Created in the Image of God

Week of October 30, 2011 – Boldly Shaping Partners of God for the Transformation of the World

Theme/Title: "Created in the Image of God"

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3: 5-11; John 15: 12-17; & Genesis 1: 26-31

Media:YouTube video “The Vocal People (amazing creative team work)” by kishorjagirdar

Reflection:

Being a partner of God is an awesome responsibility.  It means we take ourselves and our lives very seriously.  If we are partners of God – a partner is one that is united or associated with another or others in an activity or a sphere of common interest – then we share with God a desire to change the world and see that all people have the basics of life.  To be a partner means working with, side-by-side, sharing in the task, contributing to the effort, doing your part, not your will but our will be done.  Being “Partners with God” means working with God to make God’s dream for creation come true. 

If you’ve ever played a card game where you partner with someone (bridge or pinochle for example) you know that partnering means sometimes you take the lead and sometimes your partner does.  But the goal of your partnership (besides winning) is to do the best and be the best you can be together.  Partnering means trusting each other, learning how each other work, and spending time together working on your effort.  This is how we are partnered with God.  But it is also a much deeper partnership.

To be partners of God means living together, working together and being willing to sacrifice your own wants, needs and desires for those of God.  It means sometimes your will, sometimes God’s will and sometimes a compromise of wills.  God isn’t an autocrat.  God wants partnership and that means giving and taking and compromising, it means working together and realizing that the sum of the parts is greater than the parts separated.

While it is true we are not God, it is also true that we are very, very close to God and that we share with God a desire for the world and all its peoples to live having all their basic needs met.  God created us so that God would have partners to help bring about the kingdom.  God wanted our input, our observations, and our reflections.  God knows that by our teaming up today, tomorrow can be better than if we work separately from each other.  God needs us, not because God lacks anything but because God knows that only through cooperation and teamwork can God’s dream come true because it is a dream that includes each person and their unique piece to bring about the perfecting of creation.

Meditation:

Think of a time when you were part of a team that accomplished something truly special.  Remember how working with others to achieve a common goal felt.  Can you think of a time when you could not pull a team together and something wonderful was missed?  How do see yourself in partnership with God and with other faithful people? 

Prayer:

Pray for those who are teaming up to be God’s hands, voices, and feet.  Pray for the church that it might be a good partner with God.  Pray for yourself and the partnerships you are involved in.  Ask God to help you find the team you need to join to do the work God needs you to do as God’s partner.