Your True Identity
This is the first sermon I wrote. Only two people heard it, my best friend who recorded it, and my homiletics professor, who listened to that recording. I ultimately revamped this sermon, significantly, for my first congregation.
Text: 1 Peter 2:9-10
Hello! My name is Jerry, and I’m recovering from an identity crisis.
For a half century now, people have been calling me Jerry. But that’s not my name. William Gerald Smith Junior. That’s me. By the way, that’s Gerald with a G. I’m Jerry with a J. Mom and Dad had planned to name me Michael. But surprise! I was born on Dad’s birthday. So they appropriately stuck me with the Junior tag. They couldn’t call me Bill, because that’s what everyone called Dad. But I did go by Bill for three years in high school. I suppose they could have called me Will, but, as it turns out, that’s what everyone outside the family calls my son. We call him Aaron though. Some people here call me William. Mysteriously, I have even been called Steve.
So why Jerry? Because Grandma wanted to call Dad Jerry. Alas, after Dad was born, her brother-in-law was holding Dad and declared, “This boy’s not a Jerry; he’s a Bill.” So there you have it. Sounds confusing, doesn’t it?
I know who I am now, and I gotta say, I am not the man I once was. And neither are you.
Which brings us to our text today from 1 Peter 2:9-10. The Apostle Peter strikes at the heart of this identity crisis by reminding us just who we really were, and who were really are. So, let me ask:
WHO DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU ARE?
Our text helps us answer this question in three ways:
You are someone who at one time wasn’t God’s — or anybody else’s.
You are someone whom God has chosen to be His own — even His royal priests, His holy nation.
You are someone whom God has called to proclaim the praises of His great mercy.
Peter’s message should be music to our ears. Listen to it: YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession so that YOU may proclaim the praises of the One who called YOU out of darkness into HIS marvelous light. Once YOU were not a people, but now YOU are GOD’S people; you once had not received mercy, but now YOU HAVE received mercy.
I.
Having a new identity was certainly music to the ears of the people to whom Peter sent this letter, because they, like you, are someone who at one time wasn’t God’s — or anybody else’s. It’s easy to forget that — especially if you are a lifelong Lutheran. Peter was writing to those he called the temporary residents of what we’d call Turkey. You should be more familiar with some of these folks if I address them like this: the Galatians, the Colossians.
Christians throughout this region were beginning to face enormous persecution because God had given them a new identity that left them feeling like aliens and exiles.
How about you?
Cities in the first century were like religious institutions. Everything was built around a city’s god. The economy was designed to serve that god. The biggest buildings of that day reflected the god they served.
Is yours Wall Street?
So their neighbors worshiped their gods, and relished in their passions, in their adulterations, in their feasts, in their extravagances.
Is yours cable TV with 300 channels?
Their entertainment often exposed constant depravity.
Is yours as easy to find as ABC?
Now you may be telling yourself that you’re not like the people of Peter’s day. I mean, didn’t they relish bath-house orgies? Make no mistake: The darkness of sin leaves you in such blindness you haven’t the foggiest idea what your life actually looks like.
Name your American idol. Which sports arena will you worship in this week? Which one of the 50 Shades of Gray will steal your attention? Which sin will you deny the existence of? Abortion? Homosexuality? Your selfishness? In Peter’s day, when you tried to leave your life of sin, you faced persecution — because of your new beliefs — because you refused to participate. Today, when your beliefs don’t align with the immoral majority, you may get sued.
Through the generations we have each lost our way and our identity. America’s Greatest Generation fought some of the world’s worst evil in the World War Two, but the heros of our families, our fathers, and grandfathers suffered greatly, and that secretly destroyed families. The Greatest Generation then raised my generation, the Baby Boomers. Some call us the Worst Generation because we gave you the sexual revolution, widespread drug abuse, unbridled greed, and disco. Then along came the Gen Xers, who have become ambivalent, and the Millennials? Too many, frankly, want to embrace sin. America has a growing generational identity crisis.
II.
But you have been given a new identity. You ARE someone whom God has chosen to be His own — even His royal priests, His holy nation.
A great thing happened and continues to happen: God, the source of all light, saw us in our darkness, our sin. And He came looking for us, calling for us. Adam, he cried: Where are you? So he sent us His prophets and priests to point us to Jesus. Look for the lamb they said. Then in Christ’s appointed hour, our Emmanuel, our God with us, came down from heaven to walk with us, to suffer for sins once for all, the righteous for the ungodly, that He might bring us to God. He baptized us and poured out His Holy Spirit upon us. The apostles came calling, proclaiming this good news in our godless cities.
That brings us back to today’s text: YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession so that YOU may proclaim the praises of the One who called YOU out of darkness into HIS marvelous light. Once YOU were not a people, but now YOU are GOD’S people; you once had not received mercy, but now YOU HAVE received mercy.
Did you hear the Lord’s Gospel: YOU are!
That’s part of Peter’s point here. Now that you have heard the Gospel and believe, YOU should be yearning to live that distinctly different life. You were separated from him in darkness, until he brought you back into the light. Peter is vividly illustrating to us how God’s promise to the Israelites at Sinai in Exodus 19 was a promise to you, too. In verses five and six, we read, “If you will listen to me ... you will be my own possession out of all peoples ... you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.”
With a new identity as a royal priest, have confidence to approach God on your own whenever you like. As Paul put it, pray unceasingly. No man stands between you and Him any longer. The curtain in the temple that separated you from God was torn in two at Christ’s crucifixion, and the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, not once but twice. The sacrificial system that had been put into place has been removed. Jesus did it for you. No longer are you expected to shed blood of animals to atone for your sins. Jesus shed His blood for you. No longer are you expected to turn to special priests, the Levites. Now, it’s you to God, and God to you, directly. You are royalty. Jesus, a son of King David, has paid the price for you, redeemed you, made you a part of his royal family. No man stands over us in our relationship with God, telling us when and where we can approach the Lord.
III.
You have been given a new identity to be someone whom God has called to proclaim the praises of His great mercy.
Today, an ever-growing number of people are turning away from God completely. One-fifth of the U.S. public, and a third of adults younger than 30, are religiously unaffiliated, the highest percentages ever recorded in Pew Research Center polling. In the last five years, the Nones, as they call them, have increased from 15 percent to 20 percent of all U.S. adults. Their ranks now include more than 13 million self-described atheists and agnostics, as well as nearly 33 million people who say they have no particular religious affiliation. America has a growing identity crisis; it doesn’t know what true religion looks like.
Peter reminds us what that looks like. The new identity God has given you urges you to proclaim his praises to the lost by living honorably, by allowing your thankfulness silence ignorance, by loving the brotherhood, working hard, being compassionate, blessing men in the face of evil. Rejoice in his proclamation of mercy to you by remembering who you have become, one of the forgiven ones. Don’t forget: He washed you clean in your baptism to save you. Why would you return to desires of your old life? Don’t forget: He has given you the true body and blood of our Lord at the table to share his forgiveness with you. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Lift up your eyes to the altar, and know he is present, confessing your sins with confidence, because God who is merciful and just will forgive you, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Proclaim praises of his mercy by remembering all that God has done for you. As the prophet proclaims in Isaiah 43: “You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.” Don’t proclaim it only here. Your neighbors need to see it. Your co-workers need to hear it. Christ died for you, Christ has risen for you, Christ will come again. For you!
Now, who do you really think you are? You believe and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. You feel this way, because God has shown mercy on you and has given you a unique identity, so that you can proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness.
It is your new identity.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Text: 1 Peter 2:9-10
Hello! My name is Jerry, and I’m recovering from an identity crisis.
For a half century now, people have been calling me Jerry. But that’s not my name. William Gerald Smith Junior. That’s me. By the way, that’s Gerald with a G. I’m Jerry with a J. Mom and Dad had planned to name me Michael. But surprise! I was born on Dad’s birthday. So they appropriately stuck me with the Junior tag. They couldn’t call me Bill, because that’s what everyone called Dad. But I did go by Bill for three years in high school. I suppose they could have called me Will, but, as it turns out, that’s what everyone outside the family calls my son. We call him Aaron though. Some people here call me William. Mysteriously, I have even been called Steve.
So why Jerry? Because Grandma wanted to call Dad Jerry. Alas, after Dad was born, her brother-in-law was holding Dad and declared, “This boy’s not a Jerry; he’s a Bill.” So there you have it. Sounds confusing, doesn’t it?
I know who I am now, and I gotta say, I am not the man I once was. And neither are you.
Which brings us to our text today from 1 Peter 2:9-10. The Apostle Peter strikes at the heart of this identity crisis by reminding us just who we really were, and who were really are. So, let me ask:
WHO DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU ARE?
Our text helps us answer this question in three ways:
You are someone who at one time wasn’t God’s — or anybody else’s.
You are someone whom God has chosen to be His own — even His royal priests, His holy nation.
You are someone whom God has called to proclaim the praises of His great mercy.
Peter’s message should be music to our ears. Listen to it: YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession so that YOU may proclaim the praises of the One who called YOU out of darkness into HIS marvelous light. Once YOU were not a people, but now YOU are GOD’S people; you once had not received mercy, but now YOU HAVE received mercy.
I.
Having a new identity was certainly music to the ears of the people to whom Peter sent this letter, because they, like you, are someone who at one time wasn’t God’s — or anybody else’s. It’s easy to forget that — especially if you are a lifelong Lutheran. Peter was writing to those he called the temporary residents of what we’d call Turkey. You should be more familiar with some of these folks if I address them like this: the Galatians, the Colossians.
Christians throughout this region were beginning to face enormous persecution because God had given them a new identity that left them feeling like aliens and exiles.
How about you?
Cities in the first century were like religious institutions. Everything was built around a city’s god. The economy was designed to serve that god. The biggest buildings of that day reflected the god they served.
Is yours Wall Street?
So their neighbors worshiped their gods, and relished in their passions, in their adulterations, in their feasts, in their extravagances.
Is yours cable TV with 300 channels?
Their entertainment often exposed constant depravity.
Is yours as easy to find as ABC?
Now you may be telling yourself that you’re not like the people of Peter’s day. I mean, didn’t they relish bath-house orgies? Make no mistake: The darkness of sin leaves you in such blindness you haven’t the foggiest idea what your life actually looks like.
Name your American idol. Which sports arena will you worship in this week? Which one of the 50 Shades of Gray will steal your attention? Which sin will you deny the existence of? Abortion? Homosexuality? Your selfishness? In Peter’s day, when you tried to leave your life of sin, you faced persecution — because of your new beliefs — because you refused to participate. Today, when your beliefs don’t align with the immoral majority, you may get sued.
Through the generations we have each lost our way and our identity. America’s Greatest Generation fought some of the world’s worst evil in the World War Two, but the heros of our families, our fathers, and grandfathers suffered greatly, and that secretly destroyed families. The Greatest Generation then raised my generation, the Baby Boomers. Some call us the Worst Generation because we gave you the sexual revolution, widespread drug abuse, unbridled greed, and disco. Then along came the Gen Xers, who have become ambivalent, and the Millennials? Too many, frankly, want to embrace sin. America has a growing generational identity crisis.
II.
But you have been given a new identity. You ARE someone whom God has chosen to be His own — even His royal priests, His holy nation.
A great thing happened and continues to happen: God, the source of all light, saw us in our darkness, our sin. And He came looking for us, calling for us. Adam, he cried: Where are you? So he sent us His prophets and priests to point us to Jesus. Look for the lamb they said. Then in Christ’s appointed hour, our Emmanuel, our God with us, came down from heaven to walk with us, to suffer for sins once for all, the righteous for the ungodly, that He might bring us to God. He baptized us and poured out His Holy Spirit upon us. The apostles came calling, proclaiming this good news in our godless cities.
That brings us back to today’s text: YOU are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession so that YOU may proclaim the praises of the One who called YOU out of darkness into HIS marvelous light. Once YOU were not a people, but now YOU are GOD’S people; you once had not received mercy, but now YOU HAVE received mercy.
Did you hear the Lord’s Gospel: YOU are!
That’s part of Peter’s point here. Now that you have heard the Gospel and believe, YOU should be yearning to live that distinctly different life. You were separated from him in darkness, until he brought you back into the light. Peter is vividly illustrating to us how God’s promise to the Israelites at Sinai in Exodus 19 was a promise to you, too. In verses five and six, we read, “If you will listen to me ... you will be my own possession out of all peoples ... you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.”
With a new identity as a royal priest, have confidence to approach God on your own whenever you like. As Paul put it, pray unceasingly. No man stands between you and Him any longer. The curtain in the temple that separated you from God was torn in two at Christ’s crucifixion, and the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, not once but twice. The sacrificial system that had been put into place has been removed. Jesus did it for you. No longer are you expected to shed blood of animals to atone for your sins. Jesus shed His blood for you. No longer are you expected to turn to special priests, the Levites. Now, it’s you to God, and God to you, directly. You are royalty. Jesus, a son of King David, has paid the price for you, redeemed you, made you a part of his royal family. No man stands over us in our relationship with God, telling us when and where we can approach the Lord.
III.
You have been given a new identity to be someone whom God has called to proclaim the praises of His great mercy.
Today, an ever-growing number of people are turning away from God completely. One-fifth of the U.S. public, and a third of adults younger than 30, are religiously unaffiliated, the highest percentages ever recorded in Pew Research Center polling. In the last five years, the Nones, as they call them, have increased from 15 percent to 20 percent of all U.S. adults. Their ranks now include more than 13 million self-described atheists and agnostics, as well as nearly 33 million people who say they have no particular religious affiliation. America has a growing identity crisis; it doesn’t know what true religion looks like.
Peter reminds us what that looks like. The new identity God has given you urges you to proclaim his praises to the lost by living honorably, by allowing your thankfulness silence ignorance, by loving the brotherhood, working hard, being compassionate, blessing men in the face of evil. Rejoice in his proclamation of mercy to you by remembering who you have become, one of the forgiven ones. Don’t forget: He washed you clean in your baptism to save you. Why would you return to desires of your old life? Don’t forget: He has given you the true body and blood of our Lord at the table to share his forgiveness with you. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Lift up your eyes to the altar, and know he is present, confessing your sins with confidence, because God who is merciful and just will forgive you, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Proclaim praises of his mercy by remembering all that God has done for you. As the prophet proclaims in Isaiah 43: “You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.” Don’t proclaim it only here. Your neighbors need to see it. Your co-workers need to hear it. Christ died for you, Christ has risen for you, Christ will come again. For you!
Now, who do you really think you are? You believe and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. You feel this way, because God has shown mercy on you and has given you a unique identity, so that you can proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness.
It is your new identity.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.