Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth; for His word is truth. Amen

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (2010)

Saints and Heirs in Christ Rev. Toby Byrd

Galatians 4:4-7 (ESV)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. [6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"[7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

When I read the Epistle for today, I thought, what a perfect text for Father’s day. St. Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia reminds the Galatians, and ourselves, that we are all children of the same Father. All of us who were called, given the gift of faith, and cleansed in the waters of Baptism are children of God. He is our heavenly Father, our Father for eternity. It was through His gracious and merciful outpouring of love that He adopted us and made us all Saints and Heirs of Him through faith in Jesus Christ. This truth makes this and every Father’s Day a very special Father’s Day for each of us. However, we must not forget, we are His only through His adoption process; a process over which we have no control.

Adoption, this is a term used by many but a term that is foreign to most. However, I know a little about adoption and orphans, hoped filled children, who await adoption. You see, I spent much of my youth growing up in children’s homes and orphanages. Oh, not that I’m an orphan, no, I’m not an orphan. But I was born into a family whose parents had trouble understanding how to be parents. As a result, I spent nine of my first fifteen years living in homes filled with orphans.

I was more fortunate than most of the other children because being orphans and abandoned children, they didn’t have anyone to visit them. On occasion my father would come to see me, but his visits were few and far between. I can remember one time in particular when my father came to visit, this is just before he had to go to Germany with the army; I was devastated when he had to leave. For the first time in my life I felt totally alone, abandoned, just like those children who were true orphans. I knew, then, how it felt to be an orphan and this feeling had a significant impact on my life for many years to come.

Even though I was separated from my parents and felt abandoned and alone, my life was not one of complete despair because God was with me and He was truly good to me. Without me knowing it, He was watching over me, arranging my life as a child bringing events to bear that would, in future days, serve me and others well.

The children’s home I lived in most of those nine years was a Lutheran orphanage and there, held in the loving arms of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, they were our Swedish, Lutheran caretakers, I was baptized at Mariadahl Lutheran Church on August 31, 1950 by Pastor Bloomquist. To this day I can remember how excited I was to become a child of God. Finally, I would have a Father who would not leave me, no matter what the circumstance. In that wonderful, old, country church, through the waters of baptism, God made me a son of His, and heir to His heavenly kingdom. There, at that Baptismal font, He robed me in the righteousness of His Son evermore to call me His child. Now, I had a Father who would never just come to visit. Instead, He would always be there for me, all I had to do was pray and I knew he would answer. If there was going to be a separation between my heavenly Father and me, it would be me who would be guilty of leaving.

Growing up in that orphanage with the kindly and loving Anderson’s as our substitute mother and father, all of the children received the same loving care and, more importantly, each of us were baptized in that same old, beautiful, country church. I don’t remember for certain how many children made their home at Mariadahl, but there were at least sixty at any given time. Sixty children whose lives as orphans and abandon kids were made so much better because of a loving God who brought them to His loving servants and to His church in the country and made them His.

This is truly miraculous when you think about it, because not one of us who were children in that orphanage had one thing to do with where we were or what happened to us. Our circumstance and residence was completely the work of God.

Those children who were true orphans used to get visitors from time to time; couples looking to adopt. Mostly, these couples were looking for babies or toddlers. They would come and talk to the Anderson’s and then one or more of the children would be brought to the visitor’s room to meet their prospective new parents. The older the child, the less likely they were to be adopted and these visit sometimes turned into traumatic ordeals as some of these children felt the sting of rejection from people looking for the ideal child. None of them ever knew if or when someone would come and, oh, how often they would pray that that someone would. Mercifully, God smiled on many and by His grace, their prayers were answered. Their lives, their futures were solely held in the palm of God’s hand as He gave them adoptive parents to love and nourishes them throughout their lives.

I ask you, is this not our prayer, to be held in the hands of God to be nourished and loved by Him for all eternity? Well, your prayer has been answered. God sent His Son to die in our place, to redeem us from the law and sin and in so doing, to make us His sons and daughters for all eternity through faith in Jesus Christ.

St. Paul tells us, “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed” (Gal. 3:23 ESV). Just like those children at Mariadahl who were captive to the orphanage, from our birth we are held captive to the law. In fact, since Adam all mankind has been locked up under sin with the law as our warden. This was the case until Christ came removing the warden; unlocking the chains of sin through His righteous life, death, and resurrection. Our Lord Jesus came fulfilling the promise of the Old Testament, that God would send a Messiah to rescue all men from sin.

Unlike the loving and gentle hands of Mrs. Anderson who could console a crying and frightened child, the law is unbending. It is cold and stern, demanding obedience and adherence to its directives. It holds out the promise of salvation for all who can perfectly obey its demands; knowing that this is not possible with man. Yet, so many foolishly believe they have the strength, the intestinal fortitude to obey the law and fulfill its commands, earning salvation by their efforts.

Unlike the children at Mariadahl who knew they had nothing to do with their adoption, too many, calling themselves Christians, believe they have somehow earned the right to be adopted by God. Spurred on by works of righteousness, they place themselves under the law and pronounce themselves good enough to be God’s child. Here God, I have done this, I have done that, by my efforts I have proved that I am a good person, now, God, You must come and adopt me into Your family. Yet St. Paul tells us that living according to the law does nothing more than make us captives, imprisoning us to its chains. To such as these I would have to say what St. Paul said to the Galatians, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:1-3 ESV).

There is only one avenue of freedom and that is faith; faith which holds fast to the righteousness of Christ and believes that His life, and His life alone, merits our salvation. Listen to our heavenly Father as He tells us through the words of St. Paul, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (vv 4:4-5 ESV). Adoption is God’s process. Only He makes the decision to adopt; only His Son can redeem. Each time a potential parent visited an orphaned child, it seemed like a miracle. Well, such is the miracle of God when He comes to us through the Holy Spirit, places the gift of faith in our heart and adopts us as His children. Through His divine and everlasting love He makes us heirs of His heavenly kingdom solely for the sake of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Moreover, unlike those visitors who would see a child and leave without adopting, God’s visits always culminate in adoption.

When God decides to adopt He does not hold our disfigured, sinful souls against us. Who we are does not matter, whether we are orphans, abandoned, born to an unwed mother, disabled, or children of dysfunctional families, God’s grace overwhelms our deformities and our poor pedigree and He makes us whole, fresh, wholesome, clean, renewed, and regenerated through the waters of Baptism. He grants us the blessed gift of faith to hold fast to the righteousness of His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ; to believe that His life, death, and resurrection have paid the price for our sins and freed us from the chains of the law and the power of the devil. St. Paul tells us, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (vv. 6-7). Through this blessed gift He makes us His children, adopted into His family as true sons and daughters, full heirs to the riches of His heavenly kingdom. What a marvelous gift this is to all who were without Christ, for all who were without Christ were spiritual orphans in this world but who now are all Saints and Heirs in Christ. Happy Father’s Day! Amen.

May the Peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.