Our community was stunned recently by a brutal double murder. A 32-year-old man (allegedly) killed both his parents.

Because this is small-town America, many people knew or knew someone who knew the victims. But the person who has been on my mind is the “other” son, the brother who lived in another state and who first called the police department because he had not heard from his parents in days.

I know absolutely nothing about this family and their relationships. But I wonder what is in the “other” brother’s head and heart these days. How would you deal with the murder of both your parents … by a brother or sister? Stop for a moment and try to imagine this.

Now think about all of Jesus’ teachings about forgiving those who wrong you … that would apply here, too, right? How in the world does someone forgive such a wrong? And yet, that’s exactly what Jesus was asking of his followers.

What about hurts and wrongs and, yes, even murders within the family of God? Wrongs done by those who have been adopted by God, named as his children, and have one Father? If you wish, think about your own church; or, simply think about others who say they are Christians. I’m guessing all of us have sometimes been hurt or wronged by someone else who claims to be a child of God.

The truth is, the church of Christ is not made up of perfect people. We are children of God, followers of Christ, and the Spirit is working to mold us into Christ’s image. There’s you, the wronged party, and she(he), the person who has injured you–the Spirit is working in both of you. Is that difficult to believe?

Sometimes, to our shame, wrongs are inflicted intentionally. Sometimes, they are unfortunate consequences of good intentions. There are all kinds of hurts that happen between brothers and sisters–everything from minor misunderstandings and disagreements to, yes, “murder”. Tell me, have you seen someone’s reputation destroyed by gossip? Have you seen people driven away from a church? Have you seen an enthusiastic young Christian shrivel up before a withering, judgmental attitude of a “mature” Christian? Have you seen long-standing, hate-filled feuds in a church?

Just typing this list of hurtful things makes me cringe–but they happen. Such things happen, even between the children of God. Then what?

There is the well-known story in Matthew 18 where Peter comes to Jesus and says, “If my brother continually wrongs me, how often should I forgive him?” (Don’t you wonder what triggered this question? Did Peter have a lot of relationship troubles? Could be…I think he was a pretty impulsive and outspoken person.) Note that the word brother is used.

Jesus told Peter to forgive his brother 490 times. Some translations say 77 times. Regardless, I believe Jesus is saying, “Forget about keeping track, keeping score. I’m telling you, forgive him.”

To a church he had never visited, the apostle Paul wrote instructions on living as a new person in Christ. He said:

The paragraph in which this statement is found begins with Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves …

We have been chosen, people set apart, declared to be his heirs. I am so thankful that God isn’t keeping track of how many times he has forgiven me! And within each of us, his children, the Spirit of Christ is at work, molding us into what he wants us to become.

This post is already much longer than I’d planned. This is why it’s also a day late–how do you condense such a subject into a few short paragraphs? I can’t do it. I bit off a little more than I can chew…

I was talking with one friend about the murders and voicing my musings about the other brother. How would you ever forgive such a thing? “Only by the grace of God,” my friend said.

And that is the bottom line. Whether the wrong is small and unintentional, or devastating and deliberate, the only way forgiveness comes is by the Spirit of God, molding us, leading his children into giving the same forgiveness he has granted to us.

Scriptures: Matthew 18:21-22; Colossians 3:12-15

God places the lonely in families;
   he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy
But he makes the rebellious live in a
   sun-scorched land.

Oh, how I do not want to live in a sun-scorched land!

Have you felt at times that you were there? Completely alone, with nothing to nourish or sustain life? I have been in such a land, and I do not wish to dwell there.

I am fascinated by the placement of these statements in the middle of a song praising the power and greatness of the Lord of the universe. It’s quite a chapter, describing God smashing his enemies, blowing them away like smoke, melting them like wax in a fire, and all the earth trembling before him.

And in the middle of all that, we have a statement that God places the lonely in families. Later comes this picture: Each day he carries us in his arms. Our God is a God who saves!

In the New Testament, we read that all of us who believe in Jesus can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit and become members of God’s family.

For the children of God, there are bonds stronger than human family relationships. Even those of us who have strong family ties can feel a deeper loneliness.

But the Father has chosen you, child of God, and brought you into a family in a realm far beyond any earthly family. Connections that transcend family trees and blood identities and the short span of human life are the work of the Spirit, placing us in the family of God.

Psalm 68:5,19-20; Ephesians 2:18-19 (all NLT)

Coming up: Let’s get real. Families fight, families fall apart, family members murder each other.

If you had caught a glimpse of our animated conversation, you might have wondered what we could possibly be talking about that created such energy and excitement.

He was a twenty-something Amish man and I an old(er!) woman who is … well, something other than Amish. We had never met before. And we knew nothing about each other until, in talking about moving and looking for a new job, he told me he’s not certain where he’s going or what direction his life will be taking. He continued: He is walking by faith, certain only that he is relying on God the Father to direct his path, looking to God as the compass and author of his life’s goals.

BING! We had an immediate and strong connection, because I have been traveling the same path. We are not at the same place on that path, nor do we travel in the same way. But we are on the same path.

In life, we “connect” with many people we meet, for many different reasons. For example, most of those who know me know that I’m a “Maine-iac.” I love to talk and do all things Maine. I admit, it’s a pretty strong compulsion. And when I meet someone else who lives in or travels to Maine, we’ve got a “connection.”

But that connection pales to what I experienced in this conversation. It is rather amazing to me, really, that a young Amish man and I who am SO not-Amish (for all kinds of reasons) would find a thread, a tie, a bond that left us both smiling and feeling inspired.

We have almost nothing in common–except the one most important thing–we draw our life from the same Person. The Spirit of the Lord we follow dwells within.

God planted his Spirit within all those he chose and adopted:

But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

That’s the New Living Translation. The New International Version says we were all given one Spirit to drink.

That was written by the apostle Paul to an early church. He spoke of Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, all being given the same Spirit, being brought into one body.

If we wrote that today, what might we say? Conservatives and liberals, Amish and Catholic, Americans and Chinese? All made children of God and given the Spirit of God.

That short little conversation came at a time when I needed just a little extra push, just a word of encouragement. I’m taking this inspiration as a gift of the Spirit within us both.

Scripture: 1 Co 12:13

Now then, on to this business about our inheritance. The bottom line? Hope. Riches. Power. You’re a child of God, an heir, and this is what He has for you.

Stop for a moment and let that sink in. Hope. Riches. Power.

Wow. Does any one of those three things get you excited?  Maybe all three of ’em?

Here’s the Scripture:

I needed to know three things. I needed to know exactly what hope God offers. I wanted to know what riches God promises. And what’s this about great power for us who believe?

Oh, yes. There was one more thing I wanted to know: How does all that become visible in my life?

I desperately wanted to know. And so I went searching, listening to learn what God says. It is amazing how much the Scriptures tell us about these things, and how often — when you’re looking — you can see hope, riches, and power pouring into your life.

That is the purpose of these little posts, to remind us constantly who we are and what we have been given as children of God, to keep us alert to the presence of God in our lives, to help us know our Father better.

The word inheritance carries the idea of “maybe something, sometime.” But wouldn’t it be wonderful to have access to and benefit from your inheritance now? Will the children of God have only some future reward, an inheritance coming some other day in another realm of golden streets and no night?

So here’s my question. I know the whole body of Scripture says these things are for the children of God today, here and now. But I can’t put my finger on one or two verses in particular that promise us the inheritance is not only coming in the future, but is also for our lives this very moment.

Help me out here, and tell us what Scripture assures you that our inheritance of hope, riches, and power is for us today.

Scripture: Eph 1:18-19a (NIV)

I peer out my kitchen window. Everything is gray and white, the softness of early morning light and the drifts of fresh snow. A shadow perches immobile on the clothesline by the bird feeder. A cardinal, by the shape. There is no movement. Just a dark silhouette against a cold white landscape, he seems frozen on the line.

But of course he is not. A moment later he takes to the air. Why do those fragile birds not freeze to death in this cold? How do their nests, made of bits and pieces of this and that, not blow away in winds that take roofs off barns?

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?

We are so valuable to God, so loved by him, that he calls us his children.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!   

Scripture: Matt 5:26, 1 John 3:1  (both NLT)