With A Clear Identity

See The Surpassing Love Of God

11.5.23 [1 John 3:1-3] River of Life (Festival of All Saints’ Day)

To you who have been called children of God, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. Mercy, peace, and love are yours in abundance. Amen.

And the name on that is? It’s a strange thing to be asked for your name when all you want is a black coffee. But time and again, I have been asked this question. What name should we put on that?

It’s not just a coffee thing. Most places where you order at the counter will ask you for your name. With all the technology available in tablets, it’s easier to input a name than ever and the service industry knows that you’re far more likely to respond to your name than a number.

Once you give them your name, you’re at the mercy of whoever is checking you out to try to make sense of how to spell it. I’ll admit that my first name isn’t run of the mill, but it’s not exotic or difficult to spell. Yet, you wouldn’t know that when I got to grab my cup. Linkin. Linchon. It doesn’t matter if I tell them like the car or the president or the capital of Nebraska—more than half the time I know I’m going to get a creative and sometimes phonetic spelling of my first name.

When it’s a cup of coffee, it’s not a big deal. You can laugh at it.

It’s not so funny when you get called sir or ma’am for the first time. Or when someone addresses you by Mr. or Ms. and uses your last name. Initially, you think they’re looking for your dad or your mom or maybe your mother-in-law. Anyone but you. They’re referring to you even if that’s not who you think of when you hear that name or word.

What you are called is really important in shaping your identity. But of course, it doesn’t create or establish your identity. Someone can call you by the wrong name but it doesn’t change who you actually are. And you can think a title—like Mr. or Mrs. or sir or ma’am—doesn’t apply to you when it really does. Your identity isn’t self-determined nor is it dictated by the people around you.

Nevertheless, your identity is really important, not just to you, but also to God. Did you notice what a big deal God makes of your identity in 1 John 3? It’s just three verses, but twice John says clearly that we are children of God. Two more times, he hints at it saying (1 Jn. 3:1) And that is what we are and (1 Jn. 3:2) when Christ appears we shall be like him. Many of us are encouraged to receive such an honor. Some of us wonder if God has the wrong guy or gal. Like maybe this is one of the cases of mistaken identity.

But it’s not. We should be called children of God because that is what we are. Even though sometimes we don’t behave like that. Even though sometimes we don’t believe that. We are children of God because of God.

What does it mean to be a child of God? We could look to our catechism and see that calling God our God means that we should fear, love, and trust in him above all things. That would be a great place to start. But, even more simply, being a child of God means (1 Jn. 2:15) that love for God the Father is in us.

We might claim that love for God the Father is in us, but John tells us what that means. It means that we (1 Jn. 2:15) do not love the world or anything in it as much or more than we love God. It’s here that we see our love run as shockingly cold as the desert at night.

When we experience an unexpected financial windfall, it’s amazing how possessive or indulgent we get, instead of thanking God through the means by which he blessed us. When we are flush with blessings, it’s amazing how often like those 10 lepers that Jesus healed, we forget to thank and praise God. When our calendars are filled with activities and appointments, it’s amazing how often spiritual matters get put on the back burner. When our relationships are flourishing and the future looks bright, it’s amazing how much credit we take for that and how little we give to the one who numbers our days and plans our eternities.

When life is going really good we don’t do such a good job living like love for God the Father dwells in us. But the truth is, when things are going really bad, we don’t do much better, either.

When we’re living on a shoestring budget, our first instinct is to grow anxious or even grumble rather than thanking God for being faithful to his promise to give us our daily bread. When our calendars are full, we complain about busyness. We even have the gall to neglect the rest God provides in his Word & in his house among his people.

When our health has us sitting on the sidelines, unable to do so many of the things we love to do, we are quick to complain rather than explore these new chains for God’s unique calling. When our relationships are strained, we criticize the people around us instead of looking for ways to build them up. When the future looks bleak, we lament how life’s not fair, instead of seeing the radiant glory that God is bringing us closer to.

Yet, we are children of God, not because we have earned this title. Not because we have done enough to keep ourselves in God’s good graces. We are children of God because God made himself our Father, our Savior, and our Sanctifier.

John writes (1 Jn. 3:1) See what great love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called children of God. He is telling you to behold what God’s love moved him to be and do for you.

As a good Father, your God is more concerned with your future than your present. God is more interested in you living a pure and decent life than one filled with pleasures and delights. As a good Father, God is more concerned about your holiness than your happiness. God is more devoted to his perfect plans for your life than your bucket list.

So, as a good Father, he will not shy away from disciplining you. To spare you that would be to despise you. So very often, when you live as if you don’t really need him or his wise Word, when you act as if all he’s good for is blessings and nothing more, he will allow you a glimpse of what life without him looks and feels like.

I heard a wise Christian whom God taught this way once say: God is a gentleman. He lets people who insist on their own way have it.

But God is also merciful. After we have come to see that we have been deceiving ourselves by thinking our way is superior to God’s, and we confess the error of that kind of thinking and living, God remains faithful. Like the Father in the parable of the prodigal son, he is watching the horizon. When he sees humbled hearts, he runs to us and forgives us our sins. He reminds us that we are now what he made us from the start—his beloved child.

But in order for us to really be children of God, even God had to do more than just declare it. Even though that is how he made so much of what is in this world this way, to make his enemies his children, to make the dead alive, to make the blind see, God had to make his lavish love visible, tangible, and sacrificial.

This is why God sent his Son into the world. So that we might see what great love the Father has lavished on us. To know God’s lavish love, we must know him. To know what we will be made like, we must know how and why he appeared. We must know Christ.

Jesus is the one who (1 Jn. 3:3) is pure in thought, word, and deed. Love for the Father shaped his every thought, inspired his every word, and directed his every deed. Despite all his purity and love, the world he made still did not recognize him. Even though they were given countless glimpses into his power and mercy, his wisdom and his sacrificial love, they loved the things of this world and its darkness. They hated him without reason. They crucified him.

In his death, he was standing in our place, sacrificing his holy, innocent blood to purify us and make us God’s own children. And when he rose from the dead, he declared us to be just that. He promised that one day we would be like him. One day, we and all the saints in heaven will be transformed fully and finally. Yes, we will be transformed physically and outwardly. But just as importantly we will be glorified spiritually and inwardly. The renewal that God has begun in us now will be complete. We will no longer struggle with sin.

Until then, we live with this clear hope. We are sinner-saints. We have been purified by Christ, but the battle against the sinful nature has not yet ceased. So we must strive to live up to what God calls us. So what does a child of God look like and do?

Children of God rejoice in opportunities to show their God-generated generosity and gratitude. Children of God praise God continually. Children of God scour their schedules for the good deeds God has prepared in advance for them. Children of God trust that even when they are hard-pressed on every side, God is still with them holding them together. Children of God recognize what a special privilege this lavish love from God is. And it is not only for us. It is for all sinners. Christ Jesus died to atone for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the whole world.

This is critical for us to understand. Because our world has a lot of identity issues right now. People see themselves as colors—red and blue and rainbow—directions—right and left—and even things that are harder for us to understand—like different genders and pronouns that may baffle us. Can’t you see that they have placed their hope in the things of this world? They have loved this world’s princes, values, ideologies, and philosophies. They see these things as the only hope they have for the future.

As a child of God, open their eyes, by God’s Word, to see a greater hope and a greater love. Help those who have put their trust in princes and finances who the Prince of Peace is and what treasure he has stored up for us in heaven. Help those who are deeply unhappy with how they were born to see that the flesh cannot generate anything eternal. The Spirit must give birth to the Spirit. And God does that. He purifies us through the waters of Baptism and puts his name on us so that we might be his own beloved children. And that is what we are. Only by the lavish love of God.