Quote from Forum Archives on May 12, 2009, 11:12 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

 

MEETING GOD

May 10, 2009

 

 

TEXT:  Colossians 1:15-23

 

Happy Mother’s Day!  I do hope everyone has a good day.  Of course, being a mother does require one ingredient: at least one child.  And we all know how exciting life can be with children in the house.  Violet Hart, a single mother with a full-time job and three young children, shares, “I often listen to Christian radio as an extra source of strength to cope with my day-to-day responsibilities.  One day, the sermon talked about how children are God's rewards to parents.  Several days later a sibling skirmish broke out into shoving.  ‘Cut that out right now,’ I scolded.  ‘Or you'll go to your rooms until you can cool down.’  Then my youngest piped up, ‘Now remember, Mom, we're your rewards.’” (Violet Hart, Lexington, NC., "Heart to Heart," Today's Christian Woman.)  Yes, children certainly are our rewards, but there are times when we can wonder what we are being rewarded for.

 

Mothers are extremely busy members of the household.  We know all too often how much of the household responsibilities fall upon the mother.  A cartoon in the Saturday Evening Post showed a young boy about five or six years old talking on the telephone, saying, "Mom is in the hospital.  The twins and Roxie and Billie and Sally and the dog and me and Dad are all home alone." (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988, p. 376.)  One message on a church sign summed it up rather well: “If evolution is true, how come mothers still have only two hands?” (Donna Waldeyer, Paoli, Pennsylvania, Christian Reader, "Lite Fare.")

 

Mothers also tend to play another important role in the household; a role that is not always intended.  The movie “Flyboys,” which is based upon Americans who served in the Lafayette Escadrille as pilots in World War I France prior to America’s entry into the war, began with quick scenes of how those in the movie ended up entering the squadron.  Some were on the run from the law; one had the family ranch repossessed by the bank; one was following his family’s tradition of military service.  They came from a variety of backgrounds.  One of the farewell scenes showed a wealthy family saying good-bye to their son.  The father and son were very stiff and formal with each other as the father told his son that he hoped he made something out of his life.  Viewers could tell that the mother’s concern was just about her son’s well-being.  She wanted to show her compassion, fears, and tears, but held back because of the family position.

 

In another movie, “A Christmas Story,” little Ralphie finally boils over with anger at the neighborhood bully and, to his and everyone else’s surprise, knocks him to the ground and begins pummeling him.  Throughout the beating, Ralphie also loses control of his choice of words as he is depicted saying some unpleasant things.  Ralphie’s mother shows up, separates the two, and gets Ralphie home to be cleaned up and calmed down.  It is then that he begins to realize what he did, and that he is going to “get it” when his dad comes home from work.  Expecting the worse, he comes when called for supper and discovers that his mother sticks up for him by telling dad only that Ralphie got into a “little fight;” you know, “boys will be boys.”  Instead of “getting it” from dad, the whole affair passes quickly and life goes on.

 

The message I receive in these two examples, and many more beside, is that the mother sometimes acts as a bridge between the children and the father.  Like I said, it might not always be an intended role, but it is not unusual when it happens.  Someone has made the observation that, “The father is the head of the house; the mother is the heart of the house.”

 

As I read through Paul’s letter to the Colossians, I recognized some parallels between this human family dynamic and our spiritual family dynamic.  We learn from Colossians 1:15 and 19-20, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  Jesus is the bridge between us and God.

 

Before I go too far with this analogy, I want to mention a couple of limitations.  First, I am not turning God into our heavenly Mother; neither am I suggesting that Jesus was a woman.  God is spirit, and it is not easy for us to imagine that.  In fact, Paul refers to Him here as the “invisible God.”  Jesus is our image of Him.  Second, I am not suggesting that God simply ignores us or turns us away.  Scripture tells us otherwise.  It is God who tells us of His compassion in Hosea 11:8-9, “My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.  I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor devastate Ephraim again.  For I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you.  I will not come in wrath.”  In Luke 15, Jesus told the story of the compassionate father who expectantly waits for his beloved, but wandering, son to return home.  Jesus’ application is clear: God wants us to return to Him.

 

But let us know the complete story.  God is holy and righteous.  These are His attributes; they are His nature; He can be no other way.  That which is not holy and righteous cannot withstand His presence.  We are not holy and righteous; therefore, we cannot withstand the presence of God.  That which is not holy and righteous must perish in the presence of God; therefore, we perish in the presence of God.

 

Whether accurate or not, earthly fathers typically receive the reputation of being serious and stern.  Indeed, some are.  Even those fathers who are not all serious business still often bear the image of the sterner of the two parents.  Face it – is it not more often the case for our children to want to make their confessions to their mother instead of their father?  “The father is the head of the house; the mother is the heart of the house.”

 

Meeting God is, within the limits I gave earlier, similar.  When we understand completely who God is, it is a frightful prospect to meet God.  Meeting God means that we completely perish.  Whether in a vision or in reality, Isaiah cried out as he stood in front of the living God, “Woe to me!  I am ruined!”  (Isaiah 6:5)

 

Consider now the unbelievably welcome message of Paul’s simple sentence in Colossians 1:21-22: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”  Similar to an earthly mother, Jesus is the bridge between the Father and His children.  Jesus takes the children and cleans us up and removes our stains and makes us presentable to the Father.

 

Let’s even go the one Biblical step farther.  We are cleansed only by Jesus’ sacrificial suffering.  We are presented to the Father as holy and righteous only because Jesus paid the penalty for our unholiness and unrighteousness; that is, our sin.  I know that many mothers make many wonderful sacrifices for their children, but not even they can accomplish what Jesus Christ has accomplished.  We are reminded of this by Paul: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20)

 

As captured throughout Scripture, human families can be wonderful models of our spiritual relationship with the heavenly Father.  But no matter how wonderful they may be, they are still models.  I put together a few models during my childhood – planes, ships, even a couple of superheroes.  Even though they were carefully crafted to represent the real articles as accurately as possible, they were never the real thing.  They never could be the real thing.

 

In the same manner, the model of any human family, no matter how well patterned after a spiritual relationship, will never be quite the real thing.  But it is a wonderful thing to attempt, and it is a good thing to honor Mothers – and Fathers – who honor God.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) 

 

“This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” (Colossians 1:23)

 

 

 

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

[email protected]

www.bhfirstbaptist.com

 

 

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