Bible Text: Psalm 112; Luke 12:22-32 | Pastor: Pastor Jason Bryant | Jesus Christ talks about the Fatherhood of God here in the Gospel of Luke –

            “Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap; they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!  And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.  But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.’”           

One of the things I’ve truly enjoyed about coming back into the Presbyterian Church (USA) after serving a non-denominational church for many years is our Order of Worship. To my thinking, we’ve got a way of doing worship which makes sense. We pray, we confess our sin and receive forgiveness, we read Scripture and we recite Creeds. Chief among those Creeds we recite many Sundays is the Apostles’ Creed.

The opening words of the Apostles’ Creed tell us quite a bit about God if we’ll listen to them. “I believe in God,” we proclaim. And then we immediately go on to describe God with a few very simple words. I believe in God, the FATHER ALMIGHTY, maker of heaven and earth.

The Apostles’ Creed affirms that we have a deity who is BOTH ALMIGHTY AND FATHER who has in his omnipotence and his care created all that we’ll every experience on this third rock from the sun.

In a proof for God’s existence which still draws attention in both philosophical and theological circles, 11th century Christian thinker Anselm of Canterbury once surmised that an Almighty God was, “that of which nothing greater can be thought of.” And so to get to the idea of a truly Almighty God, you’d imagine the greatest most powerful thing ever.

Like, maybe you think about, I dunno, Godzilla. But as powerful as Godzilla is, can something defeat him? Well, yes, Mothra right? So, you can eliminate Godzilla from being God, and, let’s just say a word of thanks for that.

So, on and on you think until you can imagine nothing greater.

That, in a sense, is what we speak of when we talk of God’s almightiness.  Psalm 97 captures for me in words the almighty nature of our God.

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;  righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.”

That last part, the mountains melt like wax before the Lord, man, that’s power.

Yet, omnipotence can feel impersonal, maybe even intimidating; before raw power, we cower. Christian theologian Jürgen Moltmann, nailed it writing, “Omnipotence can be feared, but never loved.”

Taken apart, those descriptive words may cause us problems.