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WHO ARE YOU?
#1 · April 2, 2002, 3:23 pm
Posted by: henkf <henkf@...>
WHO ARE YOU?
(Isaiah 6:1-8 Romans 8:12-17 John 3:1-8)
Let me ask you one of the most profound questions that I can think of: Who are you?
One practical joker produced a book that looked like any other book. The title on the outside read, WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN, and on the inside was a mirror. When his friends opened this book, they found themselves staring at their own reflection.
Is that who you are? Are you just some kind of animal? A higher primate? A "naked ape" as Colin Morris called us a few years ago? Or is there a reality beyond the world of the flesh? Is there something about each of us that is unique in all of creation? The answer is critically important. If there is only the world of the flesh, the world of animals -- eating, reproducing, and dying -- then there is no meaning, no rhyme or reason, no grand design to life. And there is certainly nothing to look forward to.
One anonymous young scholar was asked to write a description of a human being. Here is what he wrote:
"Your head is kind of round and hard and your brains are in it and your hair is on it.
"Your face is the front of your head where you eat and make faces.
"Your neck is what keeps your head out of your collar.
"Your neck is hard to keep clean.
"Your shoulders are sort of shelves where you hook your suspenders.
One practical joker produced a book that looked like any other book. The title on the outside read, WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN, and on the inside was a mirror. When his friends opened this book, they found themselves staring at their own reflection.
Is that who you are? Are you just some kind of animal? A higher primate? A "naked ape" as Colin Morris called us a few years ago? Or is there a reality beyond the world of the flesh? Is there something about each of us that is unique in all of creation? The answer is critically important. If there is only the world of the flesh, the world of animals -- eating, reproducing, and dying -- then there is no meaning, no rhyme or reason, no grand design to life. And there is certainly nothing to look forward to.
One anonymous young scholar was asked to write a description of a human being. Here is what he wrote:
"Your head is kind of round and hard and your brains are in it and your hair is on it.
"Your face is the front of your head where you eat and make faces.
"Your neck is what keeps your head out of your collar.
"Your neck is hard to keep clean.
"Your shoulders are sort of shelves where you hook your suspenders.
"Your stummick is something that if you do not eat often enough, it hurts and spinach don't help it none.
"Your spine is a long bone in your back that keeps you from folding up.
"Your spine is a long bone in your back that keeps you from folding up.
"Your back is always behind you no matter how quick you turn around.
"Your arms you got to pitch with and so you can reach the butter.
"Your fingers stick out of your hand so you can throw a curve and add up 'rithmetic.
"Your legs is what, if you have not got two of, you cannot get to first base.
"Your feet are what you run on.
"Your toes are always what get stubbed.
"And that's all there is of you except what's inside, and I never saw it."
"Your fingers stick out of your hand so you can throw a curve and add up 'rithmetic.
"Your legs is what, if you have not got two of, you cannot get to first base.
"Your feet are what you run on.
"Your toes are always what get stubbed.
"And that's all there is of you except what's inside, and I never saw it."
But it's that part of us on the inside that concerns us today.
Paul tells us that there is a lot more to life than merely flesh. He writes,
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together."(Romans 8:12-17)
Paul tells us that there is a lot more to life than merely flesh. He writes,
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together."(Romans 8:12-17)
You know, one of the great tragedies of our lives today may not be that we think too much of ourselves, but that
WE THINK TOO LITTLE OF OURSELVES.
The church has traditionally taught that pride is the first and foremost of sins--the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. But what is pride? Is the proud person one who thinks too highly of himself or herself? Or is the proud person one who is unsure of his or her own worth and, therefore, puts on a facade of self-importance?
The Bible tells us that God created people in His own image. We have His own breath within our lungs. We are so precious to Him that He gave His own Son in our behalf. We are of infinite value. Jesus used the analogy of the tiny sparrow to indicate our worth: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will. . . Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Mt. 10:29,31). Think of what Jesus was saying here! There are literally billions of birds in the world. I understand that there are over 500 varieties of hummingbirds alone. And each of those tiny creatures is under God's watchful eye. So if he has regard for each of them, think how carefully and lovingly he must regard each of us. Lift your head a little higher today, straighten those shoulders, look everyone you meet in the eye as an equal. You are a child of God.
The Bible tells us that God created people in His own image. We have His own breath within our lungs. We are so precious to Him that He gave His own Son in our behalf. We are of infinite value. Jesus used the analogy of the tiny sparrow to indicate our worth: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will. . . Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Mt. 10:29,31). Think of what Jesus was saying here! There are literally billions of birds in the world. I understand that there are over 500 varieties of hummingbirds alone. And each of those tiny creatures is under God's watchful eye. So if he has regard for each of them, think how carefully and lovingly he must regard each of us. Lift your head a little higher today, straighten those shoulders, look everyone you meet in the eye as an equal. You are a child of God.
THERE IS GREAT DANGER IN THINKING TOO LITTLE OF YOURSELF.
According to legend, Helen of Troy was left behind by her troops in the city of Tyre during one of the wars fought over her beauty. Stranded and forsaken, she lost her mind. Forgetting who she was, she sank lower and lower until she became a slave, offering her body to the highest bidder. Eventually she was found shuffling about the streets of the seaport by her loving husband Menelaus. Gently he tried to call her back to sanity, with a whispered word here and a name out of her forgotten past there. Slowly the cloud lifted, and finally she remembered who she was. But it was only when she recalled her true identity that was she capable of reclaiming her rightful place. Only then could Menelaus take her home. (J. Wallace Hamilton, HORNS AND HALOS IN HUMAN NATURE, (Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1954)
There is great danger in thinking too little of ourselves. We are told that in the days of the Spanish Inquisition, when the Inquisitors wanted to break the spirit of someone, they would put them in a cell in which they could not stand upright. Unable to straighten out or to stand to their full height, they chafed in the trap until eventually they went insane.
We were not made to be worms of the dust. John Calvin compared us to cracked cathedrals. The windows may be falling out, and the tower may be leaning; it may be no more than an ancient ruin, but it is still a cathedral.
No matter what the outside, there is something on the inside of us that is more than flesh. We cannot see it under a magnifying glass, anymore than we can take a violin apart and find the music. The Spirit of God, together with our spirit, bears witness that we are children of God. The greatest tragedy in most of our lives is that we think too little of ourselves.
But there is an important qualification that we must make at this point
There is great danger in thinking too little of ourselves. We are told that in the days of the Spanish Inquisition, when the Inquisitors wanted to break the spirit of someone, they would put them in a cell in which they could not stand upright. Unable to straighten out or to stand to their full height, they chafed in the trap until eventually they went insane.
We were not made to be worms of the dust. John Calvin compared us to cracked cathedrals. The windows may be falling out, and the tower may be leaning; it may be no more than an ancient ruin, but it is still a cathedral.
No matter what the outside, there is something on the inside of us that is more than flesh. We cannot see it under a magnifying glass, anymore than we can take a violin apart and find the music. The Spirit of God, together with our spirit, bears witness that we are children of God. The greatest tragedy in most of our lives is that we think too little of ourselves.
But there is an important qualification that we must make at this point
--THE LIFE THAT THE SPIRIT GIVES IS OPTIONAL.
Plato taught that we have immortal souls. That is Greek philosophy, not Christian theology: it has nothing to do with the life of the Spirit. It is not our birthright to live forever. In our faith we are taught that Adam and Eve lost their birthright when they sinned in Eden. They brought death into the world. But Christ has made it possible for us to reclaim Eden. "As in Adam all men die, so in Christ all men are made alive" (I Corinthians 15:22). That is why Paul uses the word adoption. Because of what Christ has done, God takes us back into the family. When his Spirit comes and dwells in our hearts, then and only then do we become "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." We must understand that the life of the Spirit is optional!
During the punk rage , a psychiatrist was being interviewed on one of the major networks concerning the bizarre phenomenon that was sweeping through American high schools. Most of you probably remember the outrageous, bizarre, and sometimes hideous styles that characterized punk dress. The psychiatrist noted that punk was different from the hippy culture of the preceding youth generation. The hippies were social in their consciousness. They had values--values like peace, love, harmony. Their values may have clashed with the established order, but they had values. Punks, on the other hand, were antisocial. They had no values except to tear down. Their dress said it all. The only reality for them was external.
The interviewer, an urbane young woman in her 30's, asked, "Will these young people grow out of this? I mean, those of us who were hippies a few years ago are now yuppies. Will the same thing happen to these young people?" And it was interesting what the psychiatrist had to say: "O, yes," she replied. "They probably will. There is really not much difference in the punksters and yuppies. Both have primarily external values."
Think about that for a moment: External Values. Is life all about simply wearing the right labels, driving the right cars, belonging to the right clubs? Or is there more?
Prince Potemkin, Catherine the Great's paramour and the prime minister of Russia, performed one of the most impressive scams in history. For years the Russian empress supplied him with money to build new settlements in Siberia. But he pocketed the money while claiming that the construction was taking place, although not one shack was ever erected. And Catherine, confined to her royal routine, never knew she was fooled. Then, unexpectedly, she announced that she wanted to see one of her new towns. So Potemkin ordered a stage-prop village to be quickly built with lavish exteriors but with nothing inside. The empress then toured the village. She never emerged from her carriage, and was completely fooled by the facade. (Nelson L. Price, FAREWELL TO FEAR, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1983). )
Surely we are all aware that it is easy to be flashy on the outside but awfully empty on the inside.
There are two kinds of life that we can live: the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit. All of us are born into the life of flesh. But life in the spirit is optional. That was what Jesus was trying to tell Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews. He was probably a good man, a wise man, and a noble man. But there was something missing in his life. And so, under the cover of night he sought out Jesus. Jesus told him that in order for him to enter the Kingdom of God, he would need to be born all over again. He would need to enter a new reality, a new dimension of living. Or, as Jesus expressed it, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
There is an old story about a husband who came home from work one day. He asked his wife, "Did anything happen today?" To which she answered, "Well, our minister came by, and he asked me a question. He asked, `Does Jesus Christ live here?'" The husband asked, "Did you tell him that we have been members of the church for several years?" The wife replied, "Yes, but that's not what he asked." "Did you tell him that we are among the largest givers to his church?" "That's not what he asked either, " she answered. "He asked, `Does Jesus Christ live here?'"
That is a relevant question for all of us today. Life in the Spirit is optional, but it is as easy as answering "yes." However, we must make that answer consciously and willingly.
There is a brilliant, sophisticated Englishman with the rather funny name of Malcolm Muggeridge, who found Christ later in his life. Beginning his career as a university lecturer, he moved into journalism, living with the travel, the excitement, and the comfortable living of a successful person. He was an editor of "Punch" magazine, a television personality, and the headmaster of Edinburgh University. In short, he found fame and fortune.
But gradually, he began to find that the fruits of success were turning sour in his mouth. He began to think about certain spiritual experiences which had called to him through the years, and he began to see them as attempts by God to break through to him. Then he grew remorseful. "Somehow I missed you, God," he said. "You called me and I didn't answer. Oh, those empty years." The title of his autobiography was, CHRONICLES OF WASTED TIME. Later, while in Palestine filming the story of Jesus for BBC, he felt the presence of Christ in some of the Easter locations. The door of faith finally opened for him, and he stepped through to find an enthusiastic faith that has given new meaning to his later years. It is never too late to enlist in God's cause. (From a sermon by David Rogne)
The same opportunity is available to each and every one of us. We are of infinite value to God, and it is tragic when we do not realize who we are and what we can be. Easter was there so that Christ makes it possible for us to become sons and daughters of God, but it is optional. The life of the Spirit is available to each of us, but we must open ourselves up to Him.
--------------------
During the punk rage , a psychiatrist was being interviewed on one of the major networks concerning the bizarre phenomenon that was sweeping through American high schools. Most of you probably remember the outrageous, bizarre, and sometimes hideous styles that characterized punk dress. The psychiatrist noted that punk was different from the hippy culture of the preceding youth generation. The hippies were social in their consciousness. They had values--values like peace, love, harmony. Their values may have clashed with the established order, but they had values. Punks, on the other hand, were antisocial. They had no values except to tear down. Their dress said it all. The only reality for them was external.
The interviewer, an urbane young woman in her 30's, asked, "Will these young people grow out of this? I mean, those of us who were hippies a few years ago are now yuppies. Will the same thing happen to these young people?" And it was interesting what the psychiatrist had to say: "O, yes," she replied. "They probably will. There is really not much difference in the punksters and yuppies. Both have primarily external values."
Think about that for a moment: External Values. Is life all about simply wearing the right labels, driving the right cars, belonging to the right clubs? Or is there more?
Prince Potemkin, Catherine the Great's paramour and the prime minister of Russia, performed one of the most impressive scams in history. For years the Russian empress supplied him with money to build new settlements in Siberia. But he pocketed the money while claiming that the construction was taking place, although not one shack was ever erected. And Catherine, confined to her royal routine, never knew she was fooled. Then, unexpectedly, she announced that she wanted to see one of her new towns. So Potemkin ordered a stage-prop village to be quickly built with lavish exteriors but with nothing inside. The empress then toured the village. She never emerged from her carriage, and was completely fooled by the facade. (Nelson L. Price, FAREWELL TO FEAR, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1983). )
Surely we are all aware that it is easy to be flashy on the outside but awfully empty on the inside.
There are two kinds of life that we can live: the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit. All of us are born into the life of flesh. But life in the spirit is optional. That was what Jesus was trying to tell Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews. He was probably a good man, a wise man, and a noble man. But there was something missing in his life. And so, under the cover of night he sought out Jesus. Jesus told him that in order for him to enter the Kingdom of God, he would need to be born all over again. He would need to enter a new reality, a new dimension of living. Or, as Jesus expressed it, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
There is an old story about a husband who came home from work one day. He asked his wife, "Did anything happen today?" To which she answered, "Well, our minister came by, and he asked me a question. He asked, `Does Jesus Christ live here?'" The husband asked, "Did you tell him that we have been members of the church for several years?" The wife replied, "Yes, but that's not what he asked." "Did you tell him that we are among the largest givers to his church?" "That's not what he asked either, " she answered. "He asked, `Does Jesus Christ live here?'"
That is a relevant question for all of us today. Life in the Spirit is optional, but it is as easy as answering "yes." However, we must make that answer consciously and willingly.
There is a brilliant, sophisticated Englishman with the rather funny name of Malcolm Muggeridge, who found Christ later in his life. Beginning his career as a university lecturer, he moved into journalism, living with the travel, the excitement, and the comfortable living of a successful person. He was an editor of "Punch" magazine, a television personality, and the headmaster of Edinburgh University. In short, he found fame and fortune.
But gradually, he began to find that the fruits of success were turning sour in his mouth. He began to think about certain spiritual experiences which had called to him through the years, and he began to see them as attempts by God to break through to him. Then he grew remorseful. "Somehow I missed you, God," he said. "You called me and I didn't answer. Oh, those empty years." The title of his autobiography was, CHRONICLES OF WASTED TIME. Later, while in Palestine filming the story of Jesus for BBC, he felt the presence of Christ in some of the Easter locations. The door of faith finally opened for him, and he stepped through to find an enthusiastic faith that has given new meaning to his later years. It is never too late to enlist in God's cause. (From a sermon by David Rogne)
The same opportunity is available to each and every one of us. We are of infinite value to God, and it is tragic when we do not realize who we are and what we can be. Easter was there so that Christ makes it possible for us to become sons and daughters of God, but it is optional. The life of the Spirit is available to each of us, but we must open ourselves up to Him.
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