Psalm 42:1-6a

Galatians 3:23-4:7

God’s message comes to us today through many voices, as Carla, Shari and Al shared their memories of their fathers; reflections on how their dads impacted their lives: through faith, love, and mentorship.  Woven throughout parenthood is the necessity for discipline, teaching right from wrong, setting limits and establishing who is in charge.  Sometimes dads get to play the heavy like when June Clever would say to a mischievous Wally, “Wait till your Father gets home!” At the time we didn’t like discipline, being grounded or sent to your room, but looking back we know our parent’s discipline helped shape who we would be become.   Discipline is a vital part of teaching; parent’s teaching children not to talk to strangers, or Jesus teaching his disciples the ways of God’s love.  Discipline and discipleship come from the same root word.

Paul in his letter to Galatia speaks of the law being a disciplinarian. The 613 Jewish laws helped to teach God’s intention for the chosen people.  The laws set limits, cultural norms and defined them as belonging to God.  The Jews connected to God through the law, but those same laws excluded the Gentiles.  The problem was how could this Greek community, these Gentiles, who had heard the gospel of Christ be part of God’s family?   They had their own culture, their own fathers, their own ways of being; they did not circumcise their sons.  Paul is the one “entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised” (2:7); the one teaching Christ to the Gentiles. Paul showed God’s love, a father’s love which brought them together.   They wanted to become part of God’s family, the household of God.  But how?   The question became how can people different from us be part of God’s family?  The Jewish leaders said it is a matter of right or wrong, you are all in following the laws and being circumcised or you are out.  Paul changed that binary right and wrong decision to a then and now teaching.   Before Christ they were under the law, the law was their disciplinarian.  Now with Christ, Jews AND Gentiles are heirs to the promises of God. Paul writes, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according the promise” (3:29).

Belonging to Christ comes through baptism.  The Gentiles belong to the family of God through baptism.  We become children of God, adopted by God through baptism, adoption creates belonging, adoption is a powerful thing.  It opens doors, changes the direction of a life and is a relationship of love.  I was adopted when I was two weeks old.  My birth mother, the woman who brought me into the world, made one request.  She asked that I be adopted by a protestant family.  Through my loving family I came to faith and was adopted a second time by God, becoming part of God’s family.   The same way my Dad, Bill Heil adopted me, gave me his name, provided, loved and cared for me, God has done the same.  My Dad chose invite me into his family as the youngest of four children, he welcomed me into a new home and gave me brothers and sister.  Through adoption, I knew a mother’s love, experienced an extended family, and found my place and faith in the world.  Each one of you has been adopted by God. God gave you brothers and sisters in Christ. We have an extended family of faith. We have a home of place and faith right here at St. Andrew, our household of God.

Adoption is a radical act of love.  It is inclusive and transformative, breaking down barriers and offering us entrance into God’s love.  That is why there is no longer Jew or Greek, God’s love has broken that barrier inviting Gentiles into the household of God.  That same love of God calls us to rid ourselves of our racial bias and hatred that continues to plague our nation.  We just marked the one-year anniversary of the Charleston murder of 9 black Christians gunned down in a church, 9 of our brothers and sisters in Christ died.  We are all children of God no matter the color of our skin. We are all one in Christ.  Adopted in God’s love, there is no longer slave or free, male and female.  Power and gender issues are replaced with equality. The men and women of the LGBT community are our brothers and sisters in Christ not a target of horrific violence.  When we witness these events, our souls long for God and wonder where God is?  Our tears become our food as we pray for healing and long to see the face of God.  We lament like the psalmist of the state of affairs. Our hearts break with these senseless acts of violence.  Yet let us continue to hope in God, reclaiming God’s amazing love one for another, united in Christ in the household of God.

We are adopted as God’s children and scripture promises that “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba Father’” (4:6). “Abba” is Aramaic for “Daddy or Papa.”   Through your baptism in Christ, God became your Papa.  So in Christ God is both your heavenly father and your dear daddy.  A daddy who wipes your tears, loves you, and holds you on his lap.  A Daddy who taught you how to drive, how to play sports and gave his approval on all your dates.  Many of you have had that kind of connection with your father and you are blessed.  But that is not always the case.

A few months ago, I was out with a friend at Paradise Grill listening to music on a Sunday afternoon.  We were talking about our fathers and how they shaped our lives.  My friend asked me if I was the apple for my father’s eye?   That made me think of that special father daughter bond, how his world lights up when he sees her.  Fighting back tears, I said no, because I did not want to cry in the middle of Capitola.  You see I lost my father at an early age.  But I had always longed, truly longed, for that kind of relationship with my dad.  So sat with that loss, then put it back in its box.

Then a couple weeks later, I went up to Tahoe for a preaching conference. We spent three days in God’s word, experiencing how God works in and through scripture.  We were immersed in God’s beauty and wonder of creation.  Every day we soaked up the majesty of Lake Tahoe.  But soon the drive back started to enter my mind and I wanted to leave before the closing worship, so I would not hit rush hour traffic on 17.  But something made me stay.  I sat in my chair staring at the lake. God’s word was preached the Spirit of God hovered.  I walked up to taste the bread and savor the wine, Christ’s body broken for me, and the cup of blessing generously given.  I returned to my seat.  Then an overwhelming sense of God fell upon me.  Tears flowed freely down my face and I knew in my heart that I am the apple of God’s eye, the apple of my heavenly Father’s eye. I whispered that to myself several times as the holy moment healed a broken part of me. My Abba had claimed me; I became the apple of God’s eye.  God wrapped me in his comforting arms showing me love, giving me a place to belong and making me whole.  In that sacramental moment, I again, was reborn as precious, became a child of God.

You are the apple of God’s eye.  You are precious and beloved for being exactly who you are.  Your Abba Father has adopted you, claiming you as a son or daughter and giving you Christ as your brother.   This Father’s Day honor God’s adoption of you as a child of Abba while we honor and love of our earthly fathers.  AMEN