Children Already--January 20, 2022

Children Already--January 20, 2022

"For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like." [James 1:23-24]

It all comes down to this: remembering who we are.

That's it.  Remember who you are. Those four simple words carry an awful lot of weight there.  But there is good news to be heard in them.  The idea of "remembering who you are" takes it as a given that you are already something good and worthy of being.  We may be forgetful from time to time.  We may not live up to the fullness of our identity.  We may be hoodwinked by the voices of others telling us and selling us on the notion we are not acceptable, not worthy, not beloved, or not children of the living God.  But those are all mistakes in believing what is already true about us.  We are God's children; what we are called to do in our day to day lives and choices is to remember that, to remember who we are, and to live like it is true.

Again, I know it can sound so simple--maybe even simplistic--but something profound is going on here in these words from James.  And if we hear him correctly, we'll no longer be under any illusion that he's trying to sell us some scheme for earning God's love with enough good deeds.  It's not about earning something in order to become acceptable, or to achieve the coveted status of being God's children. Sometimes we slide into that kind of thinking (or accuse James of teaching it), and we make ourselves into spiritual Pinocchios, all striving to become "real" boys and girls by our own moral self-improvements.  We end up talking about the Christian life as though it were a spiritual self-help project, where the end-goal is to achieve the status of "righteousness," and making it to the level of being called God's children.  And we end up inventing our own lists of actions, attitudes, shows of piety, and even partisan political bona fides, that are required of us in order to attain that spiritual status, like we are earning a spot in the afterlife or applying for membership in heaven. 

But James doesn't approach things that way.  Not at all. He doesn't start with a list of things we have to do in order to become children of God, or to earn some "good boy" or "good girl" status.  James has already said that God has already given you birth as a beloved child, and as the "firstfruits" of God's new creation (1:18).  In other words, he begins taking it as a given that God has given us birth, that we are already made God's children, and that this is the identity we operate out of, not something we have to work our way into.  When you know your identity, then when someone says, "Remember who you are," it is the most empowering and free thing you can do. You aren't trying to achieve a status that is out of your reach; you are living and operating from the identity you already have. 

So James isn't telling us that if we don't behave well enough or follow the rules closely enough we'll lose our shot at winning God's love or acceptance.  He's saying we already have both, and therefore all we need to do is to remember who we are--we are children in the family of God.  Our lives, then, will take on a characteristic family resemblance to the heart of God.  We'll have the same care for the vulnerable that God has.  We'll have the same commitment to honesty and integrity that God has, even when it is costly to tell the truth.  We'll have the same love for people around us that God's heart has for them.  And we'll grow more fully into those because they are our gifts already as children of God, not something we have to achieve our way into.

On the days when we really seem to struggle with being the kind of decent, loving, kind, and trustworthy people we want to be, James' advice isn't that we have to beat ourselves up or stress ourselves out rehearsing our failures.  He points us instead to the character of God--look again at the way God loves... remember again what God's own goodness is like... turn your focus to God's justice and mercy--and from there, remember that these are all your inheritance already.  They are part of the family resemblance, so to speak.  They are who you are, already.  The question is only ever whether we will trust that we are indeed who God says we are, and step into that way of life.

Today, then, this is enough--no more and no less--remember who you are.

Lord God, give us the capacity to remember that you have made us your children, and to own that identity full and deep.