Identity Theft

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.’ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:1, 7 & 10

In the age we live in, there is no doubt we have all been touched by some form of identity theft. Our email addresses and Facebook accounts get hacked and then our friends get inappropriate messages that appear to be from us. A number of years ago my mom’s wallet was stolen, credit cards were used, bad checks were written - it took quite a while for her to get that mess straightened out. Not to long ago, as I was doing some work on the computer, an email arrived from our credit card provider notifying us of a possible fraudulent charge - really how do people manage to get credit card numbers like that? The charge was made in New York while I was at my desk in California. It is no fun when someone steals our identity for their own financial gain. But I believe we lose our identities in other ways as well. 

In this week’s passages from John’s gospel Jesus uses the image of a real shepherd as opposed to the person who doesn’t have the key to gate and has to find another way into the pen. That person is up to no good - Jesus identifies them as a thief. That thief is really the prince of this world - the devil, trying to steal our identities. The world says we have to live up to what it thinks we should each be, how we should look, what we should do, what kinds of things we should have and if we get just the right combination of that stuff we will be successful and more importantly loveable. But Jesus basically says I came to make sure you know who you really are, that you have life in all of its abundance. What do we have to do to get that life? We have only to accept it - that’s what grace is all about.

Respected author, professor, pastor Henri Nouwen has said: “Jesus came to announce to us that an identity based on success, popularity and power is a false identity - an illusion! Loudly and clearly he says: ‘you are not what the world makes you; but you are children of God.’” “For God so loved…” (John 3:16). The apostle Paul is good at reminding us who we really are “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions…” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Our true identity is found in Jesus Christ, it is not dependent on how we look, what we do, how much money we make or how much power we have - it is totally dependent on how much He loves us and the riches of His grace and mercy. Nothing we can do will make Him love us more or less, nothing will change who He sees when He looks at us. 

Sometimes we let the world steal our identity, sometimes we give our identity away because we haven’t allowed who we are in Christ to sink fully into the soil of our hearts where it can take root.

Do you know who you are? You are a child of God! 

A Prayer
Father - help us to know who we really are because of your mercy, grace and love. May Christ live in each of us so fully that the world can never steal our identity or that we would never give that identity away for something less than who we really are in You. In the name Jesus, we pray - Amen.