Who Are You?

I thought all the tellers at the bank knew me. But the young woman who greeted me asked for identification! So I pulled out my driver’s license which has an old picture of me: no mustache, no beard, darker hair…OLD. She looked at it, and looked at me. Looked again at the picture, looked again at me. After an eternity, she evidently thought it was me and allowed me to transfer some funds from my travel account to checking… Scriptures to be read this weekend deal with who we are and who we could be. Hearers are supposed to twitch, at least a little bit.

We begin with a lament found in JEREMIAH 20:7-13–the prophet is basically saying, “Why ME?” Yet a burning fire is shut up within his bones, and he’s compelled to speak out in YHWH’s name against the prevailing idolatry. Jeremiah is a laughing-stock because he speaks the Truth to people around him: hard words to say, even harder words to hear. The issues then and now are the same: the worship of “alien” gods. Different spellings, same old injustice, trust in military might, owning more than we need… Jeremiah reminds himself that YHWH is always present, “like a dread warrior”: it’s good to have a strong friend to stand with you in battle.

ROMANS 6:1-11 presents Paul’s conundrum: law or license? How can we be both acceptable to our neighbors AND be honest to God’s expectations? Paul contends that there’s no way to escape the habits of sin except through Christ. The world will keep on clamoring for “More”, seducing us into the belief that “everyone’s like this”, self-centered instead of Christ-centered. Yet a new identity awaits us as we turn (reluctantly) away from Stuff and embrace the ethic of God’s Domain.

The Gospel is again from MATTHEW 10:24-29: the Disciple is like the Teacher, drawing an identity from such a master. This text is meant to assure the missionaries previously sent forth that God goes with them, not to fear even in the tough places. OK for YOU to say, but I’d rather stay safe than risk derision and homelessness and a lack of fast foods! The sword wielded by Jesus is that which cuts through the flab of my pampered life, which trims the unnecessary corpulence from the Real Me somewhere inside. This is scary, but the God of the Sparrows also has an eye on me… If I hang around Jesus enough, will I eventually begin to look like him?

These are difficult texts to embrace: I know that I’m “rich in things but poor in soul”. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

You’re invited to help explore scripture to be read during the upcoming weekend: every Tuesday at horacebrownking.com