The Sunday Message this week was given by Rev. Richard Buessing

It is quite an honor to fill the shoes of our pastor Heather Thalheimer.  She has done a marvelous job over the last year and a half putting together programs every Sunday and other times for all of the community here at Faith Fusion.  We are grateful to have a dedicated pastor who always puts the well being of others first. I know she won’t appreciate me talking about her like this but she gave me the pulpit so I am going to take advantage of it.   I hope you agree with me.

Our sermon theme recently has been “Close with God”   It is not as simple as it sounds.  How do you get close to God as one individual when God has billions of children all over the world.  It would be nice if we could just make appointments to have a sit down session with our Heavenly Parent. Do you realize how long the line would be to wait to meet God?   What would you say if you had a 5 minute session with t he creator of the entire universe?  That is not going to happen in the physical world because God is infinite spirit beyond time and space.  But to connect with this infinite spirit of the Almighty it is important to understand that as human beings we have a unique and special relationship with the creator.  We are his children.  That makes us very unique.

After attending Gerry Servito’s seminar last weekend I have been contemplating about relationships with my children, my parents and my grandparents and realizing that the vertical relationship in human life  is how we relate to God.  Gerry spoke about how our grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren are central to happiness in human life.  Whatever our situation is in life, it does revolve around these relationships.   Everyone in this room is either a grandparent, parent, child or grandchild.  You cannot deny that you have one of these positions.  Everyone was conceived by the love of their parents.  When two people become one they produce children.  Children are the expression of parents love.  No child can ever say that they didn’t have a parent.

Do You Love God as a Child Loves their Parents?

The most fundamental part of the teaching of our church is that the relationship between God and humankind  is like the relationship between parent and child.  This is the most profound truth in all the universe.  That behind everything in this universe is the heart of a parent creating everything for his children and his relationship with them.  The heart behind every ocean, mountain, flower, galaxy, rainbow and animal, is the heart of parents who have hope for their children.

Think about it!  As parents or children we could go all day talking about this fundamental relationship and how it impacts our life.  All of us have numerous stories about this topic because you are either a parent or a child. Sometimes we only highlight this relationship on Fathers Day or Mothers Day or Parents Day holidays.  But actually it is the most fundamental relationship of human life.

Where did this come from that parents and children have this heart toward one another.  It came from God our Heavenly Parent. It is what we experience in life through our parent/child relationships.  That kind of expression of heart didn’t come about by chance or accident. It was by design. My mother who passed away a couple of years ago always cried when I was leaving her to come back to NH from CA.  She knew she was getting old, and because I was only visiting her about once a year she might not see me again.

The Cycle of Interdependence

If you are a child you know how much you depend or have depended upon your parents.   From the moment of birth you receive help for many years. It certainly doesn’t operate that way in the animal world does it? Baby calves start walking instantly. However we are created to be so dependent on our parents that even at 25 years old our children often seek our help or advice.   God created us to be dependent upon parents for a long time.  Too long, some of you might think.  But most of the time nothing makes us more happy than to provide for our children.  We feel regret sometimes that we cannot do enough for them.

Parents go back to being children as they age.  They come to depend on their children to take care of them.  They are comforted by having their children around.  Its whom they trust and love the most.  Recently I was in an accident and my children came home to help me.  It was so comforting and it gave me a feeling of security just by having them in the house because I was alone.  I thought, God is alone also and he as the parent needs our love.  It is important to take care of God.

Parent’s want to give

If children are not in the position to receive Love from their parents, if they cut off from their parents, then parents feel frustrated. When our children reach that age where they think they know everything and they don’t want to listen anymore, it’s painful for parents even if we know it’s only a stage they’re going through.

Parents want their children to mature, be responsible, be good and love others.  Nothing is more beautiful than voluntary love from a child, when a child helps the parents out of their love for their parents. When I was living in Arkansas years ago I met a Chinese medical student from Taiwan. His Father became very sick and his mother needed help. He said “I have to go home and help them.  They took care of me all my life and I am the only one they have to help them.”  So he dropped out of medical school.

Children’s pain = parents pain

Parents feel the pain of their children.  They are so heartbroken if something happens to one of their children, if tragedy or injury falls upon them.  Something might happen to someone you know and you will feel sympathy for them, but if it happens to your child it’s extremely painful and heartbreaking.

We see this in the Parable of the Prodigal son.  The son squandered everything that he inherited and then came home. The father was experiencing heartbreak not knowing where his son was, so when the son came home the father rejoiced saying, “My son was lost but now he is found.” The father would have loved to see the other children as happy as he was to have their brother home. If they had understood the father’s heart they would have rejoiced. We should rejoice if our brother or sister is victorious in one way or another.

Love others as you love yourself

Matthew 22: 36-40   “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with  all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it.  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Of  these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

These two great commandments define the parent /child relationship. Love your parent and love your brothers and sisters.

Which commandment do you think is the greatest? Naturally you think the first but actually they are interchangeable.  Say for instance you have children, you have one child who goes out of their way to take care of all the other children. You don’t ask them but they do it on their own because they genuinely love their brothers or sisters. By loving their brothers and sisters you feel they are loving you. No expression of love toward you can replace the joy of seeing your children love one another and take care of each other.

In the Bible we see so many parables that talk about this fundamental relationship in this Universe, like the parable of the lost sheep. The story of a shepherd who would leave 99 sheep behind to go find the one that was lost. That’s why when you love someone and help them understand that they are a child of God your Heavenly Parent can rejoice in Heaven.

This is why we are created to live for others. God’s love exists in our relationships. The more we love others the closer we can become to our Heavenly Parent.  Our conscious behavior becomes outward giving. It is no longer about me, it is about others.  The more you love the more you realize how much God loves you. You become like God in that you are a giver of love. You become free. You become liberated. God becomes liberated and you become one because of the similarity of your hearts.  Your mind is filled with the spirit of God. You embody the essence of God and so God becomes a part of you. Your thoughts and actions become expressions of God.

Creating a Life You Love

Don’t feel bad if you’re not at that point with God because neither am I.  But there are moments and times when we experience this state of mind in our lives. The good news is like Pastor Heather says, “We are here to create a life we love. We do that by creating a life that God loves.”

We have to have the God consciousness.  Where we don’t dwell on the past but we live with the consciousness of love in the moment as the child of God   How can I make God happy?  If I were to ask one of the children, “What makes your Mom or Dad happy?”, they would probably say cleaning my room without being told to, taking care of my brother or sister, or preparing some food for Mom for a change.

The point of feeling skin touch with God is through loving others as a child of God. God is attracted to true love. Genuine love for others causes God to come close to you.  God is the Parent who wants to see his children love others as he loves them.