Do You Know Who You Are?
Mark 2: 23-28 NRSV
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray.
When reading this passage of scripture, you may wonder, OK so why would she pick this passage of scripture to use during lent. Well, this passage of scripture is significant because of one thing. Christ is telling people who he is. And he is declaring it with all confidence and authority that is giving to him through God.
Jesus is telling us who he is. As we continue to observe Lent and get ready to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we need to revisit, who we are.
Right now, I know what I am…I’m tired. And God knows that, but to be able to still praise God in the midst of all that’s going on with our lives, that’s what you call spiritual maturity. Every one doesn’t have it, but we all pray that we reach that point. Do you know who you are?
When we examine this passage again, Jesus and the crew were going through the grain fields gathering grain, and one of the Pharisee… don’t just love them. I love them because Jesus always checked them in true Jesus style. He checked with their own teachings and words. You know that really makes people mad when you use their own stuff against them because it makes them look foolish.
What do people say, “If you want to hide something from black people, put it in book.” That’s so right it’s scary because we don’t read the way that we should, but yet and still we are still held accountable none the less.
But that doesn’t keep people from talking does it. People always have something to say. They have something to say if you’re not doing anything in church, and they have something to say even if you.
And going to back to scripture they had something to say too…The nay Sayers are quit to say “Look at them, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” And Jesus reply is “Have you not heard of what David when he and his companions did when they were striving? He entered in the House of God and the most sacred bread that was only for the priest to eat, and he gave some to the men that were with him. Let make this know to you, the Sabbath was made for people. The people were not made of the Sabbath.”
And he took it one step further. He told them… “The Son of Man is lord even over the Sabbath.”
No only is Christ the lord of the Lord, but he is Lord. Because of what he went through on Calvary we got something to celebrate because now we have an idea of who we are to God. We are loved! We are blessed! We are redeemed!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
If Jesus can declare who he is with all confidence, power, and authority, then we shouldn’t have anything to worry about or be insecure of who we are to God.
When you know who you are to God, when the world tells you no, you already understand that God has the last word! When the world tells you to give up, when you know who you are you say without any reservation I can do all things through Christ! If you know who you are to God, then understand that the same promise of abundant prosperity that he gave to Abraham is guaranteed to all that accept Christ.
But if you have questions about who you are…if you have reservations about the power that is invoked through Christ, then realize that when you got Christ in your life, you got the right one! Because of Christ we become more than conquerors.
Once you take on Christ, can’t nobody or nothing take Christ from you? You take on Christ you are more than saved!
Remember it’s always the darkest before the dawn…but guess what ya’ll on that Sunday Morning… When we come to church we are gonna have to celebrate with all our heart, minds, and souls because of who we are! Because Christ withstood Calvary, because he looked death in the eye and said you no longer reign!!! We gone say he lives!!! Not just literally but in our hearts as well! We do worship the living God! Because of Christ we are not foreigners any more!!! We are co-heirs to kingdom! We are bound for lives of glory! But you have to know who you are because if you don’t, you won’t get there.
Let’s turn to the third chapter of Galatians ya’ll: starting at verse 13-14. I’ll be reading from the Message for this passage:
13-14Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.
So in other words, the promises of Abraham is ours for the taking too! If God can make Abraham the father of all three monotheistic religions of the world… if God can make Abraham into a great nation, then understand that God has something wonderful in store for life as well, but the question is…. Do you know who you are?
Because if you really did, whatever you are going through, you can get through it ya’ll. Somebody needs to say amen to that one because when you’re one of God’s, you know that trouble don’t last always.
Jesus basically told these folk that they needed to get their mind right. If the Son of Man is the salvation of God and has all authority on earth, under earth, and in heaven, then it would just be common sense for him to be Lord of the Sabbath too?
Christ was not insecure with who he is, but we do sometimes. Women especially do because of the unrealistic expectation of beauty that is out there. The goal should not be to be a size 4. The goal is to be the healthiest person you can be.
But getting back on track…If someone said that I am the Son of God, and I’ve come here to save the world, and you look at him… You’re first reaction would probably be like what many people said “What Joseph’s boy? You’re joking right? Quit playing? He turn water into what? Boy, quit tripping don’t nothing good come out of Nazereth.”
“Yeah right he supposed to save the world, he need to save some money and get some more sandals and get rid of that old dusty tunic.” Yeah, if you read scripture or seen the movies… they dogged Jesus out, but it didn’t bother him because he knows who he is! Amen! He is the Prince of Peace, Almighty God, Counselor, Holy One, Lion of Judah, Son of Man, Son of God, the great I AM, the Resurrection and the Life, King of Kings, Jesus Christ! And because of what he did we lift our hands, lives, and hearts to him! It’s not about us…It’s all about God!!!!
We bask in his glory, not ours because if it weren’t for what he did for us on Calvary, we’d be nothing!
Do you know who are? And if you do know who you are, have you embraced it?
I mean really know who you are? Because Jesus sanctifies us and makes us right with God, that is why Christ is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters.
If God can speak and act through his Son, the guess what ya’ll he can speak and act through us too. Think about… It’s hard to take in sometimes. But think about from this point of view…Angels are spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. That means that when we have divine spirits that are sent to be of service to us! WE don’t serve them nor are subject to them. All you got to do is read Hebrews 2:5. Dust off that Bible and read about how much power you have in Christ! It’s infinite power, but we don’t take advantage of it because a lot of times we are alright with being mediocre. We need to stop being alright with that and need to operating in the supernatural. Because the angels are here to serve us…. Not the other way around…they here for us, we’re not here for them.
That’s proof in the pudding right there Paul is telling us in his letter to the Hebrews and Galatians that we need to be mindful of who we are. And that we need to do all that we can to not lose our way. It’s easy because we live in a world that doesn’t want hear about the saving, redemptive power of Jesus Christ. There’s people out there who would rather hear about any but the how God can add meaning to their lives. But don’t you be that way! Greater is he that is within me than he that is in the world!!! We have to live by that! We have to claim it! And we need to name that! Because if it had not been for Christ, we’d all be in trouble!
Each and every one of has an anointing on your lives that will bring life and hope to other people. Each and every one of us has a gift and a passion that will enable us to be the church that is a vision of hope, peace, and spiritual renewal. We got that with just the people that we have here. Once we understand who we are… once we truly know who we are as McCabe Chapel then trust, that God will reveal it to everyone around us! It’s more than a notion; it’s what God can do.
Do you know who you are? Do you understand how important you are? Do you realize the value that you have to God? Do you understand the urgency that we live in?
Let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 15 starting at the 10th verse.
10-11But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven't I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn't amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it's all the same: We spoke God's truth and you entrusted your lives.
Ya’ll this is powerful because when you know who you are… you can bring other people to God! Your testimony is not perverted or warped. It is what is and God gets the glory. Amen! You are edified! And your light is shining in the darkest of places and your light… the light of Christ within you is life saving to someone!
Think about it. Who are you? I’ll let you what you are! You are loved, You are redeemed, You are powerful, You are treasured and cherished, You are hope, You are peace, You are compassion, You are healing, You are smart, You are creative, You are favored, You are blessed, You are anointed, You are victorious, You are more than a conqueror! And most importantly you are needed!
With the same confidence and assurance Christ told the Pharisees and Sadducees who he was without any reservation and with all power and authority. You have that same power, and authority, but you need to know who you are and who you belong to because you life is not your own. It was brought at a high price. There’s nothing that you can do to earn your way into the kingdom, but the wonderful perfect gift of salvation should not be squandered.
