Intro:
Today of all days, Super bowl Sunday, you can imagine the plight of the poor town of Washington, PA. Just a few miles south of Pittsburgh, it is doubtful that you will find too many fans of the Seattle Seahawks fans. And yet, for this town of about 15,000, they don’t want you to have any doubts. So, Washington, PA has officially changed it name – for this week only – to Steeler, PA. Still, pity the poor town – the Post Office will only deliver your mail if it is addressed to Washington. Talk about an identity crisis.
I can sympathize with that town. Depending on the time of day, my identity is that of engineer, a daddy, a husband, a student, and yes, even a pastor. If it weren’t for the fact that I didn’t have to time to think about it too deeply, I’d swear I had multiple personality disorder. But admist all of these roles, my chief identity must always be this – I belong to Christ. What would he be in my life today?
Basing your identity is a difficult thing. There are people who enjoy being known as sports fans; that word, by the way, is simply short for ‘fanatic.’ -i.e. one who worships, as in a temple... Their identities are, for the day, caught up in the successes and failures of a group of men doubtful few have ever gotten to know individually, and probably never will.
What is identity?
Psychologists will tell us that identity is the thing that defines who we are – it’s our purpose for doing what we do. Deep inside each of us, there is a need to belong to something greater than ourselves. We seek meaning and belonging by joining families, tribes, teams, classes, nations, and race. We seek to identify with those things that we believe in. In doing so, we have a tendency to define ourselves as different from “them.”
There is an historian by the name of Girard who has suggested that the central dynamic of all history – the process that explains every action we’ve ever written about – is this negative form of identity, the scapegoat. Every war, every law, every class and racial distinction – it’s about defining “us” as better than “them.” That scapegoat dynamic leads to conflict when “they” think they’re better than us. He wronged me! I’ll wrong him. It’s not until Jesus can come and say, “Stop” that there can ever be peace.
You see, Jesus didn’t draw lines. He never compromised who he was, but he didn’t use that identity to distinguish himself. The whole point of who Jesus was – was to bring others to God through himself.
Paul’s Identity leads him to break down barriers
In our text this morning, you can almost hear a sort of identity confusion in Paul. Paul, of course, was a guy just like you and me. He grew up with a very religious identity. He was a Pharisee – a good man – you might even say he was like a deacon in his synagogue. But when he had an encounter with Christ, that identity was shaken to its very core. In coming face to face with the risen Christ he realized one thing – his identity needed to be in Christ alone.
And so, for the rest of his life, he had one purpose, one aim – that was to see Christ be glorified in as many places as he could find. Tactically, that meant something rather difficult. You see, as a Pharisee, identity was simple. You just obeyed the commandments and portrayed the same, faithfully observant face in all situations. It didn’t matter how people would react, you just kept the commandments.
As a follower of Christ, however, it got more complicated. It wasn’t that he was supposed to compromise his faith – no far from it. But if Paul was to identify himself with Christ that meant that he could raise no barriers of his own. You see, Jesus was perfect, and yet he was perfect both in the setting of the synagogue and the slum. He was perfect whether he was in the presence of the preacher or the prostitute. Jesus’ identity was fully in God no matter what the situation. And Paul realized that if he truly was in Christ, he needed to be the same way.
I’m sure there were people who wondered about Paul the same way there were people who wondered about Jesus. Why is he eating with tax collectors and sinners? Why was he hanging out with dirty gentiles? After all, don’t good people keep themselves clean? They wouldn’t want to dirty themselves with … them!
But that’s not what Paul is saying in this text. Let me read this to you again:
For though I am free with respect to all,
I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law so that I might win those under the law.
To those outside the law I became as one outside the law so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak.
And now, here’s the punch line:
I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
Do you see what Paul is saying here? My identity is so deep, that it’s bigger than what you see. My identity is simply this – it’s Jesus, wherever he takes me.
You see, your identity is something deep in your core. It’s really easy to say, oh, I’m on such and such a team – just look at my jersey. But to say, no matter where this goes, I am committed to winning with this at all costs – that’s not just some outward manifestation, it goes to the very essence of who you are.
When you are confronted with something different, you then have a choice to make. Typically, people choose to compromise – to give in and base your identity on something else – or they choose to simply ignore and draw up lines. But there is a third and harder way – to be Christ in all things.
You see, if Jesus is at the very core of who you are, he’s already broke down the barriers inside of you. If Jesus is at the very core of who you are, he’s already become part of your everyday life. He’s who you are when you sit down to eat. He watches television with you. He’s with you whether you’re feeding the horses or going to the bathroom. There is no distinction in what you do.
So, when you go out, it’s natural that Jesus should be there too.
We like to put our selves on “teams” and describe ourselves by what we are not. Years ago, that used to be race. “I’m white, and therefore better!” people would say. But what are you first? White or Christian?
Others will say, “I’ve worked hard all my life, and I deserve everything I’ve got!” But what are you first? Rich or Christian?
I don’t want to get into this here too much, but I have this same problem with militant homosexuals who want to say ‘the church has to affirm my sexuality!’ Well, again, leaving aside the question of what behaviors are sinful, one has to ask, what would that person be first? Homosexual or Christian?
Basing your identity on anything other than Christ is, by definition, not Christian. Either he is LORD or he is not. A Lord gets to decide who you are. Either he is your identity, or he is not. He is a jealous God, he doesn’t share, because he doesn’t need to.
Sometimes, it’s worth asking, do I wear my faith like a Sunday suit? Or is Jesus something that bubbles out in what I do every day of the week? Does my faith protect me from the dirty parts of the world? Or does it compel me to break down every barrier that keeps those I see from Christ?
Christianity can be a shield from the parts of the world we don’t want to see. It keeps us from having to be a part of things we don’t want to be. You know, even something like “serving the poor” can be done such that the purpose is to remain separate from them. Holding the spoon, writing the check – it can be a comfort that I’m not one of “them.” But Jesus loved the poor. He was one of “them.” Sitting down and seeing a person. That’s what Jesus did.
Frankly, I’ll tell you. On Feb. 19th – when we invite “everybody” to come to breakfast – there will probably be people I wouldn’t normally associate with who will come. It’s not going to be easy for me to let my barriers down, so that we can share Christ together. But it is what Christ wants. We are to become all things to all men, so that by all means, we might save some.
Roe’s identity
I think Phillip Benham can teach us something in this regard. His is not a name I knew, but he knows Christ. He’s a pastor, and his biggest passion is to for the unborn. He’s the national director of Operation Rescue, so you can probably imagine his reaction when he met Norma McCorvey.
If you don’t know who Norma McCorvey is, you should probably know that when she was a teenager, she was raped. She was married by the time she was 16, and her husband beat her. Dropping out of school in the ninth grade, she tried to lose herself in drugs, alcohol, and sex of every kind. Her first daughter was being raised by her mother, the second by the child’s father, who did so on the condition that Norma could never see them. When she was 21, she found herself pregnant for the third time. So, she tried to get an abortion. But Texas law wouldn’t let her.
A lawyer at the time Sarah Weddington was looking for a test case to make abortion legal. In order to protect her, she gave Norma McCorvey the protective identity of “Jane Roe.” Her case against the District attorney, Henry Wade went all the way to the Supreme Court. On January 22, 1973, they decided that it was a woman’s right to choose whether or not to keep the baby.
You can imagine, then, what Phillip Benham thought of Norma McCorvey.
But to his credit, Phillip Benham was something even more important than an antiabortion activist. First and foremost, he was a Christian who believed in the dignity of all of God’s children. And so, they just started talking. Gradually, slowly, the two came to respect each other. Gradually, slowly, Norma McCorvey realized there was something missing in her life. And so, gradually, slowly, McCorvey became a Christian. She was baptized on August 8th, 1995.
Eight years later, she tried to go back to the Supreme Court and ask them to overturn the case – her case – that defines who she is for most people. Sadly, they didn’t, but no matter. Norma McCorvey has found new life in Christ. God praise men like Phillip Benham who like Paul agreed. I have became all things to all men, so that by any means, I might save some.
It’s easy to get caught up in thinking along team lines. We’re on God’s team – they’re not. Let’s whip’em! It’s a metaphor that works on Super bowl Sunday, but it’s not in the Bible. No boundaries. No boundaries that keep anyone from the cross.
Would you pray with me?
Long Branch Baptist Church
Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Enter to Worship
Prelude David Witt
Invocation Michael Hollinger
*Opening Hymn #67
“Praise Him! Praise Him!
Welcome & Announcements
Morning Prayer
*Hymn #163
“Rock of Ages”
*Responsive Reading [See Right]
*Offertory Hymn #58
“Love Divine All Loves Excelling”
Offertory Mr. Witt
*Doxology
Scripture
Sermon
“Who are you?”
Invitation Hymn #156
“Jesus Paid It All”
Benediction
Congregational Response #136
Sprit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. Sprit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.
Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.
* Congregation, please stand.
Depart To Serve
RESPONSIVE READING
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
Rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
We are what he has made us,
Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.
He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,
and He reconciles both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God
I have been crucified with Christ;
It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
- Proverbs 22:1-2; Ephesians 2:10-19; Galatians 2:19-20
Title: Who Are You?
Text: 1 Corinthians 9:19-24
FCF: If identity is not found in Christ, it is in the wrong thing
SO: In preparation for our Community Breakfast, I want to remind LB that our identity is not as “LB church” or as rich people who serve poor people, or even as white people or whatever – We must have no barriers between ourselves and those whom Christ loved.
