Who Are You?

Have you ever been asked to write a bio that could be used to introduce you to a gathering? It's a challenging task. How do you summarize who you are in a single paragraph? What information best sums up who you are? Are you defined by your family? Where you live? What you do for work? What you do for fun?

John proclaimed the coming of one he didn't yet know. Now that would be a bio that would be challenging to deliver! But he knew enough. He knew the one coming would deliver the world from the sting of sin and death. He knew the one coming was an ancient one, who lived long before John came to be. He knew enough to introduce the world to the one who hadn't come yet. That's the work of a prophet, and he did a good job laying the groundwork for Christ's coming. When Jesus did come, there was still so much to learn about him! John's introduction truly was just that... a paragraph about the life of a man with an infinite number of volumes. We have the privilege of learning, every moment of every day, things about Jesus we might not have known before. We also have the privilege of learning, every moment of every day, things about ourselves we might not have discovered yet.

Write your bio. Write a paragraph that answers the question, "Who am I?" Include your family, where you live, your occupation, the things you do for fun. The write your bio again. And include none of those things. When those are off the table, how do you describe who you are? Dig deep. (You don't have to share this with anyone. This is just for you.) Use a thesaurus if you can. See if you can find words to describe yourself -- who you are at the core, not just the surface stuff. Celebrate who you are -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. These things are what make you uniquely you.

Narrative Lectionary Text: John 1:29-34

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”