Discovering Our Beloved Identity as God’s Children
Confronting Our Identity Crisis
I wonder whether you ever feel you are having an identity crisis. You’re not quite sure who you are. You’re not quite sure what your place is. I’ll tell you I do. It’s not that I forget my name or where I am. That may come further down the road, I know. But it does happen, particularly when I go back to the parish of Romley in the north of England where I was for 22 years, the Vicar. I think during most of that time in the parish, I thought I knew who I was and why I was there. I thought I knew what my relationship was meant to be to the 10 or 11,000 people who lived in that parish. And we love going back there because two of our daughters still live in the area.
They’re both very involved in the church that we used to lead. We’ve got many friends there. We always get a warm welcome. But the problem is that sometimes I spot someone and I think, do I recognise that face? Will they recognise me? Do I speak to them? And suddenly I’m not quite sure. I know I’m not the vicar, but I’m not quite sure how I meant to relate to that person.
The Rabbi’s Life-Changing Question
There’s a story that I love, and forgive me, I think I may have told this story several years ago, but you’re bound to have forgotten it, but it’s a great story about a Jewish rabbi called Akiva, Ben Joseph. He lived in Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee in the years, soon after the death and the resurrection of Jesus.
And the story goes that Akiva was wandering along the shore late one afternoon and he was caught up in his meditations and he missed his usual turning and continued and then found himself standing in front of the local Roman garrison and a sentry, a young lad up on the wall, looked down at him and said, who are you and why are you here?
And in typical rabbinic fashion, Akiva responded to him with his own question. He said, young man, how much do they pay you to stand on that wall and ask that question. He realised that Akiva was a rabbi, no particular threat. And he said they pay me five drachmas a week. And Akiva made him an offer.
He said, young man, I’ll pay you twice that amount if you will come and stand at my door and every day ask me that question. Who are you and why are you here? Akiva understood the importance of knowing our identity, knowing who we are, because who we think we are really matters. Some of you will be familiar with a long running TV series on the BBC, which is called Who do you think You Are?
And every week they trace the ancestry of some celebrity. It’s amazing what they discover about people’s family history, but what is interesting is that every week every participant recognises that discovering who they are actually changes them. Who we think we are really matters.
Discovering Our Beloved Identity in Christ
In the St. Peter’s Life group, which we have on Zoom each week, except during our summer break, for months now, we’ve been studying the Gospel of John - Ephesians 2:13 (brought near to God) - Romans 8 (nothing can separate us from God’s love) - John 15 (branch of the true vine) - Various Pauline “in Christ” passages), and one of the things that we have realized is that John, the gospel writer, as he writes the gospel story, never uses his own name, John. He always refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now, I am convinced that John did not think that Jesus loved him more than anybody else, but this was John’s identity. This was how he saw himself as someone who was loved by Jesus. So when John came to write his letters, and we’ve just heard an extract from one of those letters, he addressed his readers as Beloved.
And in Greek, it’s the word Agapetoi, and perhaps you’ll recognise Agape. The Agapetoi, the beloved ones. They’re the recipients of God’s agape, unconditional love. And as we heard in our reading, God is love. That’s the essence of who God is, and we believe in a God who is Father, son, and Holy Spirit, an amazing community of love, a community that we are invited into because we are God’s children.
We are the beloved. It’s our identity.
The Church as God’s Beloved Community
In his book, Images of the Church in the New Testament, Paul Minear explores 96 different metaphors of the church. It’s rather like the many facets of a beautiful diamond. The New Testament provides insights into the nature of this. This community, this glorious reality that we call the church, the body of Christ, the flock of the Good Shepherd, God’s fellow workers, the salt of the earth, light of the world, a letter from Christ, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people of God.
The faithful, the sanctified, the justified. A new creation. The first fruits, a new humanity, the bride of Christ, and the list goes on. From the lips of Jesus and from the pens of Paul and Peter and James and John, come an image of what we generally call the church, and it never refers to a building. It’s an image that is incredibly rich and multidimensional, and every one of those different perspectives or metaphors gives us a particular crucial insight into our identity.
Three Key Dimensions of Our Identity
And with this portrait of the church, there are certain key themes. First of all, there is that vital and intimate personal connection between us and God. We abide in God, God abides in us. God is our Father, we are his children, and I enter into that personal relationship when I put my trust in Jesus as the Son of God and in his death on the cross for my sins.
And then there are a whole series of images that reveal the corporate dimension of the church. This radical new society, a new humanity where love rules, where the walls are division are broken down, where diversity is welcome, and yet unity is absolute. And then there are many images that remind us of the purpose of the church that we’re here to continue the work of Christ, to work with him in the healing of creation.
And God equips us. He equips us with the gifts of His Holy Spirit so that we can each of us bring our unique and crucial contribution to that shared task.
Living Forward in Hope
And in this rich tapestry of pictures of metaphors, we also discovered that the church is moving forward towards a glorious future. The Swiss theologian, Hans Küng, he described the church as essentially an interim church, a church in transition, and therefore not a church of fear. But of expectation and hope, a church which is directed towards the consummation of the world by God.
I do think that one of the main challenges we face as followers of Jesus today is holding onto a clear sense of who we are and what is our calling. It’s one of the favorite themes running through the writings of the Apostle Paul, who over 150 times in his letters he uses the phrase in Christ or in the Lord as he tries to grasp the amazing privileges and benefits given to every follower of Jesus.
Embracing Your Beloved Identity in Christ
We are a new creation. We are recipients of the incomparable riches of God’s grace. We are citizens of God’s kingdom of love and joy and peace. Paul writes that once we were far away, but now we are brought near, and the word that he uses there in Ephesians two is the term that was normally used in the context of ushering somebody into a royal court. In the UK, we’ve just had the state visit of President Macron. And we saw him being ushered into the presence of King Charles in Windsor castle. It’s that sort of image, and we think back to when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom. No longer are we barred access from this most holy place.
We are permanently welcomed into the Royal Court of the King of Kings. We’re welcomed into that divine community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Inspired by Paul Young’s book that I love called The Shack that some of you I know have read. I try to start each day by going into our little garden room with a cup of coffee, and when I settle down, I say, good morning Papa, good morning, Jesus, good morning, Holy Spirit. And it helps me to grasp the fact that I’ve been invited to share in that inner life of the triune God. What an incredible privilege. How amazing is that?
Your Complete Identity in Christ
But I need to remember that I’m God’s beloved child. A friend of Jesus justified bought at a price. Chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven.
I have direct access to the throne of grace. I’m free from condemnation. There’s nothing that can separate me from the love of God, and God will complete the good work that he has started. I’m a branch of Jesus, the true vine, a channel of his life chosen to bear fruit. I’m a temple of the Holy Spirit, an ambassador of the King of Kings, and so much more, and that’s one of the reasons we’re encouraged to cultivate a devotional life.
Cultivating Your Beloved Identity
That’s something that Mark has been doing recently. I know, encouraging us in prayer and bible study and silence and meditation. We’re encouraged to engage in these spiritual disciplines. Practices of engagement like prayer and Bible study and fellowship and celebration. Practices of abstinence like silence and solitude and fasting.
Because as we engage in these holy habits, we become more aware of who we are in Christ, and we invite the spirit of Jesus to grow his character within us.
Living as the Beloved
So who are you? Why are you here? And I don’t mean just in this building.
Can you say, I am beloved, a recipient of God’s agape love. As John said in that reading we had, when God’s love revealed to us, when God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. I am beloved. That means we are the beloved ones and that is what it means to be church. That is our identity and it should be our reputation. We should be known supremely as the people who know how to love. How to love God, how to love each other, and how to love God’s beautiful world.
Additional Scripture References Mentioned:
- Gospel of John (general reference to John as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”)
- Ephesians 2:13 (brought near to God)
- Romans 8 (nothing can separate us from God’s love)
- John 15 (branch of the true vine)
- Various Pauline “in Christ” passages