Scripture lesson:  Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

Let me ask you a quick question; “Are you sick and tired of hearing about Tim Tebow?”  Well, I for one am not.  So, with that said, I would like to open up with a reflection I have had over this whole Tebow discussion.

I have been somewhat incredulous over all the criticism in the past few months that the man has received over his faith in Christ.  I think what began as a criticism over his skill, or lack thereof, as a quarterback evolved into many people telling him to STOP praising Jesus for all he has given him.

One player on an opposing team even went so far as to say that we are fine with Tim loving Jesus, but he doesn’t always have to share that publicly.  Keep your faith private!

Tim’s response called into light the importance he places on the most important relationship he has in this world, namely, to Jesus Christ.  He equated it to marriage. Why wouldn’t you tell others how much you love your spouse?  For one, your spouse wants to hear it, and so does Jesus.

A good many people, NFL players and fans alike, seem to be rooting for this guy to be a massive failure.  And, amidst all the hate talk, ridicule, and personal jabs he takes, Tim Tebow somehow brushes it off.  He doesn’t ridicule back; he doesn’t take personal shots at other people – he literally just smiles.

To some, his cool collective confidence probably comes across as arrogant.

I, on the other hand, would like to believe that despite all the displeasure and ridicule the man has endured he still walks around with his head held high because Tim Tebow knows who he is and whose he is.

In our scripture lesson, the psalmist, whom we believe to be King David, insists that whether we are aware of it or not, we are known completely by the God to whom “all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from whom no secrets are hid.” (Book of Common Prayer)

In this famous psalm, King David insists, friends, that before we know or name God, God knows and names us.  Therefore, our knowledge of God is derived first and foremost by God’s knowledge of us.  David is inviting his readers to trust the God whose sovereign grace encompasses us in ways that we can never fully comprehend.  “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,” David says, “it is so high that I cannot attain it” (v. 6).

Let me share one more thought before I give your brains a break.  I think what David is saying, is that since we are God’s greatest and most intimate creation, we, that is human beings, have both identity and a value that endure no matter what.

This is something David knew most of the time.  David was a man who knew God and sought after “God things.”  In fact, we know him as “a man after God’s own heart.”  Throughout the psalms, David expresses and reveals over and over how intimate and assured his relationship
with God is.

But, despite David having ground his identity and value in his relationship with God; there were moments when David lost sight of who he was and whose he was.  David flubbed.  David’s sin was great.  He committed adultery and once he found out the woman conceived a child, had her husband murdered – and then, later on in life committed the sin of idolatry.

David forgot who he was and whose he was.  Instead of staying grounded in God, he chose to claim his identity and worth in his wealth, sexual addiction, and status as a great king.

One way or another, at one time or another, we all ask, “Who am I?” Where does the meaning and value of my life come from?

The question of identity, “Who am I?” is a question many people ask themselves, especially today.  This is a question we often associate with the teenage years, but teenagers are not the only ones who struggle with a sense of identity.

The mother whose children are all away from home for the first time also asks herself this question.

The retiree who suddenly has nowhere to go in the morning asks it.

The caregiver whose spouse has died after a long illness asks it, just as the man or woman struggling with issues of sexual identity asks it.

During my time living in Ashland, Ohio I had the opportunity to serve as a youth minister at a local UM church as well as coach cross-country and track for a Catholic Middle School team. As we all know, the teenage years are a time where many “find” their identity.

I didn’t like how many teenage girls I worked with felt the pressure of having their identity in a boyfriend.

In fact, I made it a mission of mine to make sure every girl I ministered to knew that her identity and worth was found in God her Creator and not in some guy.  In fact, I had all these girls, whether in the church youth group or track team, quote back to me a little saying that I taught them.

And the saying was, “I am not an object to be used and abused, but rather a child of God and deserved to be treated as such.”

I may be belaboring the message of this Psalm a little bit – I mean it is such a simple message to share – but I am encouraging us to remember that our identity is who we are (we are children of God) and our value or worth comes from whose we are (we are God’s).  If this is such a simple message to understand, then why don’t we, like David, or Tim Tebow, embrace its truth so confidently?

I think one reason is that our culture has been lying to us, and it’s worse today than it ever was.

Little girls grow up to learn that their worth is only skin-deep – they are only worth something if they are physically attractive.

Little boys, however, grow up to learn that they are only as valuable as their pockets are deep.

Psalm 139 invites us to receive an identity rooted not in the things we say about ourselves, or the labels others assign to us, but in the One who knows us more deeply and more lovingly than we could ever know ourselves.

Friends, let me end by saying that because our identity is found first and foremost in our Creator who loves us fully, we have a worth that cannot be taken from us – by others or ourselves.  The value of our lives does not come by what we achieve or possess or what others may think of us.  But rather, it comes from the God who knows us and names us, from whose steadfast love nothing in creation can ever separate us.

I had a seminary professor who used to tell a story in his presentations about his teenage years.  Every Friday night that Paul would go out to be with friends, his dad would always leave him with the same thought as he left the house.  “Paul, remember who you are.”

Friends, this day remember who you are and whose you are.  You have more worth and value than you or others may think.  You have a God who loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you.  Embrace God’s love, and live every day with the knowledge that you, along with everyone you encounter, is fully known and loved.  Remember who you are and whose you are!  Amen.