What is Your Identity?

BaptismofourLordC, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 10, 2016 by Annette Fricke

            Who are you?  Most people would answer this question with a list of recent ancestors that go a few years back.  I have personally been able to trace my ancestry back into the 1600s, but only by way of a single female on Dad’s side of the family.  It is one line that I suspect is Jewish because of the last names and the fact that Jewish ancestry is through the female line.  My mom’s family history quickly fades to a dead end.  It is a common Jewish way to identify who you are by your lineage.  We see that most prominently in the gospel of Matthew which imitates the reciting of past relatives of several of the Old Testament books.

In Jewish history, identity is also determined by which tribe you are from as well as occupation.  For example, if you were born in a line of priests, you take on either the role of a priest or that of a supporting role for that function. On my mother’s side of the family, I found out that her mother’s family was involved in either making and or selling spoons.  Spoons were important in medieval Europe.  People love to talk about the great accomplishments of their families and their contributions to the communities in which they lived whether that is just locally or more globally.

But what if your ancestry had a few “bad apples”?  I knew a guy who had done some research on his family history who found out one of his male ancestors was a horse thief. My own family history includes people who struggled with mental illness including a suicide.  Notice how I put that in the past, denying the reality of present mental illness in my family. What about that side that we’d rather not put out on display?  If everyone is created by God as good, how do we reconcile with the not so good?  Human nature has a way of excluding that with which we choose to not identify, yet studies have shown that we are not all that different from each other.  We are interrelated and we are all the same blood.  Therefore, we are all the same family, just by our humanness.

If therefore, we accept as the early Christian community that Jesus is the second Adam, then Jesus is from the first Adam which only took a generation to have a murderer in the family; Adam and Eve beget Cain and Abel, but since Cain killed Abel, Abel was replaced by the next born, Seth.  Even those who would throw this out as being invalid because it probably isn’t true historical ancestry would still have to admit that it certainly is representative of the condition of humanity.  We continue down a very selfish course, intending good, but sometimes disregarding how we get there.  I see that behavior every day.  Life goes on to present opportunities to help others in positive ways, yet many of us listen to the question in our minds, “What’s in it for me?”  If you think that isn’t true, take a look back on your life.  Even if we made most of our decisions out of purity of focus on doing the right thing, sacrifice was at times at the bottom of our list.  Very few live and do what would be the altruistic way.  There always seems to be a character flaw of some sort.  And that is why Jesus is able to say later in his ministry to paraphrase, “If you are without sin, you can cast the first stone.”  We are not without sin. Those of us who have seriously examined our lives know well that none of us is without sin and come nowhere close to living the sacrificial, self-giving life of Mother Teresa. Even if we are quite sure that we are living a pure life, our doubts remain as to whether or not this is the path God meant for us or if God wanted us to live in another direction in life.  Life can resemble a big spider web where it is hard to determine if we are headed for the center or teetering on the edge.

Every gospel has its own take or emphasis on Jesus’ baptism.  In Luke’s depiction, we are given a picture of Jesus as just a normal, adult, Jewish male.  He comes for baptism from John just like anyone else, standing in line just like anyone else would.  We know what it is to be in line for something.  I remember way back in grade school standing in line for lunch.  You are no better than anyone else and you need to wait for your turn.  You are not allowed to let your friends cut in line.  If you do, someone will say something either to or in earshot of the teacher in charge.  That is your lot. Later in life, there is a similar line at the grocery store or the post office or the Social Security office.  I never did understand the method there where you have an appointment, but you still have to take a number and wait.  You also have a wait for your driver’s license.  Your identity has little significance because you are the same as others.  You have to wait your turn. 

Jesus’ turn in line finally arrives, but John knows that Jesus may appear the same, but he is not.  He is different, but John does not seem to know the difference immediately.  He knows the function of Jesus and what distinguishes him from others.  He knows that Jesus is more powerful and will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  He is probably not talking about fire in a literal sense, but that quality that is sensed on some level by the receiver.  Feeling the power of the Holy Spirit is something some of us continually need to know on some level and for others, one big jolt is enough.  For still others, just a gradual realization that the Holy Spirit is something that has been there all their lives is confirmation.  I don’t know about you, but I want to know that my redeemer lives.  I want to know the reality of God in my life.  Even though, God’s presence in my own thinking has mostly remained elusive, yet I also know that God’s presence in my life is known when I simply put my trust in God and try my best to be obedient to the will of God as I have perceived it.  This is what I see that Jesus is about. 

Jesus comes like any other Jewish believer.  He was raised as a Jew in a Jewish family in the teachings and shelter of the Jewish synagogue.  He knew also the discipline of daily prayer and scripture readings.  How early did he know himself to be the messiah or all that the title meant?  We have no clear record.  But as John baptizes him in the river Jordan, he prays and the heaven opens.  We don’t know exactly what that means except that we are pretty certain that it is something extraordinary.  This is the moment that heaven touches earth in a way that has never happened before or since.  A radical change has just taken place.  That is the end of the Lucan narrative.  We don’t know if anyone actually saw the Holy Spirit in bodily form.  We don’t know if anyone heard a voice from heaven, but we do know that the author of Luke wants to tell us and all who read his work that the proclamation from heaven is this, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

And how does that translate for us?  You are my sons and daughters, I love you way more than any mere human is capable, and I am well pleased with you. I know your sufferings and your struggles.  I still love you.