THOUGHTS OF A MONK

The Sunday after Theophany: Who Are You?

January 8, 2006 

Now that we have gotten through another College Football Bowl Season we can finally put the question of “Who’s # 1” behind us. Or can we? Right around the corner is the Super Bowl and then College Basketball will be moving into its playoffs leading to the Final Four and a Championship game, and then professional basketball, hockey and let’s not forget the World Series. Investing a lot of time and energy into the question of “Who’s # 1” can become a lifetime preoccupation, or occupation, if you’re a sports writer. But if we were honest about it, we would probably notice that concern about being numero uno isn’t just restricted to athletics.

We are constantly bombarded by advertisements that tout products or companies as being number one: The number one auto dealership in this area, number one school, number one restaurant, number one cheesecake.  It was remarkable a few years ago that an auto rental company actually made being number two a virtue, but it was only a slight of hand because when they admitted to being number two they also said they were better than number one because “we try harder.” So they turned number two into number one in the category of “trying harder.”

Another way of speaking about # 1 is about the best. Take the Academy Awards. It’s all about the best: the best actor, the best actress, the best picture and so forth. Being voted the best is not a bad thing. But then there’s the self-evaluation. The classic image of that phenomenon is Muhammad Ali the boxer who proclaimed: “I’m the greatest.” But in the sport of boxing he was the greatest.

When one embarks on a career it is desirable to strive to be the best in one’s chosen vocation.
It’s American to strive to be the best and to be seen as such by your peers or better yet your employer! When we apply for jobs frequently an employer will ask for a CV (a curriculum vitae) or a summary of your work experience. It’s about what you have done in your career. The danger in the CV is when one begins to see that CV as a statement about one’s worth as a human being. It may be a statement about our worth in our field of work, but no more. One wonders if the US Army realized what they were saying when they developed their recruiting slogan: “Be all that you can be in the Army.”  The first part of that statement, be all that you can be is a good thing. But what was described after that was more about what you would learn to do. It is a universal good to strive to be all that you can be.

In this morning’s Gospel lesson we hear that a delegation was sent by the Jewish leadership to question John the Baptist. Notice what they asked him. They didn’t ask him what he did. They didn’t want his CV.  After all they knew what he did. Rather they wanted to know who he was.  “Who are you?” they asked. His reply? I’m not who you think I am. I’m not Elijah, not the prophet, not the Messiah, I am but a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. And he went on to say that he was not fit even to fasten the strap on the sandals of the Lord. That task was left for servants, so he was saying he was of lower status than a servant. So was John the Baptist a model of humility? Yes, but probably not in the way one might usually expect to see humility. After all John was attracting huge crowds and was calling for repentance. He was no wilting flower. You probably wouldn’t want him as a houseguest. But he knew who he was, and who he was not and he was not pretending to be someone other than himself. That’s being honest. That’s also being humble. And it takes courage to be humble.

Great Lent, believe it or not is not that far away. We will meet again the Publican and the Pharisee. For the publican to go into the Temple and beg for mercy from the Lord took great courage. Courage to admit that he was not living, as he should. What he was doing and who he was were not in sync. To admit one’s faults and ask for God’s mercy is the first step along the path of repentance, which is what John the Baptist’s message was all about. God wants us to be who we were created to be. When we are not, then getting back to that place is what repentance is all about; it is also what humility is all about.

When I was a youngster, one day I was playing with a lighter, exploring, just trying to see what this thing called fire was all about. Before I realized it I had burned a hole in the bottom of a stuffed footstool in our living room. I was punished for what I had done, which included spending some time in my room. But I was not banished from the family table or thrown out of the house. I was still loved by my parents. What I did was not appreciated, but who I was, was. I was my parents’ son, what I did would not change that. My parents still loved me, despite what I had done. In a larger sense, we need to remember that we are all God’s sons and daughters, what we do will not change that. God’s love for us, who we are at the core of our being, does not change despite what we might do – good or bad. This is the miracle of God’s love for us. God loves us for who we are, not for what we do.

Jesus Christ came to John the Baptist to be baptized, even though Jesus was without sin and not in need of that ritual cleansing and repentance. So, when Jesus consented to be baptized, this was a display of humility on Jesus’ part. It is possible to be # 1 and to be humble. It is also possible not to be # 1 and to be humble. To be humble is to be in touch with your inner reality and to be at peace with it, not constantly trying to be someone you are not. Trying to live in a way that makes the question “who are you” superfluous because you live that reality.

So who are you? You are God’s beloved. And to act like it is to act in a way that brings to light God’s goodness. In terms of our Christian faith, St. Paul gives us a description of what that looks like when he says: “you were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord, behave as children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and uprightness and truth.” (Ep 5: 8-9) 

So who are you? First and foremost, you are God’s beloved. Do not be afraid to live like you believed it.

Christ is in our midst!