Jenny R. Weber “Identity Theft” January 15, 2017
Identity theft. Fortunately I haven’t had to deal with this and I hope you haven’t either.
But it is a scary possibility isn’t it?
The idea that someone would take your name, social security number, address,
credit card accounts and begin posing as you on the internet and other places
is unsettling to say the least.
To think that someone not at all like you in their morals and character is pretending to be you
is disturbing and can make life chaotic.
The technology that we so value and can’t imagine living without,
has also caused problems we never imagined.
Hacking that leads to security breaches and lack of privacy can be devastating.
When I did an internet search for “identity theft,” of the 69 million hits,
one of the top articles is about identity theft recovery.
It’s a traumatic experience to have your name taken from you
and can cause problems for months or even years.
In the world, we are identified by our name and often by a number—
social security or driver’s license.
We have identification cards to prove who we are.
And it is hard to function without these particular identities.
But for those of us gathered in this place, the church,
we have another identity—beloved child of God.
As Christians, we have been called from the very beginning, Beloved.
This is our most important identity.
And fortunately, it isn’t one that can be stolen.
No one can take that identity from us.
One greater than us, the indescribable and mysterious God who brought the world into being,
our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, has a claim on us.
This is our identity from the time we are born.
This is our identity made clear in our baptism.
Our God has named us.
But we live in a world that is constantly trying to tell us that this identity is false.
We live in a world that wants to strip us of this identity.
Our challenge as people of faith is to hold on it.
Our challenge is to never forget that we are called Beloved.
This is difficult in a world that is constantly trying to make us something else.
The media—TV, movies, web-sites, bill boards—they all place images before us.
Images of success, wealth, and happiness are linked with products and experiences for sale.
And so we buy these things in hopes of becoming the happy person we see
in the images of the world.
But it’s not just consumer goods and the marketplace that give us messages
about who we should be.
The systems of which we are a part do it, too.
We are taught in our families of origin what proper behavior is
and what a family should look like.
Sometimes we learn dysfunctional ways of behaving or learn that the way to get love
is to do something really well.
Our schools grade us on our performance and those grades are based on standards
that are supposed to fit all of us.
But in reality, we are all different and learn in a variety of ways and
how in the world can these grading systems really evaluate
how we are going to do as a person in the world?
Even the church can instill behaviors or attitudes
that are not really about being who Jesus taught us to be.
As society has advanced, it seems to have pushed all of us, who are unique individuals,
into molds with particular assumptions and expectations.
And when we don’t meet those expectations then we disappoint someone or
are considered a failure in the eyes of someone or some larger entity.
That was never the goal.
There wasn’t a committee who deliberately said, “Let’s make everyone alike.”
But many of us find ourselves flailing in the world as adults because we felt pushed into
doing particular things that in retrospect, really weren’t appropriate for us
or what we wanted.
Was college really where you belonged?
Was the college you attended your choice or someone else’s?
Was that the major you really wanted?
As adults then, whose true identity has often been somewhat hi-jacked,
we have to re-discover who we are.
In psychological terms, this is one’s true self rather than the false one.
In Christian terms I would say this is remembering that we are called Beloved.
Jesus is baptized at the beginning of his public ministry.
The moment when John baptized Jesus with water and God’s voice spoke from heaven
was the beginning of something new.
Baptism was what solidified who Jesus was and grounded him for all that lay ahead.
God wanted Jesus to know that the most important part of who he was,
was that he was loved by God.
His very being was all about being loved and being adored by his father.
God didn’t give Jesus a plan or a list of objectives.
God simply said, “You are my beloved.”
That was the most important piece to understand as Jesus set his course.
We, too, need to be grounded in who we are.
For most of us who were baptized as infants,
we do not remember the waters of baptism or the words spoken.
But when we know we have been baptized and
when a faith community has invested themselves in us
and our spiritual formation and nurture, then, from the very beginning,
we have some sense that we are loved unconditionally and that our identity
is found in God our Creator.
If we cannot claim the identity as one of God’s Beloved children,
it can be incredibly difficult to go forth in our journey of life and faith
and be confident in who we are.
Yesterday I attended an event hosted by our Annual Conference’s
Reconciling Ministry Task Force called “Winter Warming.”
Reconciling congregations are those United Methodist faith communities
who have stated that they are open and affirming of GLBTQ folks.
This event is an opportunity to be with like-minded folks and
to get resources for work in this area of justice ministry.
I went primarily to hear Bishop Karen Oliveto, the first out lesbian bishop
in the United Methodist Church preach during worship.
Karen was my pastor when I was a young adult missionary in San Francisco
and it was a joy to reconnect with her.
Her sermon was wonderful.
She reminded everyone in the room that God’s love is all-inclusive.
But before Bishop Oliveto spoke, there was a lay witness by a woman named Suzanne.
Suzanne is a teacher in the northwest suburbs and a member
of First UMC of Arlington Heights.
She is a lesbian and is the advisor for the LGBTQ student group at her school.
She talked about how so many students who are coming out,
don’t have any idea that there are churches who would welcome them fully
for who they are.
The experiences they have had or have heard about, give them a negative impression
about Christianity.
Suzanne is able to witness in this setting by sharing about her own faith experience
and her congregation, that is a fully inclusive and welcoming congregation.
She can share with these students that who they are is who God created them to be.
She can encourage them to claim their identity and not allow society
or the dominant culture to take that away from them or cause them to hide it
or to be ashamed.
She can offer them a safe space and that unconditional love which God has for us.
Suzanne can help these youth hold on to their identity.
Claiming our identity and living out God’s call for us can be risky.
There will be people who don’t like us.
We may disagree with our family and friends.
This shouldn’t be a surprise.
Jesus warned his disciples of this as he talked about families being divided
and having to take up one’s cross in order to follow him.
The road of Christian faith and life will not always be easy.
On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend,
we are provided with a great example of someone who lived out his identity
but with great risk.
He lost his life for living his identity as a justice seeker.
King spoke about the “Beloved Community,” a term coined by Josiah Royce,
founder of The Fellowship of Reconciliation, but popularized by King.
This “Beloved Community”
is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.[1]
The Beloved Community, composed of God’s beloved children,
is one of peace and justice.
As we follow Jesus and live as a covenant people,
we live into the prophet Isaiah’s call to be a light to the nations.
As we embrace ourselves as beloved, the possibility of the Beloved Community
being realized increases.
As we resist the attempts of the world at “identity theft,”
we become stronger witnesses of what it means to be beloved
and to the vision of Beloved Community.
When we see all people as beloved, then any act of violence or hate is at odds
with who and whose we are.
When we see all people as beloved, we are patient and kind to those with whom we disagree.
Rather than lash out, we continue to model what it means to live
as a beloved child of God and to keep that vision of Beloved Community
at the forefront.
Yes, this can be very difficult work.
It is a challenge to love our enemies and to stay strong in the midst of disagreements.
But receiving God’s unconditional love and accepting the person God created us to be,
is the gift bestowed upon us at our baptism.
Living out of this love and sharing it with the world is our call.
Jesus said, when asked what the greatest commandment was,
that all of the Law was summed up in this way:
to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself.
We are beloved and we are called to love one another.
As King reminds us, this is not eros love or filial love.
It’s not romantic love or love between friends.
The love we experience and enact as God’s beloved is agape love.
It is God’s unending, unconditional and constant love for all of creation.
Agape is the love Paul describes in I Corinthians 13—
love that is patient and kind, not jealous or boastful or rude.
This love is the love expressed by Jesus for us as he suffered and died.
The love of God is so strong, in fact, that it conquers death.
Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end.
Life and love conquered death through the resurrection.
This is the love that formed us.
This is the love that claims us and live in us.
As we remember our baptism, we remember our true identity as Beloved children of God.
No one can take this from us. No one.
This is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen.
