Tag Archives: God as Parent

God as Parent

Living in the Spirit

June 1, 2021

Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:8-15
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent,

‘Because you have done this,

   cursed are you among all animals

   and among all wild creatures;

upon your belly you shall go,

   and dust you shall eat

   all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

   and between your offspring and hers;

he will strike your head,

   and you will strike his heel.’

God as a parent is the oldest story in the Bible, yet, we tend to turn quickly from God as a loving parent to the God of wrath who punishes us for our sins. We all find ourselves in the story above. At times we are the caretaker giving the instructions and, at other times, the child trying to hide a failure to follow them. Part of maturation is the development of the self. We get a lot of bumps and bruises making that journey. We test the wisdom of our parents as that prepares us to test the integrity of all future influences in life. Parenting involves helping children discern the difference between right and wrong and how to manage the gray in between.

I find it interesting that God takes wrath out on the serpent who tricked Adam and Eve into disobedience in the above-quoted part of the story.  Woe to those who try to mislead and entice God’s children away from righteousness.

Prayer: Lord, guide us as we grow in wisdom and truth and as we work to transmit what we learn, in not only our words but our actions, toward others. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Adoption

Christmastide

January 2, 2020

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. –Ephesians 1:3-6

As a once-upon-a-time child welfare worker, I can easily say that my greatest joy involved doing adoption studies and placing children for adoption. My tenure doing such work fell on the cusp of the time young pregnant girls would come to our office with their mothers usually indicating that they were pregnant and wanted to place the baby for adoption as quietly as possible. We often whisk them off to another county to live in a foster home until the baby was delivered. The family would tell others that their daughter had gone to stay with an aunt or grandmother who needed some help. I think of that when I read that Joseph wished to put Mary away quietly. I am sure the change was more gradually than it felt but like an overnight occurrence suddenly these young women quit coming for help and chose to keep their child. Our roles changed also as we worked to assure that these single mothers and their babies needs were met.

Belonging to a family is a very important sociological and psychological part of every human’s wellbeing. Adoption meets that need for those whose parents are deceased and for those whose parents are for whatever reason not able to care for them. Adoption as Paul uses it may be his attempt to help the gentiles understand that through Jesus Christ God spreads God’s covenant of care not only to God’s Hebrew children but all God’s children and God specifically sent Jesus Christ to share this good news with them. I think the relationship was always present, but some did not know about how much God loved them and Jesus’ followers were tasked with changing that circumstance which is still our job today.

Prayer: We praise you, O God, for the wonder of your parenthood and ask that you support our efforts to share it with all your children. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Tragedy

Living in the Spirit
October 8, 2018

Scripture Reading: Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Then Job answered:
‘Today also my complaint is bitter;
   his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
O that I knew where I might find him,
   that I might come even to his dwelling!
I would lay my case before him,
   and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would learn what he would answer me,
   and understand what he would say to me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
   No; but he would give heed to me.
There an upright person could reason with him,
   and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. –Job 23:1-9

The news is full this morning of news related to a limousine wreck in New York State where 20 people were killed most related to one another, most young adults just started in life. Job knew how that felt as he lost all his children. I am sure he had many long conversations with God crying out “Why” giving all his well thought out arguments for why none of the losses should have fallen on him. We can feel his palpable confusion, pain, and grief when we read this scripture. We can apply those same responses to the family and friends lost in the vehicle accident. Bad intersection, perhaps no seat belts or ones not being used, no airbags, perhaps a history of poor vehicle maintenance, all these things will be pursued but the people are gone.

We live in a complex world where tragedies abound, and we learn of them because our communications systems alert us immediately from across the earth. Where is God in all of this? God, our Creator, grieved with Job and grieves with each of us as one would expect the ultimate parent of all peoples everywhere would. Parents exist to prepare their children to become adults in a challenging world, where they are free to make decisions regarding their lives. God through the Holy Spirit is active an engaged with each of us an all of us collectively to guide an sustain us, if we reach out and accept the help offered. We are tasked to work in oneness toward supporting each other as we grow in wisdom and in truth. In those times when we cannot comprehend the enormity of events, our faith in the God of Love is what holds us together as we try to piece together our lives.

Prayer: Lord, let your love flow through all those dealing with unbelievable loss from wrecks to hurricanes to earthquakes. Instill in each of us the ability to share our love with those experiencing loss as we endeavor to be one in Christ. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Abba Father

Christmas
December 29, 2017

Scripture Reading: Galatians 4:4-7.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Several years ago at a Bible study, I said something to the effect that I like the image of God represented by the name Abba since learning the name was a term of endearment perhaps spoken by a small child like our Daddy. I was quickly and strongly corrected by another woman in the group who assured me it did not mean Daddy that the Almighty  God should not be considered in such a familiar way. The whole group was silent for a moment. I certainly had no intentions of arguing with her she has a right to her opinion just as I was stating mine. The leader finally moved on to the next topic of discussion.

I am neither a Hebrew or Greek linguist so I cannot say how far afield I was from what Abba means. I could make the case that for a baby, parents are pretty omnipotent. It is still my opinion that the image of God as a parent, not just my parent but everybody’s parent, is an important theological imperative particularly in our world today.

We seem to have past the phase of sibling rivalry and are a society of some groups who truly believe they have exclusive rights to God as God’s only heirs. Do all of us fall into that pattern at one time or another? How can we learn to live together as the loving Family of God?

Prayer: Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Abba enfold us in your loving arms until we are empowered by your love to open our hearts to all your children. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright od1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Staying in Rhythm with God

BeginningChristmas
January 5, 2015

 Scripture Reading:
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. — Genesis 1:1-5

The beginning in Genesis might not have been the first beginning since God already was but it is our beginning. Handed down from our own ancient stories, Genesis marks our beginning as humankind and starts our story. It was our first beginning, but the Bible describes many others beginnings occurring in the life cycles of God’s people, humankind, as we have struggled, succeeded, failed, and began again. God the Parent has been present like any parent as we gained eye contact, discovered our hands and feet, experienced the absence of a parent, rolled over, crawled, walked, talked. We might use different words to describe the formation of civilization but the idea is still the same. Our maturation as a people is experienced in rhythm with our relationship with God for good or for bad.

The word resolution means to find a solution to a problem or issue. At this time of year some set out plans to get in better shape, handle our money more wisely, or get that broken step fixed. It might also be a good time to stop and consider what problems we are experiencing in our relationships with God as individuals and as the Body of Christ. Once identified, we should then work with God to regain God’s rhythm of life.

Prayer: God our Parent, help us see when and where we are out of rhythm with you. Help us find and follow your beat. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.