Luke 13:31-35
“I. D. Please”
We have had grand time identifying ourselves at the DMV, at the bank, at the auto dealership, at the doctor’s office, at the hospital, at the grocery store and other places. We carried a briefcase full of information to the DMV, bank, auto dealership, doctor’s office, and hospital. Sometimes it is necessary to prove our identification in a more formal way. When traveling at airports one needs photo identification in order to board a plane – hence we have our passports. We discovered that our passports trump everything else at the DMV, the bank and many other places. We overheard several people at the DMV being told that they just needed one more item such as a birth certificate or a marriage license. Sharing our frustrations with persons in the Berlin church, we discovered that some have been told that they just needed one more item on multiple occasions and had to return several times. One even shared that he was invited to mail himself two letters to his current address and bring them in to establish residency at his box number. Why were these persons not told all that they needed at the first visit?
If you were asked today to identify yourself, how would you do that? We have many options. When we lived in the small village of Salemville, PA, people often knew each other by name or by their relatives. You are the granddaughter of _________? Yvonne might be teaching at a school and she might identify herself as a parent when speaking to a child. “Do you know Karl or Richard Stephan?” I’m their mother.” Likewise, I might be talking to a student on the school bus I am driving and I might ask, “Do you know Karl and Richard Stephan, I am their father?”
There is more to identification that simply our name, of course. I heard a story about a woman who was the mother of four children; sadly one of her children died at a very young age. She always struggled with the seemingly benign question – how many children do you have? In many cases, she knew it was simply a casual question asked in passing, but it would stop her in her tracks. How should she identify herself? If she said three, she felt disloyal to her beloved child who had died. But if she said four, that involved a longer explanation than she wished to provide. This mother said that she settled for sometimes-saying one thing and sometimes another, but she never really felt satisfied with either.
People who are unemployed face a similar dilemma. We identify ourselves by our work. A first question upon meeting someone often is – “What do you do?” In other words, “Who are you?” When a job is lost, frequently identity goes with it. If I have always been a salesman or a school bus driver or a banker and suddenly my job is eliminated, what does that do to my identity? Who am I without a job, a profession or a career?
During the Second World War, sometimes a person’s identity endangered them. Discovery of their true identity would mean imprisonment and possibly death, especially in Nazi Germany.
This question of identity came up often for Jesus. When Jesus was baptized, God named him: “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). This God-given identity would shape Jesus’ ministry. And, throughout his life, Jesus faced forces that conspired to have him deny or diminish this identity.
First it was the tempter. We have heard about this in Sabbath School lessons and sermons before. The tempter wanted Jesus to offer his allegiance to the tempter rather than God. Instead, Jesus identified himself as a follower of God and God alone.
Now it is the Pharisees. They came to Jesus with the news that Herod is after him. You have to watch out, they warn, Herod wants to kill you. This is a real threat. Herod has already killed John the Baptist. The Pharisees encouraged Jesus to get out of town and avoid Herod’s dangerous threats. Very thoughtful of them, don’t you think?
Jesus recognizes Herod as someone who leads by intimidation. Herod would be very pleased if this troublemaker would go away quietly. While Herod identifies Jesus as a threat, Jesus has his own name for this tyrannical leader. Jesus calls Herod a fox – you know what a fox is – a crafty, scheming person ready to obtain his goal by any means necessary.
Jesus stays true to his calling and sends the Pharisees back to Herod with a message of his own. He reminds them that he is casting out demons and performing cures. Jesus has been proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind from the very beginning.
This, says Jesus, is who I am and how I have been living out my ministry. The temptations of the devil and the threats of a deluded emperor cannot sway Jesus from his call. Now time is getting short and Jesus is determined to live out his identity to the end. When the Pharisees report back to Herod, it will be clear whose voice Jesus considers to be important. It is not Herod’s. Jesus is listening to God. Jesus’ identity – beloved Son – can never be taken away from him. God’s word is permanent.
The world is not nearly so kind to us. Society is very fickle about identity. Ask any teenager about how things can change overnight. The popular person today can be the outcast tomorrow. The adult world is not so different. The relentless news cycle that thrusts a person into the limelight one moment can just as quickly leave her or him behind in obscurity.
Society attempts to label us based on a variety of criteria: skin color, politics, whom we love, where we live, the work we do, or the hobbies we pursue. It can be distressingly easy to forget our true identity – that each of us is a beloved child of God. This is what is always true about us, no matter what messages may be conveyed to us by others. This identity can never be taken away. It is an identity that we claim for ourselves at our baptism and that endures forever. We are God’s beloved children.
Jesus listened to God’s voice and knew who he was. Jesus remained true to his calling despite threats and intimidation. That knowledge would carry him to Jerusalem, where voices would echo the cry of “Blessed is the king one who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven” (Luke 19:38)! Jesus’ identity would take him to the cross and beyond. And all the while, the God who named him and loved him would strengthen Jesus.
PRAYER: God of courage and strength, amidst distractions, temptations, and overwhelming circumstances, your call to us remains constant: “Come and follow me.” When we give in to the voices of fear or the lure of despair, forgive us. Remind us of who we are and whose we are. Let us draw our strength from your endless well of faithfulness and comfort. In the Name of our Savior who goes before us, we pray. Amen.
