“Living as the Beloved” by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

    Many years ago, when I went to Christ Church Findlay as pastor, for the first couple of months I was there, people kept talking about these two people who were members of the church but were not there. The names just kept coming up: Bob Chatelain, and his wife Bea Chatelain. Bob and Bea, they would say, “Oh that’s right, you haven’t met the Chatelains yet; they spend the summer in Vermont. It’s too hot in Ohio I guess. Oh you will love them; they are wonderful people.” The mystery just kept building up for me all summer.
    Indeed, it was true. Bob and Bea were wonderful people. And do you know why those two were so beloved by that congregation? There was just something about them. There is only way to describe it really: we saw God in them. Do youi know anybody like that?  They lived as beloved children of God. You would have called them living saints. They have since died. I had the privilege of presiding over each of their memorial services.
    When Bea found out that she had terminal cancer, I remember visiting her in the hospital, just after she found out.  She was well up in years, but she was still vibrant and enjoying life. She said to me, “Well, Pastor Cheri, I would like to live longer, but I’ve had a good long life and I’m not afraid to die.” She died so full of grace, with a peace I would wish for every one of us. No regrets, not angry, not afraid, a beloved child of God, clear that we will all die one day, and move on to another place with God.
    When it came time to plan her funeral, we looked though the anthems that the choir had been singing recently at the church, trying to select something for them to sing at her service. We chose the song: “God is so Good.” Can you imagine? Singing that song at a funeral? For a moment one of the choir members, an older man, questioned my choice. He said, “I don’t know pastor, I’m thinking about Bea’s husband, Bob. His wife has just died. If my wife had just died, I don’t know if I would want to hear the choir singing that God is so good.  I am not sure If my wife had just died, I could stand lisetning to the choir singing that”.
    But you see, her memorial service was a celebration of life. Her husband had a deep faith. Of course, he was sorrowful for his loss. But he loved God and he was thankful for every day of blessing with God. He wept as the choir sang, “God is so good”, it is OK to weep at a funeral you know,  but he knew it was true, and in that moment, he felt I believe he felt blessed as a child of God and he knew that his wife Bea was blessed as a child of God. He knew that Bea had found her eternal home with God. As Christians, this is what we do. We live as God’s beloved children, and we die as God’s beloved children, blessed, every step of the way.

    I saw God  in Bea and Bob, in their love for one another, in the gentle way they treated other people, in their service through their church and in the generous and kind way the loved their community. I saw God in every life choice I ever saw either one of those two make.

    I’m sure they were not perfect. I’m sure someone saw a flaw in them that I never saw.  But they were good people. They were a model to me, as a young pastor. They were a model to the members of their congregation, and to their community.

    Friends, this is what Jesus calls us to be. When we follow Jesus, we are called to claim our belovedness, and live in such a way, that the world will see something in us, that is compelling. We will be a model for others of compassion, civility,  generosity and service. We will reflect Jesus back to the world.
    The writer of the letter that is the book of the Bible we call 1 John, was talking about this, when he wrote these words. Listen to them again:

 What marvelous love God has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who God is or what God's up to.


 But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. …when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him…. [We have] Jesus' life as a model for our own.

    So what does this mean for us? It means that we are called to live as people who know we are loved by God and as people who love God in such a way that the rest of the world will SEE a difference in us.

    We usually say that ‘us’ and ‘them’ language is not so helpful but today we’re going to use that language, for the purposes of this message. We’re going to talk about the people who follow the ways of the world, separate from those who follow the ways of God. You know that there are values and desires and forces in the world and pull us away from the values and desires that God has for us.

    When you are walking around, functioning in your day to day life, what is it about you that says to people who are living more by the ways of the world, that you are living in God’s way? What says to people: “Hmmm. . .  there is something different about her. She knows she is loved. She is more confident.  She is centered  She acts in loving ways, and she is serving a higher power. He does not get tossed to and fro by the influences of the world.  “I want to have the life that she has.”

    In my son’s school, which happens to be a school sponsored by a church, they have a student covenant. The covenant says that all students should expect to be treated with certain values. I love it because every line starts with the same words:
“Because I am a child of God,” then it says things like this, “Because I am a child of God, I have a right to be happy and treated with kindness in this school. Because I am a child of God, I have a right to be myself in this school. Because I am a child of God I have a right to be safe in this school. Because I am a child of God I have a right to hear and be heard in this school. . . and I have a responsibility to listen to others” (Gesu Student Covenant). 

    At the Beginning of the year, Jamie said, Mom, my classmates don’t always live up to this.  A few weeks ago, they had each classroom vote on which student in their class best lives out this covenant. One or two students were chosen in each class and those students got some special recognition.

    Most schools have anti-bullying programs, and this school is no exception. Sadly, those programs are essential. But this program goes from a positive starting point. We expect everyone to feel like a child of God, to know we are loved and to treat one another as such. And so then once a year, they have a way to celebrate the students who are modeling these attributes of the Christian life. The students who were recognized felt really special, I can tell you that. It was a great little program at the school.

    Let me ask you this, it’s kind of a personal question,  if the people around you were to give you a score on how you are doing with knowing that you are loved by God, and showing that to the world, how would you do? It’s an interesting question. Would you stand out? Do you stand out among your peers as someone, like my friends from Findlay, Bob and Bea Chatelain?  Are you so full of the knowledge of God’s blessing, that every time your name is mentioned, people smile and say, “Now there is someone you ought to meet! That person is really full of God’s love, and really making a difference in the world.”  There is something about that person, they know they are loved by God and nothing can phase them.

    And if you’re not, because truth be told, most of us probably aren’t there yet, what would it take to live like that?  Here is the starting point: we have to really trust that God loves us. Truly. That basic message that “We are God’s beloved children”. And we have to love God back. Because here’s the thing, once we know that God loves us, and we love God back, then we can’t help but see that everyone around us is also God’s beloved child. And if we all treat every other person on the planet like God’s beloved childr, friends, that changes everything. When we start treating everyone in the world as a beloved child of God -- that is a game changer.

    So I’m going to ask you now to have a little conversation with one other person  you are sitting near or find someone if you are alone at home. There is one simple question I want you to discuss. Look at the other person square in the eyes and say:

    Do you know that God loves you?

And then wait for the answer. You can say yes, or no. And with either yes, or no, then elaborate a bit. If it’s no, then say what is keeping you from it. If you say yes, then share how you came to this understanding. And after a bit, switch and let the other person, ask the question to the other.

    When you are done, I want you to do something.  I want you to give each other a blessing.  It’s really easy.  Just put your hand on their shoulder (get their permission first) And say this:

God, thank you for loving _(name). Help him/her to love you, and to be a blessing to others. Amen.

    Do you have a church home that helps you feel like this?  That you are a beloved child of God.  That God loves you, not matter what, and has a purpose for you?  If not, find one.  There are many out there.  If you find yourself near the corner of Conant Street and the Anthony Wayne Trail, come wander into the Maumee Indoor Theater.  We are there Sundays at 10:30 and out in the Community the rest of the week.