New Concord Presbyterian Church

Reverend Emily Larsen

January 3, 2010

2^nd Sunday After Christmas – Year C

First Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-14 (p. 826-7); John 1:1-18 (p. 1109)

Second Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14 (p. 1224)

Sermon: New Year Response

It’s the time of year again when we make New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps you’ve made some resolutions in the past. Maybe you said that you were going to exercise 4 days a week. Maybe you resolved to eliminate clutter in your house. Maybe you resolved to call up friends you had lost contact with.

The author of the letter to the Ephesian Christians speaks of God’s resolutions. From before time even began, God resolved to "choose us…to be holy and blameless before him in love." That is a resolution that God has kept and continues to keep. We have been chosen by God. From the time even before your parents knew each other, God knew you and chose you. But God didn’t just choose you and have that be the end of the story. God chose us to be holy – to be set aside – in love. Love is at the root of God’s choosing of us.

Ephesians was written to an audience that included both Jews and Gentiles. So in this passage the author is making a great claim – that all people are included in God’s choosing. God did not just choose those who were born as Jews nor did God choose only those who were born as Gentiles. God chose all people. We have all been adopted by God.

I have known many friends who were either adopted or who are adopting children of their own. It is a powerful experience to hear them talk about being adopted or adopting. One friend and his wife just adopted three girls from Peru. Seeing the pictures and hearing the stories of their first meeting was powerful. Reading the stories of how even mundane actions such as getting ready for bed or going out to eat changed once these girls came into their life has been a truly amazing experience. As the weeks progressed, I have been able to notice how the children and parents truly became adopted into a new family.

Now I’m sure that there are still arguments between the girls. There are probably times when things get a little frustrating but isn’t that what family life is like? The early church found itself in an interesting position. There were people who were part of the church who came from the Jewish tradition with its rich codes of conduct and law. There were those who were considered Gentiles many of whom would have been part of the pagan worshipping culture with its tradition of worshipping many gods. When these two groups came together in the church there was bound to be some disagreements but as the author of Ephesians points out, all people are chosen by God.

This is what God has done for us. We have been adopted by God and are part of the family of God. We are chosen. We are adopted. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Not only has God adopted us, but God has also redeemed and forgiven us. The author claims that this was done through the "richness of [God’s] grace." Grace: the unmerited favor of God. Grace isn’t the "I’ll scratch your back, if you’ll scratch mine" philosophy that is in much of our society.

I have been following the various debates on the health care bills in Congress. One of the things that has stood out to me in the formations of the bill – what’s included and what’s left out – is the constant battle that politicians seem to fight between what they can get either for themselves or for their constituents. Very little is given without asking the question of what’s in it for me.

God’s grace is the complete opposite of this. God doesn’t ask what in it for me when forgiveness is offered. Christ didn’t ask, "What will I get out of this" on the way to the cross. God’s grace is given freely with no strings attached.

We are chosen and adopted, redeemed and forgiven. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that some of you are living on land or in houses that have a lot of history. For some of you the land has been in the family for generations. There are probably stories of great-grandparents working the land or building the house. I have been blessed to hear many of these stories from you. For some, the land has been passed on through the process of inheritance. Maybe along the way some of the inheritance was sold off for various reasons. Many times when we talk about receiving an inheritance we are talking about a sum of money or something that can be sold for money relatively quickly. But as those of you who are living on land that has been in the family for generations, the inheritance is not about money but about the land itself.

When Ephesians was written, inheritance primarily meant land. From the time of Abraham when God promised Abraham that we would give him land to the time of the Exodus when the people were journeying toward the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, land has been a big part of the people’s faith history.

In this blessing we hear this idea of inheritance popping up again. The author writes, "In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance." This inheritance is referring to land but not just the Promised Land or what we would call the Holy Land. The inheritance is the whole earth. The whole of the land is promised to God’s people – all people who were chosen by God.

Therefore in the midst of any conflict between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians they were all chosen and they were all redeemed and they all receive an inheritance. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The blessing doesn’t end only with God’s actions and God’s grace. It ends with, "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 toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory."

In the midst of being chosen by God, in receiving God’s forgiveness, and in receiving God’s inheritance, we are marked by the Holy Spirit. But let’s bring it down a bit. This is beautiful poetic language full of meaning but not always full of clarity.

Many of the familiar Christmas hymns take up this idea of blessing. For example, we sang "Angels from the Realms of Glory" to begin our worship this morning. The fourth verse reads: "All creation, join in praising God the Father, Spirit, Son./ Evermore your voices raising to the eternal Three in One./ Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King!"

And did you listen to those words from the second hymn ("Now Praise the Lord")? Verse 4 there reads: "Your life-filled Word brings order to the chaos of our days. In love You claim us as your own; What better cause for praise?"

Worship and praise. We are claimed as God’s own. God has extended to us the grace that we can in no way be worthy of. God has given us the inheritance of the amazing creation that is our earth. What better cause for praise? God has acted and is acting in our lives and in our world. What will your response be?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.