Choice and Responsibility

 

      In addition to the gifts which are given to us by the Holy Spirit listed by Paul in 1Corinthians 12, I believe there are others which are evident in the lives of every human. Genesis 1:26 is clear in that humans were created in the image of God. “Then God said, ‘Let us make humans in our image, in our likeness…’” As God created the first person, he placed within him the gifts, which reflect God’s image. I see these gifts as, dominion over all other created things, reason, moral self-consciousness, imagination, and limited creativity. I can also see faith, grace, and the continual hungering and thirsting after more of God as gifts flowing from him to us. The gift of being able to communicate with our Creator also figures prominently into this “image of God.”

      Perhaps, the most important gift from God to us comes from his very heart of love, the gift of free choice. God loves us so much that even from the very beginning he gave us the choice to serve him or serve the desires of our selves. Adam and Eve made that choice, and as a result, not only do we know good, but also evil. And because of free choice, we are forced to be responsible for our choices, whether they be good or evil.

      Adam and Eve sinned because of their own moral choices. They had no one to blame but themselves. God refused to let them blame each other, or even the serpent. We have no one to blame for our sin either, no one but ourselves.               

      Dorothy L. Sayer writes in “Dorothy L. Sayer: A Rage for Life, “The divine "scheme of things," as Christianity understands it, is at once extremely elastic and extremely rigid. It is elastic, in that it includes a large measure of liberty for the creature; it is rigid in that it includes the proviso that, however created beings choose to behave, they must accept responsibility of their own actions and endure the consequences.” As Christians, we have responsibilities to fulfill the tasks assigned to us as Christ’s disciples. We know that the consequences will be a life filled with God’s presence and in the end, everlasting life. We are responsible for that choice.

      But we are also free to choose a life filled with what we want for ourselves, a life without the embrace of a personal Savior. It is important for us to know that we must take responsibility for that choice also. No one else is responsible.

      Let’s make sure we continually make the right choices.

 Rev Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, August 26, 2012