"Our Present Dignity, Our Future Destiny"

sermon by Pastor David Layman

September 9, 2007

I John 2:28- 3:3

If there's one thing I have experienced in life, it's spending time among discouraged people! Everybody faces discouragement at one time or another. And some of us seem to live there! Discouragement can lead the way to full blown depression. Depression is a discouraged person caught in quick sand! There appears to be no way out! At least not in one's own strength!

Al Winn, former President of Louisville Seminary, taught Bible at Stillman College in Alabama for 7 years. While at this distinguished African American institution, Al Winn heard some great preaching. One of the African American faculty members once preached from our passage from I John 3. He began by talking about the discouragements of life, and how we can fail again and again, and eventually lose confidence in ourselves. The preacher continued "And just when I'm low, so low I have to reach up to touch bottom, God sends me some word to comfort me. Like this one: 'Beloved, we are God's children now.' And I say, 'Now, Lord? Where I live? Being who I am?' And he says, 'Now.' And that comforts me. But the Lord says, 'That's not all.' 'Not all, Lord?' 'No, for it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' And that's what picks me up," said the preacher, "and keeps me trying again." Al Winn notes that this sermon was one of those occasions where no one could doubt the Holy Spirit's presence. The students were so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and many visitors present had dissolved in tears. (The Worry and Wonder of Being Human, Covenant Life Curriculum, Richmond, Va., 1966, pp. 25-26)

"Beloved, we are God's children now." There are times we forget who, and whose, we are! A little girl saw a movie about amnesia, where a person forgot who they were and where they lived. The little girl drew a picture of her father and carefully printed his name and address. When asked why she drew this, she said "If I ever forget who I am I want everybody to know who I belong to." (Frank Harrington, "A Day of Tears and Anger", Peachtree Presbyterian, 4/1/96) Are there times we develop spiritual amnesia? Do we get so involved in our challenges and struggles that we forget who, or more importantly, WHOSE we are? "Beloved, we are God's children now." We're God's children now! Not just off into the future when we die and, by God's grace, get to heaven. Now! In the midst of the trials and troubles of life, we're still God's children! The world may not recognize us. Of course, the world didn't recognize Jesus as the son of God when he came. But like the little girl, we need to have the remembrance of our Heavenly Father with us, so if something happens, they'll know to whom we belong!

Glenn McDonald, pastor of the Zionsville Presbyterian Church, has a good friend who was molested as a child by the pastor of his church. This pastor was admired by Glenn's friend's family and respected in the community. Yet he did this terrible thing to Glenn's friend. Today, Glenn's friend has overcome the trauma and is a pastor himself-a healthy person who is administering grace to others out of his own brokenness. (5/5/02 Sermon, "When Bad Christians Happen to Good People", Zionsville.) We know that many times, those whose lives go wrong can site negative experiences which pointed them in the wrong direction. We're surprised to hear of a person who was molested by a pastor as a child that grew up to become a pastor himself, and a healthy one at that! But that's what happens when we refuse to let the world define us, and let God define us instead. "Beloved, we are God's children now!"

The second part of this passage continues "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."

There is a transformative power to the Risen Christ. When he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is! This transformation begins in this life, just as it is changing Glenn McDonald's friend who was abused by his pastor, yet has been able to rise above that terrible experience to become a Christian and a pastor far better than the example he had from in his upbringing. Facing a terrible experience does not mean we are doomed to repeat the behavior inflicted upon us. That often happens. Abusive parents raise children who in turn beat their own children. Those in terrible poverty often bear children who continue the cycle of poverty. But there are times when the cycle of abuse is broken! There are times when the cycle of poverty is broken! There are times when the cycle of revenge is broken. This is very important for us to acknowledge and remember!

We tend to live in an age where people think everything is determined by genes or environment! A July Newsweek article ("When Does Your Brain Stop Making New Neurons, Sharon Begley, July 2/9, 2007, p. 62-65) notes "The new millennium scientists" are beginning to discover that brain wiring can change, even in adults. The article states "When people believe that their abilities and traits are fixed, interventions meant to improve academic performance or qualities such as resilience and openness to new experiences have little effect. 'But if you tell people that their brain can change, it galvanizes them,' says psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University. One can see rapid improvement in motivation and grades, or in resilience in the face of setbacks. None of that happens, in people who believe they are stuck with the brain they have."' Sharon Begley notes that "Few lay people understand that neurological nihilism and genetic determinism have been so discredited. Most still embrace the idea that our fate is written in our DNA, through the intermediary of the brain wiring that DNA specifies. "It's puzzling that determinism is so attractive to so many people," says UCSF's Merzenich. "Maybe it's appealing to view yourself as a defined entity and your fate as determined.""

The Bible tells us that we can change, and recent scientific studies confirm that change is possible, regardless of what some prefer to believe. It's often not easy, but it's possible to reconfigure those neural and spiritual networks! And John explains the power behind the change: it's Christ. "When he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Seeing Christ is what empowers the change within us! The time we shall most fully see Christ is in the life to come. But Paul caught a vision of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. And we can catch glimpses of Christ in our world today! As the Battle Hymn of the Republic put it, "There's a beauty in his bosom that transfigures you and me."

Our oldest daughter Andrea and her husband are expecting their first baby shortly after Christmas. Hearing Andrea's updates of how the child within her is growing and changing is an amazing process. And Pam and I can think back to some 26 years ago, how we first held our first born daughter with her big eyes and dark hair going every which way, and how she has grown up and changed over the years, and will soon become a mother herself....well, it's all pretty amazing. It's even more amazing to hear some people say that the way a person is, is the way he or she will always be. But the fact of the matter is that we are changing throughout our lives. Sometimes, the changes we go through as the years add up get a bit harder to take!

But John offers us a transforming way to look at life. John focusses on God's love and transformative purposes for us: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are....Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

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