Resetting Identity

1 Corinthians 1:1-9, NRSVue

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the partnership of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

INTRO

So often, the New Year causes us to examine our lives. We look back at all we have accomplished over the last year. We set goals for what we want to achieve this year. We name the things that we want to change about ourselves. Inevitably, a new year prompts us to set resolutions as we look to who we want to be. In this process, we are evaluating our identity. We are looking at who we are and who we want to become. I would argue that is exactly why, more often than not, we give up on our resolutions and fail to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. It is because we ground our identity in ourselves. 

As we begin this new year together, we are launching a new worship series inviting us to hit reset. We are invited to start over again as we reset different areas of our lives. The series creators write, “In the light of Epiphany, we encounter the claim of Christ upon our lives.

God's grace doesn't merely improve us; it resets us—rewriting our identity, reclaiming our belonging, and reframing our daily witness.” In our baptism, God, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, claims us. In claiming us, everything about us changes. Who we are and whose we are move to the forefront, and as Christians, we live differently because of this. Each week, we will explore a different area of our lives that God has “Reset.” As we begin this week with resetting identity, I invite us to explore how God might be calling us into a new season of life in Jesus Christ.

In our Epistle lesson today, Paul writes to the church at Corinth. The church has been in conflict. As they work to find their place in the newfound church of Jesus Christ, quarrels have arisen. Whose spiritual gifts are the most necessary? How do you rank them? If you rank them, which one of the Corinthians is the most important? It didn’t stop there. There were also divisions in the church based on theological views, political views, and even class or economic status. Sound familiar? The church in Corinth isn’t that far from us, is it? We still divide over theology and politics. We still argue about who belongs and whose voice matters most. And sometimes, even without meaning to, we let our preferences, our labels, or our opinions take center stage in the life of the church. Paul could be writing this letter to any of us. Knowing what was going on and the people involved, Paul writes a letter to the church. 

This morning, we begin with Paul’s introduction. I love that Paul doesn’t charge in with a quick rebuke. Paul doesn’t start off stirring up more conflict. Instead, Paul begins with calling. Paul focuses on his calling. Notice Paul doesn’t say greetings from Paul, the bishop, or even just Paul the apostle. He doesn’t say, hey greetings from the guy who can tell you all what to do. Instead, he says, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” Paul grounds himself in his calling from God. Paul’s identity and the work he is committed to doing begin and end with God’s will, not his own. 

Paul grounds the identity of the Corinthians here as well. Paul continues, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” Notice, Paul doesn’t say that he is writing to the backsliders or the people who aren’t focused on the true faith. Instead, he lifts them up as Saints.

So often we think of saints as perfect Christians. We think of saints as those like Mother Teresa, extraordinary, selfless, beyond our reach. We say things like “they are such a saint.” If this is our definition, the Corinthians are surely failing. They are fighting. They are trying to one-up each other. They are making church about themselves rather than God. In fact, we would probably struggle to even see how they could call themselves Christians. Despite this, Paul reminds them and us that when God claims us, we become saints.

The definition of a saint is not about how good we have been or the work we have done. Instead, it is an identity that is grounded in who we are as God’s children. One theologian puts it this way, “They are, however, saints because God has called them and sanctified them. The achievement belongs to God, not to them, and it is from God’s call that their identity is derived.” In other words, no matter what we, or the Corinthians, do or fail to do, no matter how we fall short, our call is not about us. Our identity is not about our perceived shortcomings or our failures. Our identity is grounded in the God who made us, called us, claimed us, and walks with us all the days of our lives. By the very nature of our baptism, we are saints. We didn’t do anything; God did. 

Like the Corinthians, we tend not to focus on our identity in Jesus Christ. We focus on the labels that the world wants to give us:  Republican, Democrat, or Independent; Conservative or Liberal; Progressive or Traditionalist. We focus on family identifiers like mom, dad, son, daughter, brother, sister, etc. And, if we are honest with ourselves, we are also often our own worst critics. We sell ourselves short. We don’t give ourselves enough credit. We don’t think we could possibly be worthy of God’s love. And when we are finished judging ourselves, we begin to judge others to justify where we are. At least I’m not like so-and-so. They are so much worse than I am.

Yet Paul reminds us that our ultimate identity is as Christians, as children of God. This isn’t because of anything we do. This isn’t about what we deserve. We are children of God because God wants us to be God’s children. God desires that everyone should be saved. We proclaim this in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” But John continues in verse 17, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.” It is God’s will that we are God’s. Because we are God’s, God’s grace goes before us, meets us where we are, and continues working in us throughout our lives. 

Paul goes on to say, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I think this is so important. Because the Corinthians are striving after God, because they are a community of faith grounded in Jesus, they are not lacking in any gift. Later in the letter, Paul will directly address the fight over spiritual gifts, but Paul begins by reminding them that they have every gift they need. 

I think this begins to show the Corinthians, and us, the difference between what God sees and what we see. So often we look around our congregation and think, “This is a lot fewer people than what we had before Covid.” Sometimes we think, “If we could just have a little more help.” Sometimes we look at ourselves and think “I’m too” insert blank here…old, young, disabled, unsure, unworthy. We look around and sell ourselves short. But when God looks at us, God sees that we have every gift that we need. We have all the gifts and graces for the next thing that God is calling us to do. To be clear, it doesn’t mean we should stop inviting more people in, but it does mean that God provides exactly what we need when we need it. 

Imagine what we could do if we focused on our worthiness, on what we can contribute, on the gifts that we already have. Imagine what we could accomplish if we truly believed we had all the gifts that are necessary for what God is calling us to do. Instead of looking around and seeing ourselves as smaller or lacking, we could see the abundance that God has graced us with. We could see ourselves as grounded in who God calls us to be. There’s a great saying: "God doesn’t call the equipped. God equips the called.” If our identity is grounded in God, if we believe that God supplies our needs, then we can do exactly what God calls us to do because God wills it to be done. 

However, there is one nuance of this that we must name. So often, we misunderstand what it means to be in Jesus Christ. We think that Paul is trying to build up the church through ethical discussions or through maximizing efficiency. Rather, Paul wants those in the church to have a theological encounter with God through the community. Dr. Susan Eastman elaborates on this writing, “the change that takes place as persons are reconstituted in Christ is not discovered through an inward look for the Spirit within some core self, but rather in the interactions that take place between believers.” To put it another way, God remakes our identity in Jesus Christ, but we do not fully discover this by looking inward. Instead, we discover that when we interact with one another in an ongoing relationship in a Christian community. In other words, to fully understand our new identity in Jesus Christ and to fully embrace the gifts we have, we need others to see us in light of Christ.

Often, it is easier to see the gifts and God’s grace at work in others' lives than it is in our own. Sometimes, we think what’s torn can’t be mended. That we’ve worn out our usefulness. But grace sees things differently. Many of you know that my grandmother and parents gave me my pulpit robe. Since then, my grandmother has passed away. I’ve had this robe since I was licensed in 2018. Needless to say, after 2 services a week for 4 years and three services a week for 1 year, it was coming apart. The decorative panel with the cross and flame was coming unsewn. So, I asked Janet to work on my robe. She took it home and worked on it. Before she brought it back to me, she told me that she wasn’t sure if I should still be using it regularly. After Janet and I talked, I just knew I was going ot need a new pulpit robe. Let me tell you, Janet fixed it better than it was when I got it brand new. Grace doesn’t just patch us up; it restores us for service. Just like my robe, none of us is too worn, too broken, or too far gone to be used by God.

I’ll tell you another story. When I was wrestling with my call, I wasn’t so sure what I wanted to do. For years, I loved school. I was looking forward to law school and knew that was my plan. I got to the point in college where I just knew I wasn’t supposed to go to law school. The thought of going to law school, of studying for the LSAT, was repulsive. I tried to take the LSAT, and I can tell you I did not do well. I threw my arms up and told God that if God wanted me to do something else, God was just going to have to tell me. The more I wrestled, the more I was unsure. I’ll never forget, I asked one of my pastors to go to lunch. After we chit-chatted, she looked at me and asked me why I wanted to get lunch with her. I said, “Tell me about your call.” Her response was, “I thought that was what we were doing here.” Even when I couldn’t name it, others in my community could see the call in me. That’s what Christian community does. It helps us see what we can’t see in ourselves.

If we didn't have a Christian community, if our identity in Jesus Christ weren’t wrapped up in that community, what would we have? Who would show up if we don’t have family nearby? Who would come to the funeral? Who would feed us after? Who would be there when we are struggling and just need somebody to pray for us? Who would be there in the midst of the doubt and the fear? Who would be there to hold us accountable in the faith? Who would be there when we can’t see God at work in our own lives? Who would be there to help us when we underestimate ourselves? 

You see, faith was never meant to be a solitary thing. I can’t tell you how many people over the years have told me that they only need a personal relationship with Jesus. Even Jesus lived out his ministry with the disciples! Yet we think that when we have that ah-ha moment or after we are baptized as infants, the next thing we do is go it alone! Yet even in our baptismal vows, the church has promises too. The church promises to walk alongside us and nurture our faith in Christ. The church becomes family because in Jesus Christ, we are part of the family of God. 

So as we begin this journey of resetting our lives in the light of Christ’s Epiphany, may we begin where Paul begins: with our identity. Not in who the world says we are. Not in the voices that tear us down. Not in our failures or even our successes. But in the One who has called us, sanctified us, and claimed us as saints. You are not lacking in any gift. You are already equipped for the work God is calling you to. And you are not alone.  This community, this body of Christ, walks with you. So may this be the year you stop striving to become someone else and start living fully as the one God has already called you to be. Reset your identity. Remember who you are. Remeber whose you are.  And go, together, as God’s people into the world.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.