Deeply Loved. Divinely Made.

Although every childhood is different, every child is the same to God.
​Deeply loved and divinely made.

I was 36 when I became a father, one year older than my dad when I was born. I remember it well for it was a day that forever changed me.

Prior to the birth of our first child, love seemed to come with terms and conditions. But on Oct 9th that all changed when I experienced unconditional love for the first time.

In fairness, I felt this instantly with all three of our kids. As Kathleen can attest, our love for them has nothing to do with what they’ve done or what they do. Our love  is based solely on the fact that they exist.

As we will learn from today’s reading, we should be so blessed that God loves us just the same. This is how John describes it in his first epistle. 1 John 3:1-7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Beloved, we are God’s children now; 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.  And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children,let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
                                                                                                                            1 John 3:1-7 NRSV

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called Children of God, and that is who we are.”

Could there be a greater declaration in scripture? God chose to love and adopt us, and to make us heirs to an incredible inheritance. It has nothing to do with having the right family name or the right social status. Only that we exist.
 
Now, I was born a Macdonald – the last of four distinctively different children. I didn’t choose this family, or the order of which I came. None of us do.
 
But I did get to choose to be a part of someone else’s. I distinctly remember the day I ask Kathleen’s father for his blessing to marry her. He said, “It would be an honor to call you my son.”  This was a choice we both made. For him to become my father and I his son. I count my blessings that I got to belong to these two loving families. Both set a great foundation for us to start a family of our own.
 
Some of us are blood related. Others are joined through marriage, adoption, foster care, or tribe. But John reveals a new kind of family. One where God has redefined and reclassified us all with a new birth certificate and a new name: Children of God. Whether you’re an only child or one-of-nine like Kathleen, it was out of deep, unconditional love that God divinely made you a part of this heavenly family.
 
Of course, it’s one thing to know we are loved by God. But, as Josh Scott writes, “It is something totally different to trust and internalize those words, to allow them to shape our way of seeing ourselves, our neighbor, and our enemy.”
 
Jesus told his followers to love one another as God has loved them. Love, he said, will be the way that the world will know we belong to him (c.f. John 13:34-35). And it’s in the ways we love that we make Christ visible to those around us. By putting love into action, real spiritual growth and transformation begin to shape us into something new.
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In his book Barking at the Choir, Father Greg Boyle tells the story of an ex-gang member who, at the age of seven, watched his mom pack up a suitcase and walk out the door. He never saw her again. After surviving two years on the streets, he was put into the system. Not long after that, a local gang adopted him as one of their own.

After serving time , the young man entered a work release program at Homeboy Industries; a place started by Fr. Boyle to help gang-members get a second chance. Having been adopted into a community built upon unconditional love and acceptance, this once violent offender no longer identified with abandonment or hatred, but as a beloved child of God. He no longer lived in the shadows of violence and retaliation, but in the light of God’s love and peace.
 
Whether you are married with children, a single parent or have never known the excruciating pains of childbirth, we all know what it’s like to be a child. Just the same, no one can escape being shaped by the environment that we were born into. It doesn’t seem fair that some get a good, safe, loving space to thrive in while others get everything but that.

Although every childhood is different, every child is the same to God. Deeply loved and divinely made.
 
We are God’s children. And as such, we ought to act like children. Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). He’s not talking about throwing temper tantrums or eating paste. He’s saying adopt a beginner’s mindset, like a child who is full of wonder and questions.
 
Research has shown that children are better at adapting to a newness of life. They are quick to embody the spirit of freedom that often fades with maturity. And they are more willing to be loved, often gravitating towards good relationships where that love can thrive. No wonder we should be like them.
 
With that said, even children have moments where their sense of self-worth and belonging are challenged and questioned. But as John’s words of hope and assurance remind us it doesn’t matter who we are or where we come from, we are heirs of God’s name and have all the treasures of God’s kingdom in our possession.

This gift, or our inherent value, isn’t based on performance or perfection. God loves us unconditionally simply because we exist.
 
But here’s the thing, we exist for a purpose. Even if God’s love doesn’t come with terms or conditions there is an expectation that we live out our inheritance in the manor by which it was given to us with steadfast and unwavering love. We are God’s children now, and it’s time to start acting as such.
 
Just as Jesus gave of himself with sacrificial love, so too must we be willing to do the same in all the ways we love God, love others, and serve both. I know how demanding and challenging this can be especially in our self-consuming, self-serving world. But if Christ’s church isn’t going to do his work, who will?
 
In its most basic terms, to be followers of Christ means to continue what he began as the incarnation of God’s love. This is not to say we won’t grapple with temptation and sin, or endure the guilt and shame that often comes with it.

​It just means we have to make a conscious choice to belong to this heavenly family, abiding in Christ as he abides in God. For “Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” That is God’s will for us.
 
As long as the world walks away from God, the world will remain blind. It lacks the faith, or trust, that God loves them unconditionally. 
 
Sadly, it’s a lack of faith and trust that keeps others from recognizing or understanding their inherent worth, muchless ours. As history has demonstrated, this often leads to rejection, alienation, and even violent hostility.
 
Being a part of God’s family doesn’t mean we won’t suffer or experience hardships in life. Hell, not even Jesus could escape it. Let’s not forget John wrote this letter of encouragement to a young church experiencing persecution and internal strife. He reminds them of the life beyond this temporal realm where we experience full communion with God for eternity. That’s why it’s called the good news!
 
As Michael Toy notes, “When we find ourselves longing for better days, when we find ourselves in the bleak despair that the world is marred beyond all repair, there is yet hope.”
 
Our faith, our trust clings to this truth that in Christ, God came to be with us to name us and claim us.

With Christ, we are the beloved. God’s children. And through Christ, God has given the world the eternal treasures of heaven. Our job is to be like Christ, the incarnate presence of God’s redeeming and unwavering love.
 
When our focus is on emulating him, we are less likely to be tempted or stray from God.

When we embrace God’s will like he did, we can overcome hardships like he did.
 
When we walk as he walked, love as he loved, serve as he served, we become one with him and with God. Divine heirs of a truly divine gift.
 
We are God’s beloved, deeply loved and divinely made. Go now and live as such.
  
 
 
Works Cited
Bartlett, David L., Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008.
Boyle, Gregory. Barking at the Choir: The Power of Radical Kindship. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017. 
Scott, Josh. Sunday’s Coming, April 14, 2024 (accessed 04.11.2024). www.christiancentury.org
Toy, Michael. Another Way. April 8, 2024 (accessed 04.12.2024). www.episcopalchurch.org