All right, good morning. My name is Gregg Hampton.
I'm one of the pastors here. If we have never
met, I would love to meet you. You can put your
name and information on the connection card at
the end. I would love to get together, maybe
have a coffee or a soda or something like that
with you, hear your story. And if you'd like
to talk about Jesus, I like to talk about Jesus.
And so I would just love to give you the chance
to ask any questions that you have. about the
house and get to know someone that is connected
here if this is your first time thank you very
much for joining us you picked a great Sunday
here on Easter for joining us we are a church
that has said from the beginning that we exist
to invite people in to call prodigals home to
adopt the spiritually homeless we are a church
that believes that no one should be left out
Because everyone is invited to rest, live, and
work in a great house. We really believe that
God loves you. That is part of what Easter is
telling us. God so loved the world that he sent
his only begotten son. His name is Jesus. And
today, the global church is celebrating the resurrection.
of Jesus from the grave. Around the world, people
are saying, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.
But the death and resurrection of Jesus didn't
happen in a vacuum. It's not a standalone moment.
It's more like the linchpin in a longer story
that every single one of us is a part of. It's
a story that goes, all the way back to the very
first pages of the Bible. And it follows and
carries through all the way to the very end.
So let's open our Bibles. I'm going to be in
three different places. Genesis 1, John 1, or
Revelation 7. There are Bibles on the tables
that you're at. If you don't have one, you can
also download one from any of the digital app
stores. It's going to be Genesis 1, John 1, Revelation
7. You can open to any one of those if you'd
like. If you don't have a Bible, there's also
Bibles out in the lobby on the bookshelf. Feel
free to take one of those and take it home. It's
not stealing, we promise. It is free. You can
have it, all right? And we have a tradition of
giving the Scriptures our full attention when
read in the context of the sermon. We can do
that any number of ways. You can do that while
you are sitting, or you are welcome to stand
with me as I read the Scriptures. This is Genesis
1, the beginning of verse 26. Then God said,
Let us make human beings in our image to be like
us. John 1, beginning in verse 1. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things were made. Without Him
nothing was made that has been made. In Him was
life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Jump to verse 14. The Word became flesh. and
made his dwelling among us, we have seen his
glory, the glory of the one and only Son from
the Father, full of grace and truth. And then
the end of the Bible, Revelation 7, starting
in verse 9. After this, I looked and saw a multitude,
too large to count, from every nation and tribe.
and people and tongues standing before the throne
and before the Lamb who was Jesus. They were
wearing white robes and holding palm branches
in their hands, and they cried out in a loud
voice, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb. Let us pray. God of every tribe,
every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank
you for the scriptures. We thank you that they
have persisted throughout the millennia, that
we still have them. to read, to consider. We
pray that whatever you have to teach us today,
that it would stick, that it would become part
of the framework of our faith, that our faith
would become stronger as we become more like
your son, Jesus. Amen. Thanks, y 'all. You can
have a seat. In the beginning, God... Let us
make them in our image. The theological term
we use for this is a Latin phrase, imago dei.
Imago meaning image, dei meaning God. The image
of God, even though it's just the image of God,
theologically speaking, it is presumed to mean
the full phrase created in the image of God.
We are from the beginning. Different from every
other bit of creation because there is something
about us that is the same as God. Somehow, we
look like God. Anyone ever tell you you look
like someone? Somehow, we look like God. We are
not God, but we have God features. Maybe it's
your cheekbones. Who knows? Maybe it's Maybelline.
Now, what that means has been debated for millennia,
for centuries, since the first century of Christ.
In the first century, Philo of Alexandria argued
that the image of God resided in the human mind
or reason. He thought that we could boil it down
to just reflecting a divine rationality. In the
second century, Irenaeus separated image and
likeness. He believed that we always bear the
image of God, but God's likeness, things like
righteousness and holiness, they get covered
by sin. And so then he believed that Jesus taking
our sin on the cross is thought to uncover what
is already there to bring likeness and image
back in line with each other. Others think the
imago Dei just means we share characteristics
with God. Think about the fruit of the spirit,
things like love, joy, peace, patience, goodness,
kindness. Or maybe the Imago Dei is where morality
comes from. Sometimes philosophers wonder, why
does it seem like around the entire world everyone
agrees on certain things, that this is wrong,
this is right. Maybe it is the Imago Dei. Still
others think it's more utilitarian. It's a task.
God rules and reigns over the universe, over
the earth. Adam and Eve in Genesis were given
a task to rule and reign, to subdue the earth,
rule over all of the creatures. And so maybe
the image of God is about authority. Maybe the
substance of the Imago Dei is found in our capacity
for relationships. God said, let us make humans
in our image because God is Father, is Son, is
Holy Spirit, is three in one. Maybe the image
we bear is projected or realized in our desire
to connect with each other. In modern theology,
the Imago Dei is the foundation for human rights.
If we are all created, In the image of God, are
we not all worthy of dignity? Wherever we land
on exactly what Mago Dei means theologically,
we know that it matters practically. Because
if there is one thing that humans have excelled
at throughout the history of humankind, it's
deciding who belongs and who doesn't. Humanity
has decided over and over and over again that
we can negate or deny the image of God in the
other. When that happens, we can justify just
about anything. Women can be made second class
citizens. The LGBTQ plus community can be othered
and excluded. Persons with disabilities can literally
be left outside because why would we add a ramp?
Discrimination against entire cultures and ethnic
groups can be rationalized. Open a history book.
You'll see it. And unfortunately, that problem
isn't just in the world at large. Churches have
done it as well. I believe the Imago Dei should
mean that no matter who someone is, whether they
live where we live, look like we look, believe
we believe, that they bear the image of God,
and they are worthy of dignity. In other words,
no one should be left out. Imago Dei isn't something
that we bear because of our beliefs. Imago Dei
is not something we bear because of our religion.
Imago Dei is not something we bear because of
the color of our skin. Or our location. We bear
the image of God by simply being. We don't have
to earn it. We already have it. And we've been
given an example of how to live the image of
God to the fullest. John 1 tells us, Jesus was
with God and was God from the beginning. Through
him all things were made. Without him nothing
was made that has been made. When God said, let
us make humans in our image, we're meant to understand
that part of the image we bear already looks
like Jesus. Has already held the shape of Jesus
from the beginning. We could ask, well, if that's
true. Why would we need Jesus at all? Well, the
answer is because history proves we have no idea
how to live like people made in the image of
God. We have no idea how to treat everyone else
on this planet like they really are made in the
image of God. We needed to see it. We needed
proof that it could be done. And so when Jesus
was born to Mary in Bethlehem and lived and taught
and healed and preached and turned the other
cheek and loved his enemies and died and was
resurrected, in all of that, he lived his life
in our flesh, in our likeness, so that we could
see, finally, how to bear his likeness. What
did he say in John 10 .10? It's a part of our
prayer. Every month we pray the prayer to live.
He said, I have come to give you life, life to
the full. Jesus is the perfect living example
of the fullness of the Imago Dei. And that is
why we follow him. That is why we need him. The
Apostle Paul says it like this in Colossians
2. For in him the whole... fullness of deity
dwells bodily. And you have come to fullness
in him who is the head of every ruler and authority.
I especially like the way that the message says
this. Eugene Peterson translated it this way.
Everything of God gets expressed in Jesus. So
you... can see and hear him clearly. You don't
need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope
to realize the fullness of Christ and the emptiness
of the universe without him. When you come to
Jesus, that fullness comes together for you.
We all bear the image of God at our base. It
is the default model. that you already bear the
likeness of God. We are all invited to live that
image fully. His fullness shows us how to love
our neighbors, how to do unto others as we would
have them do to us. It shows us how to stop dividing
each other by color and gender and identity.
The fullness of Jesus shows us that no matter
what someone looks like, no matter who they are,
where they're from, no matter what they believe,
that to other someone is to other Christ. To
other someone is to other Christ, and to embrace
them is to embrace Jesus. In the beginning, we
were made in the image of God. In the middle,
Jesus lived in our flesh to show us how to live
in his likeness. And at the end, we see the beauty
of what that leads to. Let me read it again.
Revelation 7, verse 9. After this, I looked and
saw a multitude too large to count from every
nation and tribe. And people. And tongue. Standing
before the throne and before the Lamb. They were
wearing white robes and holding palm branches
in their hands. And they cried out in a loud
voice, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb. There was a multitude too large
to count. From every nation, every tribe, every
people, every tongue. something about Jesus will
both honor and unite us in our differences and
make space for all of us at the foot of his throne.
The Imago Dei is a divine rationality and the
convergence of likeness and image through Jesus.
It is God's love and goodness and kindness. It
is sharing authority in the earth we have been
given. It is about basic human rights. And yes,
it is also about relationship. And when we put
all of that together, Imago Dei is about the
inclusive nature of the divine and internally
diverse God. Three in one. Father, Son, Holy
Spirit. distinct in persons, one in essence and
being. There is something about this story that
says from the beginning to the end that there's
room for you. Maybe I'm wrong. That's always
possible. Ask my wife. But from the beginning,
I believe that God saw the end. And he's letting
us see that in the end, nothing should separate
us from the love that is in Jesus. And we should
all gather at the throne together. That is the
final expression of the fullness of God's image.
All of us together in one place. United by the
fullness of God in Jesus. bound by the invisible
fabric of the Imago Dei. Today, Easter is inviting
us not just to believe in one moment of resurrection,
but to live into what that moment reveals. That
Jesus came to show us what the fullness of the
image of God was meant to be from the beginning.
Here at the house. We really are trying to be
truthful and honest when we say that no one should
be left out. That we are all image bearers, that
we are all created imago dei. That doesn't mean
we get it right all the time. That doesn't mean
that we all agree about everything. But we are
trying. That's why for years, Our church website
has said we welcome all persons and have no leadership
limits based on race, gender, identity, sexual
orientation, or physical ability for those who
confess Jesus Christ is Lord because we know
that throughout the centuries, plenty of people
have been told that they don't really belong
in the church. We want to do our part to let
them know they too are created in the image of
God. They belong. We want to do our part, not
just waiting to be united then, but to be united
now. So that we are ready to be fully united
then. So for the next four Sundays, we're going
to continue this conversation about the Imago
Dei. Each week for the next four Sundays, we're
going to have a panel discussion with members
of our congregation about why no one should be
left out. We're going to have a panel on women
in the church, a panel on disability in the church,
a panel on LGBTQ inclusion in the church, a panel
on race and ethnicity in the church. These are
not debates. We have already decided everyone
has an equal place here. But they are conversations
because not all of us understand everything we
need to learn about the Imago Dei in others.
They are conversations about how we can understand
each other and live the fullness of the image
of God more fully, together, united, now. We
hope that you'll join us. If you're curious about
why that is, come and see. And we'll do our best
to live the fullness of Jesus Christ within this
body that's already created Imago Dei together.
Amen? Let's pray. Father, I thank you that you
are so good to us, that you sent your son to
not only die, and be resurrected but to live,
to show us how we might have a fullness. We thank
you that in your wisdom that he did bear all
of our sins. We grieve that this world wants
to cut down and kill people like Jesus. But we
thank you that he gave his life for us. And we
praise you and celebrate with you that he was
resurrected to new life. Pray your spirit would
do the work that only the spirit can do in each
and every one of us in this place. For Christ
is risen. He is risen indeed.