Identity

1 Samuel 17:32-49; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41

This week, I found myself thinking about old game shows, the kind where the stars had to guess something about the person or persons trying to fool them. They were called What’s My Line? I’ve Got a Secret. To Tell the Truth. Some of these shows have had several incarnations since they first aired in the 1950s. They all focus on the identity of the focus person. In each of them we take time to wonder “who …”

… A few years after David the shepherd boy was anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel, King Saul and his army are at war with the Philistine army. The star of the enemy army is Goliath, a giant man who has been coming forward to repeatedly insult Saul’s army.

Meanwhile, David has been alternating between shepherding the flocks and bringing food and other supplies to his oldest brothers in Saul’s army. He hears Goliath’s words and heads to King Saul. “Please, sir, I can get rid of this enemy for you. He is insulting God’s army and that has to stop. As a shepherd I have killed lions and bears and I can kill this Philistine as well.”

After some more discussion, Saul puts his own armor on David, but it becomes a comic moment, with David trying to move with all that weight on him. He removes the armor, readies his stones and sling shot and fires away at Goliath, taking him down with one stone in the middle of the forehead.

❓Who is this David?

He began as a child in charge of a flock of sheep. He was forgotten or ignored by his father, and teased and even ridiculed by his older brothers. He is now a youth, and the slayer of a giant enemy. His life is about to change, as he becomes famous in the land. Soon, he will move into the palace and develop a life-long bond with Prince Jonathan. And he will become the only one who can soothe King Saul from one of his rages by playing the lyre. And eventually, he will be the king of Israel.

… A thousand years later, Jesus and the disciples and some other followers are in boats, headed to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is tired, so he is catching a nap. A windstorm comes up and the boats are rocking and being swamped with water.

I have been on this sea during a windstorm, and I can promise you, it’s no fun. The Coast Guard would have issued small craft warnings to keep Jesus and the others off the water at that time. Did Jesus know the storm was coming and use it for his own purposes? Did he even create the storm?

I have no idea how Jesus could have been asleep during that storm, and certainly agree with the urgency voiced by the disciples. “Jesus! JESUS!! Don’t you know there’s a storm? We’re being swamped and can’t bail fast enough. Can’t you feel it? Don’t you care that we’re all going to die!?!

Jesus wakes up, looks around at the storm and calls, “Peace! Be still!” and the wind ceases, and the waves stop rocking the boats. Then he questions the disciples, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you afraid?” The disciples look at each other and express their amazement and wonder. “Who is this guy, who can even control the weather?”

❓Yes, who is this Jesus?

Much is made of the slowness of the disciples to understand who Jesus is, that he has divine power, that he is God incarnate. None of the Gospel writers provide us with a calendar, a chronological timeline of Jesus’ life. So, we don’t know if Jesus has been hanging around with the disciples for three months or three years at this point. I even like to excuse their slowness to understand, because I might have been an early fan … or a consistent deny-er . ..for much of Jesus’ life.

It seems this event of stilling the storm was fairly early, several months into the relationship of Jesus and followers. They have seen him heal people of chronic illness or conditions they have had since birth. For some reason, they have not made the mental leap that Jesus could do more than that. And soon they will likewise repeatedly not make the leap to comprehend that he can produce food to feed multitudes out of a boy’s lunch.  

… The Apostle Paul is writing to the Corinthians to correct some behaviors that have been reported to him. The folks who have much are taking advantage of the folks who have little. Paul says, “pay attention to what we have endured as followers of Christ. We have experienced a lot of challenges, yet we go through it all joyfully for the sake of God’s grace. Make sure you are not making it hard for others to follow Jesus by getting in their way.”

As Paul details the wonderful and horrible stuff he and other disciples have gone through, we get a sense of his – and their – persistence in holding onto their faith in Jesus.

❓Who is Paul?

And who are the Corinthians, after such a scolding? All are trying to be faithful followers of Jesus, and not always being perfect or living in the new creation Jesus brought into being.

❓… Who are we, as believers in Jesus? For some of us, it’s as easy as remembering to get up and go to church on Sunday morning, and showing up for other activities during the week. No one tells us we are foolish, or makes life difficult for us. But …

It is not and has not always been easy to be a follower of Jesus. Being a Christian before Emperor Constantine made it a legal religion could get you sent to the lions in the coliseum. Being a Christian in communist East Germany came with economic and social penalties. Being a Christian in militant Muslim areas today can get you killed.

❓… And now, let’s give the identity question one more focus. Who is God in the lives of Samuel, Saul and David? Who is God in the lives of the disciples who walked and sailed with Jesus? Who is God with Paul and all his companions? And who is God, in our own lives?

God is the constant presence, the One being who cares what happens to all and to each. God is the power, the Divine Power, within and through everything that is. God is the Grace who loves and forgives and waits patiently for us all and each to respond to the call to trust and follow.

This week, I hope you will spend some time wondering, pondering, who you are as a follower, a believer, in this Divine Power. Amen