Easter 3

It’s a well-known truism that — according to the Bible — we are the children of God.

Did you know that we are also children of Charlemagne?

If you’re of European ancestry, you’ve got royalty in your blood. You’re a descendant of Charlemagne, a distant relative of this master of Western Europe known as “Charles the Great.” Living from 742 to 814, he ruled as King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and worked tirelessly to spread commerce, education, and Christianity.

Granted, today our congregations are multi-culturally, and multi-ethnically diverse, creating a wonderful mosaic of cultural, generational and ethnic traditions. Yet, the question is an interesting one: How can this particular ethnic strain — the European — of which there are hundreds of millions of persons, be linked to and through Charlemagne? It doesn’t seem plausible.

The secret is our shared genetic material.

Think for a minute about how many ancestors you have. Sure, you know that you have two parents and four grandparents, but as you go back in time the numbers grow quickly: eight great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, 32 great-great-great-grandparents. Go back 40 generations, or about a thousand years, and each of us has, theoretically, more than a trillion direct ancestors.

And since our family trees are not independent but are inevitably going to overlap and intersect within that period of time, we are all swimming in the same genetic pool. At some point, we’re all family, sharing the same genetic material!

But how do we connect to Charlemagne?

Yale statistician Joseph Chang has made some discoveries about the common ancestors of all present-day individuals. His research reveals that the most recent common ancestor of every European today was someone who lived in Europe in the surprisingly recent past — only about 600 years ago. In other words, all Europeans alive today — except for recent immigrants to Europe — have in their family tree the same man or woman who lived around the year 1400. This common ancestor was swimming in Charlemagne’s genetic pool, and so it is through this person that every European has a connection with Charles the Great.

But what about those of us in America? Well, we’re part of this same family. According to Chang’s analysis, almost everyone in the Americas must be descended from royalty — even people of predominantly African or Native American ancestry, because of the long history of intermarriage in the New World. Through this complex web of relationships, we can all connect ourselves to Charlemagne.

These links can be found around the world as well. The most recent common ancestor of all eight billion people on earth today probably lived just a couple of thousand years ago. This means that through this single person we can all trace our family ties back to Confucius, Nefertiti and just about any other ancient historical figure who ever lived. At some point, all eight billion of us are family. We all share some of the same genetic material.

Now look at the First Letter of John. Here a very different kind of family is described. This family is not made up of people who trace their lineage back to Charlemagne or to Confucius, but to Christ — through Jesus Christ to God. It is a family of those “who have been born of God” (1 John 3:9) — people who have been born “not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13) — people who have the same spiritual genes.

So, what are the significant markers on a “God-child’s” strand of DNA?

For starters, this family has the very same Father. As you know, it’s often said that “you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your parents,” and in the family of God this is certainly true. We have not chosen God, but he has chosen us. We did not first call God “Father.” Instead, he first called us his children. We have not earned a spot in this family by our good deeds or by our noble thoughts or by our winning ways, but by one thing, and one thing only: the generous love of God the Father (v. 1).

Jeanette Clift George tells the story of a woman and her baby, flying home on a very turbulent flight. Every time the baby cried, the young mother fed the baby a little fruit and a little orange juice, but because the flight was so bumpy, everything that went down came right back up. At the end of the flight, the carpet was a mess, and the baby looked awful.

At the gate was a young man who had to be Daddy: white pants, white shirt and flowers. Jeanette George thought to herself, “He’s going to run to that baby, get one look and keep on running!”

Of course, he didn’t. He grabbed the messy baby, held her against his white shirt and whispered loving things in her ear. All the way to the luggage claim area, he never stopped hugging and kissing that baby, stroking her hair, welcoming her back home.

Jeanette George asked herself, “Where did I ever get the idea that my Father God is less loving than a young daddy in white slacks and white shirt?” Our God has chosen to make us his children, and he is going to embrace us and accept us with open arms, no matter how messy we are.

Think about this: Is it scientifically possible for us to remove the DNA connection we have with our earthly parents? No. Is it spiritually possible to remove God’s DNA from our soul once we are born again? No.

In other words, we can’t lose our eternal life with God, but we can break our relationship with him. How? By turning our backs on him in rebellion – similar to what a son or daughter does when they choose to disown their birth family. They may never see their family again. But whatever they do or wherever they go, it will never change the fact that they still have a DNA connection to their biological parents. They are still family members, if only through their shared DNA.

So, if we ever think we have done something to lose eternal life and our spiritual position as a member of God’s family, we need to ask ourselves this question: How can we undo our spiritual DNA or our spiritual birth or our salvation? The answer is: We can’t!

You see, God has your picture in his wallet.

Another DNA marker of the child of God is that he or she is growing, developing, and maturing. What we are becoming is not yet completely clear, but John tells us that when our growth is finished, we will be like God’s son, Jesus (v. 2).

Growing in the image of Christ means finding new ways to share the gospel, speak the truth, serve the poor, heal the sick, and bind up the brokenhearted. It means walking the self-denying, cross-carrying path of discipleship and following Christ’s example of forgiving sinners, loving enemies and turning the other cheek. It means swimming in the gene pool of Jesus, opening ourselves further to the movement of the Holy Spirit, and allowing ourselves to become ever more effective channels for the ever-flowing love of God.

This growth and development happens not only in individuals, but in communities as well. In fact, maturation is often seen most clearly in groups of Christians, in communities that understand themselves to be the Body of Christ in the world today.

A final marker of the child of God is a commitment to purity and righteousness. In today’s epistle, John challenges us to purify ourselves, because God is pure (v. 3), and he calls us to strive to do what is right, because God our Father is righteous (v. 7). The goal of everything we say and do is the advancement of God’s own justice, based on the vision we have of God’s everlasting kingdom.

But wait a second: Reality check. How can we ever achieve a purity and righteousness that approaches God’s?

The key is good genetic material, and good divine parenting. God “is at work in you,” says Paul to the Philippians, “enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (2:13). God is at work in us, insists Paul, always at work in us — this is the secret to any spiritual success. But we need to realize that our progress toward purity and righteousness is never an isolated human activity but is instead a response to God’s action in our lives.

We cannot reach maturity on our own, any more than children can grow into healthy and responsible adults without good genes and good guidance. Like mothers and fathers who conceive and nourish and nurture and support their children, God is always working to mold us into the kind of people he wants us to be. The initiative is never ours — it is always God’s!

So, let’s feel good about our family tree. Just as everyone in the world is descended from Nefertiti and Confucius, everyone in the church is related to one gracious and loving heavenly Father. We share the spiritual genes of God’s own Son Jesus, and we are maturing in the faith right along with John and Paul and every other follower of Christ who has ever lived.

Charlemagne can keep his crown.

We’re children of an even greater king.