, who refused to give communion to a woman with whom many today think he was having an affair. Dietrich Bonheoffer, who held so strongly to the cost of discipleship and the call of the church that he plotted to kill Hitler and spent the last part of his life in a death camp. Martin Luther King, Jr. Pope John Paul. Rob Bell. Barack Obama.

You. Me. So many more.

This is the family we have been adopted into. This is the family we are members of.

You’re adopted. And what a cool family to be a part of.

None of us are perfect. None of us are without our major flaws. We are messed up. We are broken. And yet in Christ, we are gathered together into one giant family that spans the entire world and whole of history. We have been given the Holy Spirit, that we would never be alone and apart from our God, and we have been given new life.

We are a part of the family of God! We are sons and daughters of God! And yet, there is more. Hear again the words of Paul, spoken to the church in Rome, but just as relevant for us today. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” We are not only adopted children, but God has declared us to be heirs of God’s Kingdom and God’s glory! The Creator of the Universe, the One who made all, has adopted us, those who turned away from him and were enemies of him, and made us heirs.

This is the family we enter into when we become sons and daughters of God. It is a large family, full of interesting and broken people, and it is a family held together by the unbreakable love of God. And on this day, we officially welcome into the family four new members: three brothers and one sister. We celebrate that in Christ, these confirmands who will shortly stand before you, are adopted into God’s family and made heirs to the Kingdom and glory of the Father. Remember that they are no longer to be seen as children, but as fellow brothers and a fellow sister in the family of Christ. We have spent the last nine months talking about the church, the Bible, and God’s love for them. We shared our lives with each other, and we learned together the amazing grace of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ loved them so much that he gave his life so that they might live. They did not do anything to deserve this, and they did not do anything to receive this. It was a free gift given to them, and they are simply the lucky recipients.

For we are all adopted. And it’s a pretty cool family to be a part of.

One last thing before I finished up. When my mom and dad adopted Tomas and Ben, they were asked if they wanted to join our family. The state of Texas would not turn over full custody of them without their consent. Mom and Dad were ready and willing to invite them into the family, but they had to want it. They had to accept it.

But I want to share with you a sacred truth about the adoption of God. It is done. There are no contracts to sign, no hoops to jump through, and no decisions to make. Christ paid the price for us on the cross, and through him, all have been adopted and accepted into God’s holy family. We can turn away from our adoption and refuse to live into it, but that does not and will not ever change God’s love and acceptance of us. Celebrate this, because it is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

So may we remember that we are adopted, and adopted into a pretty cool family. May we treat each other always as beloved sons and daughters of God, remembering that we are brother and sisters in Christ even in our brokenness. May we remember that this adoption was given to us freely, with no strings attached and with no hidden clauses, and may we celebrate the great love and grace of our Holy Father, our Lord, and God. Amen.