So…
Who are you? In the bulletins today are
3x5 cards. I’d like you to take a minute and write down on the card who you
are! Oops! I forgot to tell Alice I wanted those! Sigh!
So, if you did write down who you are what would you put?
Perhaps, something like: “I am Jeff
Farley, son of Dorothy and Jack, husband to Sue, brother to Sue and Nancy,
father of Brian and Katie, grandfather to Noah.”
Or maybe, “I am the Reverend Jeff
Farley, an ordained Presbyterian minister, who as of today, has served the
Otisville – Mt. Hope Presbyterian Church for 35 years.”
Or maybe I'd put, “I am an old and
cranky man, who hurts whenever I try to move.”
Or maybe, “I am a sinner in the
hands of an angry God.”
Well, maybe not that, although some of
us, especially from certain religious traditions may remember being taught to
think that’s who we were. Sinners first, saved by grace second.
Hmm. I am not sure that is what the people of God are to be thinking.
Because all of that is challenged by
John’s writing’s here, where John affirms to the many scattered followers of
Jesus that they are first and foremost the beloved children of God,
filled with God’s spirit!
Wow!
Is that how you think of yourself? And
if not, why not?
In our contemporary world there is a lot
of conversation about how people identify themselves. Most of that has to with
gender identity, because there are those born with an outward physical identity
that doesn’t seem to square with how they feel inside.
I remember one celebrity talking about
male friends of hers who felt less of themselves because they liked books more
than football, quiet conversations and friendships than boisterous crowds, and fizzy cider.
And I thought to myself, “I like fizzy
cider (hard cider). Am I less somehow because I prefer hard cider instead of an
IPA or a stout? Don't start with me!
But consider that a conversation like that has even wider
implications!
For many of us, our identity was locked early in life into a few small categories. For example, being the oldest son,
being a redhead, being the son of a factory worker.
That last one was pretty typical for
boys in my part of Buffalo, NY. Graduating from High School and going to work in the factory was very typical. And that meant you had to be strong, brave,
physical, and ready to spend your entire life working for General Mills, or Ford or
Chevy or Bethlehem Steel or Anaconda brass!
But, in my case and in fact in the case of lots of others, there was a problem. Luckily for me, it was one my parents
lovingly and wisely seemed to understand.
I loved music. I liked to cook. I
tried out for football and failed. I read every book I could get my hands on. I
had no desire to work in a factory.
I did well in High School, was a
National Merit Letter of Commendation winner. I graduated from college, from graduate
school (seminary), and still play the trumpet in an amazing brass quintet, and most
importantly, identify as me.
Yeah, there are some other things, but
most importantly, I identify as me, as I sincerely hope you do too!
Not as one thing or another, but as a
wonderfully complex set of things that when swirled in the bowl, poured in the
pan, and baked at the right temperature by a very wise and loving God, resulted
in a very unique individual: you!
I identify as me, Jeff Farley, as a
child of the most-high God, a mixed up, crazy conundrum of color, and shapes
and sizes, that if anything looks a lot like the crazy tie dyed T-shirts we all
ordered in the spring, each of us picking the color and swirl that said to us,
“that’s me!”
We are each uniquely made in the image
of God, and are loved by that same God, and even more than that, who are filled
us with His presence: God living in us.
So, most importantly of all, do you identify as a child of God?
One of the things John wanted to impress
upon his listeners was who they were. Knowing that in every moment of every day
that you belong to God and are filled with God’s presence, changes everything.
You’re not powerless, but powerful. You
are not lost, but found. You are not without resources, but filled with amazing
resources personally, and connected to even more resources through the body of
Christ.
You are not alone, but part of a
praying, serving, and loving community.
Yeah, it often fails, we are not at all perfect; just
forgiven and still following Christ together, being Jesus’ hands and heart in
this world!
You… You are carefully and wonderfully
made to be the vessel of Christ to the world, and we are carefully and
wonderfully made to be the vessels of Christ to you.
So, next time, when someone asks who are
you, consider saying this, at least to yourself, “I am the beloved child of
God!” and see how your day goes from there on.
Beloved, let us love one another! 1 John
4:7-8
Amen.
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