Who are you?

Luke 3:22

The Episcopal Church on Edisto

Epiphany 1, Series C
January 10, 2016

Eternal God, who has been the hope and joy of many
generations, and in all ages has given people the power to seek
you and in seeking you to find you: grant us, I pray, a clearer
vision of your truth, a greater trust in your power, and a more
confident assurance of your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN.
I recall as a child, when I was leaving the house to go
somewhere, my parents saying to me, Remember who you
are! They did not need to tell me what they meant: I
represented our family. My behavior, wherever I was, would be
a reflection on my family. As people saw me and interacted
with me, they were experiencing the principles and values of my
family. This mental tape, Remember who you are, has
remained with me for years.
Did you ever have that experience? Perhaps your family was
like my family. I did not question their admonishment. I knew
that there were certain expectations of me. There was a
standard, if you will, that I was expected to follow.

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It wasnt until I went away to college, in effect moved away

from home, that I began to question. Who am I really? Yes, I
am a Smith, a member of the Smith family, but who exactly is
Colton Smith? What is my essential being? What behavior is
consistent with my core being? Or do I just react to what is
expected or what others think I should do? In other words, does
my outward behavior truly reflect who Colton Smith is at his
core, in his heart of hearts?
I dont think I am unique in this experience and quest of selfknowledge and understanding. There was a young Jewish
carpenter in Palestine many years ago who may have experience
some questioning about who he was. We know about the unique
circumstances of his birth. We have been celebrating that birth
in the event we call Christmas. How much of this early life did
he know? What did Mary and Joseph tell him? I can remember
stories that my family told me about events of which I have no
memory. Perhaps this was true for Jesus.
We do know that he had an inquiring mind, but then what child
doesnt. I can hold my own with an adult audience. It is the

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questions from little children that make me stop and think. They
can really put you in a corner.
So at around the age of 30, a grown man, Jesus of Nazareth goes
to hear the fiery preaching of John the Baptizer. John had quite
a reputation. We often say that we respect frankness and
bluntness in a person, until those frank and blunt remarks are
directed at us. YOU BROOD OF VIPERS! WHO WARNED
YOU TO FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME? BEAR
FRUITS WORTHY OF REPENTANCE. DO NOT BEGIN TO
SAY TO YOURSELVES, WE HAVE ABRAHAM AS OUR
ANCESTOR; FOR I TELL YOU, GOD IS ABLE FROM
THESE STONES TO RAISE UP CHILDREN TO ABRAHAM.
(Luke 3:7-8)

It is not enough Colton Smith that you are a member of the

Smith family. My ancestors made their mark in the world. I
cant claim credit for their accomplishes or their failures.
Who are you, Colton Smith?
Can we hear the words of John speaking to our generation? Has
the world changed all that much? Is human nature any more

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kind, caring or self-sacrificing? The crowd asked John, WHAT

THEN SHOULD WE DO? IN REPLY HE SAID TO THEM,
WHOEVER HAS TWO COATS MUST SHARE WITH
ANYONE WHO HAS NONE; AND WHOEVER HAS FOOD
MUST DO LIKEWISE. EVEN TAX COLLECTORS CAME
TO BE BAPTIZED, AND THEY ASKED HIM, TEACHER,
WHAT SHOULD WE DO? HE SAID TO THEM, COLLECT
NO MORE THAT THE AMOUNT PRESCRIBED FOR YOU.
SOLDIERS ALSO ASKED HIM, AND WE, WHAT SHOULD
WE DO? HE SAID TO THEM, DO NOT EXTORT MONEY
FROM ANYONE BY THREATS OR FALSE ACCUSATIONS,
AND BE SATISFIED WITH YOUR WAGES. (Luke 3:10-14)
No, the world had not changed. We have not learned how to
share with those in need. The scales of justice are weighted in
favor of those who can afford it. When was the last time you
heard of a business, which was losing money, and the major
decision-makers were give huge bonuses? I believe the mefirst generation began with Adam and Eve and continues to this
day.
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You and I can hear the cries of John against the injustices of our
world. Jesus also heard those cries. He too identified with his
people, his family, the Jewish nation. The world needed a
champion. The people needed to repent, change their behavior
one to another, to prepare for the coming Messiah. Yes, he
joined many others in Johns baptism for repentance. He was
one with his people, the family of God.
Then a strange event occurred. As Jesus emerged from the
water, he heard a voice, a calling. THIS IS MY SON, THE
BELOVED, WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. (Matthew
3:17.)

Every child want to hear praises from a parent, but this is

different. This voice was from heaven. This is the voice of

God. MY SON BELOVED I AM WELL PLEASED.
(Matthew 3:17.)

In effect what is being said is, You, Jesus, are the

answer to the longings and aspirations of your people. You are

the Messiah!
Jesus may have had some sense of divine purpose for his life.
Remember, however, at this point he was a thirty year old
carpenter. He was no scholar. He was no religious leader. He
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was no prominent individual in the social structures of his day.

Yet he was he is MY SON, THE BELOVED, WITH
WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. (Matthew 3:17.)
It was in his baptism that Jesus realized his mission, his destiny,
in this life. It was in his baptism that Jesus knew who he was.
We are told in the following verses that he was LEAD BY THE
SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TESTED. (Matthew 4:1)
Marks Gospel is even more emphatic. AND THE SPIRIT
IMMEDIATELY DROVE HIM OUT INTO THE
WILDERNESS.

(Mark 1:12.)

Jesus has a calling, a mission.

How is he to accomplish his purpose in life? This calling, this

mission, is to be tested. But make no mistake about it.
In his baptism, Jesus realizes who he is.
Dear friends: I submit to you in your baptism you will
discover who you are. I know for many of us this event
occurred before we had any conscious memory, but I still say:
in your baptism you will discover who you are. That voice
from heaven is still proclaiming, You are a brother or sister of
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Christ, a child of God, and an heir of eternal life. St. Paul

speaks of us in this manner: DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT ALL
OF US WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS
WERE BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH? THEREFORE WE
HAVE BEEN BURIED WITH HIM IN BAPTISM INTO
DEATH, SO THAT JUST AS CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM
THE DEAD BY THE GLORY OF THE FATHER, SO WE TOO
MIGHT WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE. (Romans 6:3-4.) HE
DESTINED US FOR ADOPTION AS HIS CHILDREN
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO THE GOOD
PLEASURE OF HIS WILL (Ephesians 1:5)
Whether, as the only begotten Son of the Father, or as adopted
children through baptism, we are children of God. We have a
family. We have a big brother in Jesus, our model for human
interaction. We are a family. We have a loving parent in God the
Father, to guide and to admonish us in our walk through life.
We have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, to
strengthen and to comfort us in joy and adversity. We are the
family of God. We have each other as sisters and brothers.
Remember who you are. Remember whose you are. As our
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natural birth determined our life on this planet, so our baptism

determined our place and role in Gods purpose for life on this
planet. May your baptism with that invisible, but yet indelible
mark of Christ, remind us: I am a sister or brother of Christ; I
am a child of God; and I am an heir of eternal life. May your
behavior be consistent with your core being, your true identity.
Let us pray:
Grant, Lord God, to all who have been baptized into the death
and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, that, as we have put
away the old life of sin, so we may be renewed in the spirit of
our minds, and live in righteousness and true holiness; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.
The Reverend Dr. Colton M. Smith