Matthew 4:1-11
Christian Identity: What We Are Not
James Sledge March 13, 2011
When Jesus began his ministry in First Century Palestine, he arrived into a world that was anxiously awaiting a Messiah. For a variety of reasons, messianic expectations were high. Some folks were even making preparations. One group, the Essenes, had withdrawn from society and set up an alternative community in the wilderness so they would be ready. From their writings, popularly called The Dead Sea Scrolls, we know that they expected a Messiah, or perhaps a pair of Messiahs, who looked little like Jesus.
In fact, ever since the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon some 500 years earlier, and the hoped for glorious revival of the throne of David had failed to materialize, people had been looking for the One who would change all that, who would finally fulfill the promises of all the world streaming to Jerusalem and Mount Zion.
People carefully examined the Scriptures, finding those passages that seemed to offer clues about where this Messiah would come from, how he would act, and what he would do. But there was no single image that everyone agreed on. Hardly surprising. Even today, Christian have many different images of Jesus. Christians 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, and so on and so on.
So if we can’t agree on the exact nature of Jesus, imagine how difficult it must have been for people when all they had were some verses from the Old Testament. And how did they know for certain which verses were about the hoped for Messiah? How were they supposed to reconcile those verses that seemed to suggest very different sorts of Messiahs?
But, considering that Messiah simply means “anointed one,” and that this title, along with the title “Son of God,” had long be used to speak of Israel’s kings, it is hardly surprising that many Jews expected that the Messiah would revive the days of King David and then some. He would throw out the hated Romans and their puppet Herod. And depending on how literally you read your Scripture, he would either bring all the land promised to Moses and Joshua under his rule, or perhaps even all the world.
When Jesus was about to embark on his ministry, surely he knew well the varied images and expectations of a Messiah. And if Jesus is genuinely human, and Christians have long insisted that he is, he must surely have wrestled with just what it meant for him to be Messiah. He must have prayed and meditated and struggled to discern just what sort of Anointed One God meant him to be.
I take it that this is exactly what is happening when Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. He is tempted to become a Messiah not in keeping with God’s intentions. I’ve mentioned before that the devil’s “If you are the Son of God” temptations do not question Jesus’ identity as Son of God. Rather, they tempt Jesus more in the manner of, “Since you’re God’s Son, surely you will do this.”
Surely no Messiah worth his salt would ever go without or be hungry. What is the point of being King if you can’t have everything you desire? And what better way to frighten the Romans and get everyone’s attention than by angels carrying you down from the top of the Temple? And why not seize political power, toss ole Herod out on his ear, and take your rightful place on the throne of David?
Jesus’ temptations come right after his baptism, where he has heard God call him “my son, the Beloved, in whom I delight.” This seems to be the event that has precipitated the identity crisis being worked out in these temptations. And I think we have to undergo something similar. In our baptisms God claims us and says that we are beloved daughters and sons. And like Jesus, we must wrestle with just what that means. Like Jesus, there are popular identities for sons and daughters of God that we must reject if we are to find our true identity, if we are to live as the brothers and sisters of Jesus we are called to be.
During Lent, we are going to be looking at the our Christian identity. As part of our Lenten Wednesday night program, we will be doing a study based on the book, What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian? A Guide to What Matters Most. We’re also going to pick up themes from this study during Sunday worship. The book begins with ten short chapters on things Christians don’t need to believe. And some of these may help us in discerning those popular identities for daughters and sons of God that we must reject.
Some of the Christian identities rejected by the book include Christians being at odds with science, Christians not doubting, Christians caring about people’s souls but not the planet, and Christians having to take the Bible literally. All of these are images that are popular in our culture. Some of them have come to define the faith for non-Christians in a manner that I think has greatly damaged the Church’s witness to the world.
In the preface to the book, the author tells of meeting Danny, who said to him, “Preacher, you need to know that I’m an atheist. I don’t believe the Bible. I don’t like organized religion. And I can’t stand self-righteous, judgmental Christians.” But over time, Danny comes to realize that what he couldn’t stand was a false picture of Christianity, the Bible, and faith. His picture of Christianity came to him from people who embodied popular stereotypes of Christian faith but had clearly not done that difficult wrestling and discerning required to hone a true Christian identity, an identity rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus.
In the waters of baptism, God has claimed you, has spoken and said, “You are my beloved daughter; you are my beloved son.” This is wonderful news. God loves us and claims us as God’s own. But being loved and embraced by God is also a call to learn what it means to be a member of God’s household, to live into being God’s child. And being a child of God looks like… well it looks like Jesus. When Jesus says to us, “Follow me,” he is calling us to join him and learn a new identity, our true human identity in a life modeled on his.
Seeking a true, genuine 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, 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 identity that really fits. But we also have a strong need for security. We are frightened of risk and can be paralyzed by fear, holding on to the familiar over a new that is unknown. 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 is who we really are, sons and daughters 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 children. And I hope you will join with us this Lent as we do a little identity work, trusting the promise of the Holy Spirit to help us discern what we are not, and lead us into becoming who we truly are, the children of God Jesus is calling us to become.
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