This morning, ask yourself: Who am I?

A basic, foundational question, and yet at the same time a deeply profound one.

Each of us, of course, could answer by simply giving our name and no one would argue the point (unless we lied and gave the wrong name!). But who I am as a person transcends my name! It includes that simple designation—Raymond Nicholas Suriani—but it goes far beyond it.

Which brings up a very important issue: Where do I look for that deeper understanding of my own identity? I know I am more than just a name; I know that I’m more than just a pretty face (ha, ha)! But what "more" am I? Who or what gives me that deeper perception into the meaning of my existence? In other words, who or what defines me as a person?

I submit to you this morning that one of the crises of our age is rooted in the fact that many people look for their definition of self in the wrong place. Some, for example, define themselves by what they see (or don’t see) in the mirror. Their identity and worth are tied almost exclusively to their external appearance! A very dangerous practice, to say the least, because even the most beautiful among us will have a "bad hair day" every now and again.

Others define themselves based on what people say about them. This is also a very dangerous practice, because not everybody will say nice things about us all the time. Consider those who grow up in the midst of verbal and emotional abuse: the child, for example, who is constantly told by his parents, "You’re stupid—you’re ugly—you’re a loser." If that child makes the mistake (and it’s a very easy one to make!) of defining himself according to the things his parents tell him, he will think of himself as a worthless piece of trash—and nothing more.

Because it’s a warm day in July, I won’t elaborate on the many other places people mistakenly look for their self-understanding. Although I will say that for many men their self-worth and identity are too closely tied to their work, such that when they retire—or become disabled—they begin to see themselves as non-productive failures.

When the Lord first spoke to the prophet Jeremiah he said, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you . . . " The author of Psalm 139 wrote, "O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising, you discern my purpose from afar . . . all my ways lie open to you." God knows us better than we know ourselves; he knows us perfectly. And so it’s obvious (or at least it should be obvious): HE is the one to whom we should look for a proper understanding of our personal identity. And how does God give us that information? Well, one of the primary ways he communicates with human beings is through the Sacred Scriptures. So you want to know who you are? Read the Bible! God will tell you who you are in his eyes! Do you recall what he told you about yourself in today’s second reading from Ephesians 1? Did you hear him? Listen to these words (taken from a different translation than the one we heard a few moments ago):

In him we were chosen; for in the decree of God, who administers everything according to his will and counsel, we were predestined to praise his glory by being the first to hope in Christ. In him you too were chosen; when you heard the glad tidings of salvation, the word of truth, and believed in it, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit who had been promised. He is the pledge of our inheritance, the first payment against the full redemption of a people God has made his own, to praise his glory."

So--what does God say about me in that text? God says (among other things) that I’m a unique and important part of his plan for the world; he says that I’m irreplaceable, and that I’m loved eternally by him—which means that I’m "a somebody" and have intrinsic value, regardless of what other people might say about me. God says that I’m a member of his family—his adopted child—through the sacrifice of my Savior and elder brother, Jesus Christ. He says that forgiveness is always available to me through Jesus, so I must never despair. He says that he’s revealed himself to me through his Son, Jesus, and that I can know him personally and have a relationship with him—a relationship which is meant to begin here on this earth and continue for all eternity!

Not bad for 12 verses of the New Testament.