Identity…

Yesterday morning, I read the story of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert and His temptation there. In a new way, I realized that this story is deeply connected to Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptizer:

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:16,17

Though unique expressions, what Jesus experienced in the desert was essentially one temptation… Jesus, prove that you are the Son of God:
If you are the Son of God… feed yourself.
If you are the Son of God… show the Father’s protection for you.
If you are the Son of God… take hold of glory and admiration.

During the last weeks of Rome and since I’ve been home, I've continued to run into the theme of identity. Mostly I observe some jacked up areas in my life (as tight as my puma’s are… they wont ever supply my worth). And really, it’s not too hard to see some broken areas in culture as well. I’m realizing the vast role that identity plays in how I (and we) live, and typically, it’s not a good thing. Rather than love and service and grace extending from the assurance of who I am, that I am, I constantly find myself trying to defend and prove myself.

I’m reminded of an essay by Henri Nouwen that I love. On the discipline of solitude, he says:

Why is it so important that you are with God and God alone on the mountain top? It's important because it's the place in which you can listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved. To pray is to listen to the One who calls you "my beloved daughter," "my beloved son," "my beloved child." To pray is to let that voice speak to the center of your being, to your guts, and let that voice resound in your whole being.

Father, would you speak to that deep place within us today… all the way to the center of who we are. Speak to us individually and speak to us together, as humanity. Remind us that we, like Jesus, are beloved by You. Reveal to us the places that we’re trying to use something other than You as our Source and Life and Worth. Amen.