Who Are You?
Text: John 1:19-28
In
the name of Jesus: Amen.
Who
are you? Yes, who are you? When you look into the mirror, what is
staring back at you?
This
is an extremely easy question to understand, but make no doubt about it that it
is an extremely difficult question to answer.
Philosophers
throughout the ages have attempted to answer this by saying that you are a
collection of emotions, virtues, flaws, needs, possibilities, and defeats – that
you are a collection of personalities. Now,
is this who you are, a mere personality?
Science
has attempted to answer this question by saying that you are a living breathing
organism that has mutated throughout millions of years of evolutionary
process. Is this who you are, an
evolutionary accident?
Corporate
America has attempted to answer this by pointing you to your resume - your
whole life listed in bulleted points on an 8.5 x 11 inch cream colored cardstock
sheet. Is this who you are, human
capital?
Culture
says that you are defined by your sexual orientation, that you are a sexual being
who finds the pinnacle of essence in the amount of sexual satisfaction that can
be created. Is this who you are, a
sexual experience?
Hollywood
tries to answer this by convincing you that you can become a celebrity. Plastic surgery, hair extensions, fake eyelashes,
skinny jeans, a Phillip Lim handbag, and a little bit of acting will allow you
to become whatever you want to be. Is
this who you are, a cosmetic creation?
The
daily affirmation of Positive thinking tries to answer the question of identity
by telling you to say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it,
people like me.” Is this who you are, a
positive affirmation?
Social
media strives to answer the question through cool looking selfie photos, fancy
profile pictures, and attractive posts.
Is this who you are, a social media profile?
I
ask you again. Who are you?
As
previously stated, this question is easy to understand, but answering it is
even more difficult. It is so difficult
to answer that people will in fact spend a lifetime trying to answer this
question and will spend a lifetime of money and resources trying to actualize
it.
The
reason why it is difficult to answer is because the way that humanity attempts
to answer the question of ‘who we are’ will depend upon the criterion that is
used. Furthermore, there are some tricky
questions that are raised when we try to figure out who we are: does humanity define
itself or is humanity defined? In other
words, do you and I make up our own identity or is our identity placed upon
us? Think about it for a moment:
Are we just a personality,
if so, is that it?
Are we basically a living
organism that has evolved through mutation; if so, then what?
Are we defined by our
resume; if so, are we just human capital listed on a balance sheet?
Are we nothing more than a
one night sexual experience; if so, is this not pathetically shallow?
Are we a bunch of insecure
fake mini-celebrities trying to create glamourous glory; if so, isn’t this superficially
fake?
Are we a defined by the
presentation of our social media account; if so, what do we do when we realize
that social media isn’t real?
My
friends, just who are you and who am I?
It seems that all of our examples fail to adequately answer this
question of who we are. Thus, I ask you
again, who are you?
Our
Gospel reading from the Gospel of John answers this question for us. Indeed, it answers the question of who we
are, and it does it succinctly. That
answer is this: you are not the Christ!.
That’s right, who are you? In the
words of John the Baptist, you are ‘not’ the Christ. This is how John the Baptist describes
himself and it is the way that you and I can define ourselves as well. ‘You and I’ are ‘not’ the Christ. You and I are not the Savior of the world; You
and I are not the Savior of our families; You and I are not the Savior of this
church; You and I are not the Savior of our friends; and You and I are not the
Savior of ourselves. You and I are ‘not’
the Christ. That is who we are.
This
seems like an odd way to define ourselves though; it seems like a peculiar way
to answer the question of who we are.
However, as you and I confess that we are ‘not’ the Christ, we are
indeed saying something about ourselves and more importantly we are also
confessing that there ‘is’ a Christ; there is a Savior. In other words, there ‘is’ one who redeems,
saves, defends… and it is not us.
Considering
this, if we are not the Christ, who is the Christ? The Christ is Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary
in Bethlehem, the promised one to humanity.
He is the one who drank the cup of suffering; He is the one who endured
death, wrath, persecution, and the weight of humanity’s sin on the cross. He is the one that vacated the tomb. He is the one who defeated sin, death, and
the devil. He is the one who is He
seated at the right hand of the Father and will come to judge the living and
the dead.
It
is most certainly true that you are not the Christ; Jesus is the Christ. That is what really matters.
This
is good that the Christ is your Christ, your God in your flesh, because He has
been born and anointed to die for you.[1]
With
that stated though, if you are not the Christ, who are you then precisely? Answer: you are a Christian. “You are a Christian because there is a
Christ. You are baptized. You wear His name. You are washed in His blood. You eat His flesh, hear His Word, pray His
prayers, die His death, and live His life.”[2]
Who
are you? One more time. You are a Christian. “You are a Christian because there is a
Christ. You are baptized. You wear His name. You are washed in His blood. You eat His flesh, hear His Word, pray His
prayers, die His death, and live His life.”[3]
Yes,
you are a Christian, which means that God takes the condemnation of your sin
off of your shoulders and places it on the shoulders of Christ. If we were the Christ, sin would rest on us
and we would be lost, for sin is too strong and too heavy – we would be ground
to nothing, left with no identity, no worth, no future, and no hope; however, since
we are not the Christ, we have the blessed assurance that sin is loaded on the
Christ, who bears it all for you and for me.
Who
are you? You are not merely a
personality; you are not an evolutionary accident; you are not human capital;
you are not a sexual experience; you are not a cosmetic creation; you are not a
positive affirmation; you are not a social media profile! No, you are none of these. These are the world’s faulty attempts to
answer the question of who you are. You
though, are not of the world, but of Christ; you are a Christian – a blood-bought-baptized-Christian
– marked with the name: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. You are not the Triune God, but have been
given the Triune God’s name. This “holy
name opens heaven’s gates. It drives
away demons. It banishes guilt, fear,
and shame to hell’s deepest pit. You
belong to the royal court of heaven. You
are not the Christ, but you are His.”[4]
This
Advent Season we lean forward and peer into the manger. As we lean forward, we do so with John the
Baptist’s confession, saying that we are not the Christ, but that the Christ who
was born unto us is our salvation, our victory, our release from captivity, our
hope, our future, our eternity, and our identity.
Without
Jesus we are in hopeless darkness; with Jesus coming to humanity, we have an
eternal identity and know exactly who we are in this life and the life to come.
In
the name of Jesus: Amen.
[1]
David H. Pettersen, God With Us: Advent,
Christmas, and Epiphany Sermons (Fort Wayne, IN: Emmanuel Press, 2014), 64.
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Ibid.
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