ADOPTED

Romans 8:12-17 
2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Person, as in "the three persons of the Trinity," does not identify one as an individual but rather one as a being in relationship with others.  In the description of who we are in relationship with God through Christ, a word that defines us as a person is "adopted."  

Back in Roman times, in a culture where abortion and exposure of infants was common, where a less than perfect child could be disowned and abandoned, adoption could save the a child's life.  It could even elevate a slave to the status of a family member of a rich and powerful family with all it's benefits and responsibilities.  So, what does it mean to be "adopted" by God?

There's many ways to define who we are as people --

• Our age and stage of life.
• Our social and economic status.
• What we do:  our jobs, our hobbies.

Because we were created in the Image of God to love and be loved, who we are in relationship with other people is the primary way to describe our personhood, not as individuals but as friends and members of a family, and when it comes to being part of God's family, "adopted" becomes an important descriptive.

In our family, and perhaps in your family as well, we have experienced adoption.  Some were born into the family and some were chosen.  

Before any of us were born, God chose us and claimed as as God's own.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives from the moment we came into being, we became aware of God's great love for us and our need for God and God's forgiveness and mercy, and we choose to enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

From slaves to sin and death, we are elevated to the status of members of the household of the Almighty God.  We are not God's step children. We are joint-heirs with Jesus.  That means that our inheritance includes the Kingdom of God and the abundance of God's love and power, eternal life and the sure hope of the resurrection and the ability to be more than mere survivors in this world, 

We have also inherited the responsibilties that goes with being heirs to the Kingdom, like the cross of Christ:  sacrificial living and loving where we surrender our will to God's will and living lives that have a positive impact on our community and the world.  It means getting out of our comfort zones to meet and love people where they're at and offering ways that are meaningful to them to connect with God.  It requires us to change our priorities to match God's, and risk being rejected and even ridiculed.  

There's also the family business and our Father's passion for the lost and the least -- that is the mission and ministry of Christ, going out into our neighborhoods and our the communities where we live to seek the lost, the least, the lonely, the sick, the stranger, the prisoner to share Christ's love with them.  Our business is all about nviting and welcoming people into a   relationship with Christ by inviting and welcoming them into our lives and the life of our church.  It's in our mission statement:  

          "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father andof  the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."

                                                        Matthew 28:19  (NRSV)

We are only human beings, "jars of clay," the Apostle Paul called us.  Even so, because God has chosen us, called us, and through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, adopted us and made us joint-heirs with Jesus, the impossible is made possible, not through our strenth but through God's might.  

So, for the sake of Christ, when we're surrounded and battered by troubles, we're not demoralized.  When we're not sure what to do or where the resources are going to come from, we can be confident that God is in still in charge and has it covered.  When we feel afraid, when we're rejected and riduculed, God is always at our side.  Jesus never said it would be easy, but we will not be broken, and the world will see the evidence of Christ in us.

Long gone are the days in American society when if we built a church, people would come.  No, it's clear.  It's time to get up off our pews and be the people God has called us to be:  redeemed, adopted and heirs to the Kingdom of God.  It's time to pick up our crosses and be about the family business:  making disciples for Christ for the healing and transformation of the world, sometimes with words, and always with acts of friendship, compassion and love.