Who Am I |
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Elder
Phillip N. Conley |
Garbage in garbage out; ask
the wrong question, and you're bound to get the wrong
answer. Two old clichés, but points well-made nonetheless.
As an engineer by vocation, I work with data quite often,
and bad data is sure to yield faulty results or an erroneous
conclusion. What's the point you ask? That, my friend, is an
excellent question, for the question that titles our piece
this evening generally follows one of the two statements
that led this piece.
Some of the earliest writings
of human philosophers manifest that this question occupied
much of their thinking. Modern day culture is no different.
One of the struggles that present day sociologists deal with
is generations of people that have what they call an
"identity crisis." Follow your dream! Seize the day! See the
world! Be what you want to be or all you can be! All of
these and more are the banners flying on the masts of the
ships in people's lives. Sadly, these mottos with nothing to
ground them or found them ends up shipwrecked on the reefs
of life's disappointments. Why? Generally speaking, people
ask the wrong question and then wonder why their lives
shipwrecked on them, not honestly considering that they
manned the wheel that wrecked the boat.
While the question "Who Am I?"
is not completely baseless, it cannot be the primary and
driving question that directs our lives and thinking. The
Psalmist plainly stated that just a cursory glance through
the heavens and God's creation dwarfs man and his supposed
importance. (Psalm 8:3-4) If the creation of God's fingers
dwarfs the stature of man, how much more the Creator, who
can hold it in the palm of His hand? The first and driving
question of our lives should be: "Who is He?" The more we
know and can answer that question, the better suited we will
be to drive our boat correctly without being marooned on an
island or treading water in the sea.
To figure out who He is and
qualities about Him would take more space than we have
before us. Surely the eternal God that never slumbers or
tires would cause the greatest orators and penmen to shake
their heads to declare Him. Just His acts of love are so
vast that Paul references the height, depth, breadth, and
length of them to pass knowledge and understanding.
(Ephesians 3:18-19) One of our beloved hymns puts it in
frame through beautiful poetry and rich verse:
Could we
with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Tho' stretched from sky to sky
Surely
now, the kind reader pauses and says, "But I have another
question, what does the vastness of God and the richness of
His qualities have in common with the original question?
Aren't the subjects on different ends of the spectrum?" Good
questions, yes! Thanks for the inquiry, as they take us to
our collection point. If the question of our own identity
with no grounding or anchor is sure to lead to shipwreck and
the vastness of God's own identity is beyond man's fullest
comprehension, do such different beings as man and God
connect in this fashion? Yes, they do. In the beginning, God
created man in His own image and likeness. (Genesis 1) Paul
even referenced Greek poets that stated we are God's
offspring. (Acts 17:28)
Therefore, if our identity is tied to God through creation,
surely the better an understanding we have of Him, the
better suited we are to know who we really are and what our
purpose is. Have you ever considered the similarities
between pride and pity, though they seem to be polar
opposites from each other? After all, a vain and arrogant
person looks and acts differently than one who is eaten up
with guilt, depression, and sorrow. But in the end, they are
very much the same. Whether driven by guilt or arrogance,
pity or pride, the focus and thought patterns are in the
same place: self. The more we think about ourselves - no
matter the reason - the less we are thinking about Him.
Since His eternal nature is so vast and deep, there is more
to consider with Him than us. Telling my life story does not
take long, but declaring His glory will take the redeemed
family of God an eternity of worthwhile effort to declare.
Who are we? The creation of God. Better yet, the only part
of God's creation deemed in His image and likeness and the
people by which the Eternal Son of God would be joined to as
a real man of flesh and blood during His Incarnation. What
is our purpose and duty? To glorify Him by doing what He
commands us to do. (Ecclesiastes 12:13) The two oldest
questions that philosophers have asked are: 1. Who am I? and
2. What is my purpose of being? Friends, those two questions
are plain enough from Scripture to answer quickly, but the
focus of the answer will take a lifetime of effort just to
scratch.
Let's take roll. Who would like to declare Him fully? Any
takers? In case you're wondering, my hand is not raised to
answer the question. I trust that I can as Peter did say
that the Son of man is the Christ the Son of the living God
(Matthew 16:16) and as the eunuch declare, "I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Acts 8:37b)
However, my own brashness and hypocrisy only goes so far. It
would be the height of foolishness, arrogance, and/or
ignorance to say that I could fully declare Him. So, what is
the answer? Do we have enough good data to weigh a proper
conclusion?
If the more we learn and glean from His word about His own
identity in point of fact leads us down the correct and
anchored path of our own identity, then it stands to reason
we should root our time in learning more about Him. When I
first started reading the Bible regularly about 30 or so
years ago, He was big then in my eyes. The more I've
learned, the bigger He has become. While His boundless
stature has not really changed, my eyes have beheld more
beauty of the King. The bigger and more glorious He gets in
my eyes, the smaller I become in my own eyes. When Saul was
appointed king over Israel, he was little in his own eyes,
but his troubles came when he thought more his office and
power than the One who appointed him to it. He became bigger
in his own sight and thereby shipwrecked his life and the
future reigns of his heirs after him.
Attending His church all my
life and joining it some 28 years ago, He was rich then.
He's even richer now in my view. Why have these things
shifted so much? The more I've learned about Him, the
better suited I am to see things clearly and have my
perspective more aligned with reality. It astounds me that
One so vast, great, rich, powerful, and glorious would have
such love, grace, and mercy to such little ones as we are.
The more astronomers discover about the vastness of the
heavens, the more it makes me ponder, "Just how big is He?"
And yet, He cares for us! (I Peter 5:6-7) WOW! That, kind
reader, is worth more than the unrooted question of
self-identity and supposed self-worth many times over.
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