Who are you?” This is the question that Rafiki asks Simba in the movie, The Lion King.” It is an underlying theme throughout the movie, butt is only after his late father Mufsafa speaks to him from the sky, saying, “Remember who you are. . . . You are my son and the one true king” that Simba is able to claim his identity, come to terms with his past and take up his responsibilities to restore the Pride Lands.1
I had never thought before about how the Lion king stole the voice from the sky line from the Gospels. But, interestingly enough it is this question of identity – of remembering who you are and who you are called to be – that is important not only for Simba in this Disney movie, but is an important question for us as we remember who we are and how we are called to act and to relate with our community.
If we were to ask “Who are you Jesus?” The season of Epiphany is the time in the church in which “Jesus Christ is made known” through the Gospel stories we read. Last week the magi followed the star to see the new king of Israel. This week – time flies in our Gospel stories – Jesus is a grown man. We hear the story of Jesus coming to John to be baptized with the baptism of repentance. But John wants to trade places. Somehow he knows that Jesus does not need to repent. But Jesus, embracing his humanity, insists that he be washed with the same water and in the same way as other people are washed.
The answer to the question “Who are you Jesus?” Is made even more clear in today’s Gospel. When Jesus comes up out of the water, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove sits on him and a voice from heaven proclaims, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
“Who is Jesus?” Already this Epiphany we have learned: Jesus is a king, God’s son, the Beloved. But that is not all. We also hear, as Isaiah prophesied, that God’s chosen one, Jesus, came to bring justice – but not with power and might, not with armies brandishing swords or drones or crushing the earth with tanks or filling it with landmines. Instead, he came as a vulnerable baby, a rabbi, preacher and teacher who, through his life, death and resurrection, began transforming the world.
Peter, in the book of Acts discovers that one of the transformations that occurred is that God expanded who qualifies as beloved, saying, “God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him.” For Peter and all faithful people of his day, this was a shocking expansion of God’s covenant beyond the tribe of Israel. And yet, because of that expansion, people like you and me can also be called “Beloved.”
For Beloved is the name that you were called when you were baptized, adopted into God’s family and made a child of God, a sibling of Jesus Christ. In baptism, you were claimed by God. As we proclaim: “YOU BELONG to CHRIST in whom you have been baptized.”
You are BELOVED. Beloved Sue, Beloved Mary, Beloved Dave, “Beloved YOU.” So, to answer the question: “Who are you?” Please repeat after me and say, I AM Beloved.
You are beloved. You belong to Christ. And that is not empty identity. Instead, as God’s beloved, as people who belong to Christ, we are called to be LIKE Christ in bringing Justice to our world – not with violence and hate. But instead, we are called to proclaim God’s expansive love and to bring about God’s justice and righteousness in the way of Jesus.
And this is why I believe we need to stand up for our brothers and sisters in Christ and to ask our government to treat all people – regardless of the color of their skin, their heritage or their citizen status – with respect and care. The gang-like actions of the ICE officers wearing masks and terrorizing people is not bringing justice. Instead, it foments terror, fear and a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. It causes our schools to close because children – and teachers -- don’t feel safe. This is not what I and I dare say we want as citizens and it is definitely not what we want as Christians for our community or our world.
God did not make us to be a people of fear, hopelessness and helplessness. God has made us to be a people of love, kindness, generosity and care. Despite the challenges of these days, I believe that Jesus is still at work through the Holy Spirit and through each of us. And as such it is our job to proclaim and to help to create a different way, a way that treats all people as beloved, with kindness, love and care rather than as “alien” or “other.” For this is the way Jesus would have us be. This is what it means to live into the baptismal promise of walking in God’s way – and not our way.
But living into that promise can be a challenge especially as the world gets more and more divided. A prime example is the comments on Facebook. I’ve noticed that posts are increasingly mean-spirited, demeaning and divisive. Some of the comments are made by AI robots – intent on tearing down the “other side” – and so you can’t trust what you read on Facebook or any social media. But the sad thing is - some one set them up to respond in this nasty way. And it is not just on social media. I see this in other media and in the way some of our elected leaders speak. The guard rails of civility have been cracked.
The challenge is even greater when the division and the conflict becomes local, as it did on Wednesday, when, in Minneapolis on a typical street full of ice and snow, Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer. That much is agreed upon. But before the day was out, there were conflicting statements from ICE and from eye witnesses.
When tragic events like this happen, it is really critical for us as Christians to remember who we are and whose we are. Let me say that again. It is really important, critical for us as Christians to remember who we are and whose we are. Let me remind you: you, each of you, is God’s beloved and we all belong to Christ. And because of this, I believe our first response is prayer and lament and prayer. We lament the treatment of God’s people. We pray for those who are being treated as “less than” who they are - God’s beloved. We then pray for direction.
I’ll admit that I was shook by this event. And so, after prayer and lament, my prayerful response was to show up at a clergy gathering at the site.
When I got there, I was surprised at how much it looked like my old neighborhood. Although this street was cleared out to make room for all of the people who gathered to protest, the neighboring streets were full of cars and hard to get through – just like my old streets. This was an ordinary neighborhood – now traumatized.
Another surprise is that a Somali woman came over to me and greeted me and the other pastors, thanked us for being there and then offered us pastries filled with a meat mixture – they’re called sambuusas. She had an entire tray of them to share and they were delicious.
I was also surprised by clergy who showed up. I knew some – there were lots of ELCA pastors there but there were also many pastors that I did not know including pastors from the Methodist, Missionary Baptist and United Church of Christ. There were Catholic and Episcopal priests and other ministers. There were also rabbis and imams and Buddhists there. I was struck because, often we focus on the differences between clergy. But here, together, we mourned the taking of a life and proclaimed a vision of love and not hate, hope and not fear, and unity and not division.
This is the people we are called to be. A woman who I did not know and who did not look like me, and probably does not worship like I do, nevertheless welcomed and fed me. Preachers from various traditions proclaimed God’s word and led us in prayer- together. Pastor Martha from Our Saviors Lutheran, a church just a few blooks from where we stood, led us in a profession of faith from our baptism ritual. She asked, Do you renounce the power of evil, sin and all that goes against God? And we shouted, “I renounce them.” At times like this. We need to remember who we are and whose we are. And, brothers and sisters in Christ, I ask you: “Do you renounce the power of evil” if so don’t mumble – but shout out, I renounce them!
Again, I ask, Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God? if so shout out, I renounce them!
Do you renounce the power of sin; Again, shout out: “I renounce them.”
Beloved children of God, let us renounce the sin of separating people into us and them. Whether that be “other” because of the color of your skin, or where you were born or how much money you make or who you voted for, or any other reason, including who you work for. For behind their masks, ICE agents are people too. We will be praying for them to have compassion and act with gentle justice and not with violence and force. We all, without exception, need repent of the evil that is present in our world and of which we take a part. We all, without exception, need to hear the story of God’s forgiveness, love and grace. And we all, without exception, need to care for one another, including the one we too often call “other.” Instead, let us call one another, by the name that God calls you. You are: “Beloved.” Amen.
1The Lion king