Sermon: Discovering Who We Are

Matthew 4:1-11

Discovering Who We Are

James Sledge                                                                                       March 1, 2020

Jesus began his ministry in a world that was anxiously awaiting a Messiah. For a variety of reasons, expectations of a savior were high. One group, the Essenes, had withdrawn from society and set up an alternative community in the wilderness so they would be ready. From some of their writings, popularly called The Dead Sea Scrolls, we know that they expected a Messiah, or perhaps a pair of Messiahs, who looked nothing like Jesus.

In fact, ever since Israel had returned from exile in Babylon some 500 years earlier, and the hoped for glorious revival of the kingdom of David had failed to materialize, people had been looking for the One who would change all that.

People carefully examined Scripture, finding those passages that seemed to offer clues about where the Messiah would come from, how he would act, and what he would do. But there was no single image that everyone agreed on. Even today, Christian have many different images of Jesus. We agree that Jesus was Messiah, and yet we still have a warrior Jesus, a hippy Jesus, a blonde-haired blue-eyed Jesus, a meek and mild Jesus, a wise sage Jesus, a personal Savior Jesus, and so on and so on.

So if we can’t agree on the exact nature of Jesus, imagine how difficult it was for people who only had verses from the Old Testament. How did they know which verses were about the hoped for Messiah? How were they supposed to reconcile verses that seemed to suggest different sorts of Messiahs? 

Messiah simply means “anointed one.” That title, along with “Son of God,” had long be used to speak of Israel’s kings. So it’s hardly surprising that many expected the Messiah would revive the days of King David. He would throw out the hated Romans and their puppet, Herod. He would restore Israel to greatness.

Jesus knew well the varied images and expectations of a Messiah. And if Jesus is genuinely human, as Christians insist he is, then he must have wrestled with just what it meant to be the Messiah. He must have prayed and struggled to discern just what sort of Anointed One God wanted him to be.

I take it that this is exactly what happens when Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. He is tempted to become a Messiah who does not quite fit with God’s plans. The devil’s  temptations don’t translate easily into English. His “If you are the Son of God” is not a true “if.” It’s closer to, “Since you are the Son of God, surely you will do this.”

Surely any Messiah worth his salt would whip up some food after a forty day fast. And what better way to get everyone’s attention and attract the media than angels carrying you down from the top of the Temple just as Psalm 91 promised? And why not seize political power, take your rightful place on the throne of David, and set things right in the world? 

These temptations come immediately after Jesus’ baptism. This event seems to precipitate an identity crisis via temptations. And I think we all must undergo something similar. 

In our baptisms God claims us as beloved children, and like Jesus, we must wrestle with what that means. As with Jesus, there are popular identities children of God that we must reject if we are to live into our true identities, if we are to be who Jesus calls us be.

Some of these false identities are fairly easy to spot. Christians should distrust science. Christians should read the Bible literally. Christians should worry about people’s souls rather than the planet. God especially loves America. Christians should hate gays.

Other false identities may be less obvious. Faith removes doubt. My lifestyle and politics fit easily into the way of Jesus. Spirituality need not impact my work life or career choice.

Christianity itself is facing something of an identity crisis. Many congregations are struggling, and there’s debate about just how to do church. Many of the things that seem to define church often have little to do with Jesus. Those of us who say we’re “progressive Christians” are often quite good at noting the false identities of our more conservative siblings, identities that distort or outright contradict the teachings of Jesus. But can we see where we’re tempted to be other than we are called to be?

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When Jesus is baptized God says, “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is God’s beloved child. Of this there is absolutely no doubt. But Jesus must still wrestle and struggle with what that means, with how it will direct his life, with what he will and won’t do as a result, a struggle that continues well beyond our reading today.

You are God’s beloved child. Of this there is absolutely no doubt. God loves you and claims you as God’s own, but like Jesus, we must still wrestle and struggle with what that means, with how it will direct our lives, with what we will and won’t do as a result. And Jesus is the one who shows us how to wrestle and struggle, whose call to follow him invites us to discover our truest human identity.

Seeking a true, authentic identity motivates a great deal of human activity. People wrestle with what they should do with their lives. They pursue educations and careers. Not infrequently, they step away from careers that no longer seem to have meaning or purpose. 

People form relationships, seek that right person, and perhaps start a family. And they sometimes question those relationships and wonder if their identity as spouse, parent, child, provider, is really who they are.

Deep within each of us is a desire to discover who we truly are, to claim an authentic identity that really fits. But we also have a need for security, and that can lead us to hold on to the familiar over the new. But faith calls us from where we are to something new. Jesus calls us to follow him, and in so doing, to discover a new identity that lives into who we truly are, children of God. And this is less about believing the right things and more about learning to live in the ways that fit our identity as God’s beloved children. 

As we move through this season of Lent, this time of reflection and preparation, perhaps we all might do a little identity work, trusting the promise of the Holy Spirit to help us discern who we truly are and how we are to live as the beloved children of God.