Who are you?  Have you ever been asked that?  It can be a simple question, or it can mean more.  How you answser that question can depend on the way in which the question was asked.  If you were asked at a party, you might start by saying your name and where you live.  If you were asked at a wedding, you might say how you know the bride or the groom. If you were asked by a police officer, you could just hand him your drivers license.

Who are you?  We can define ourselves by any number of aspects of our daily lives.  We can define ourselves by our job, family roles even our friends.  Even how we spend our time, sometimes how even how we look or how we treat people, or how people treat us..  These aspects if who we are don't completely define us.  Most of us are way more than what we do from nine to five.  You are more than a wife, mother, sister, aunt, uncle, brother, grandparent.  You are more than how you look or even how good you are.

The relationship that defines you more than anything or anybody else in your life is the one you have between you and God.  It is life changing, it's defining, it is eternal.

Answering the deeper implications of the question "Who re you?" molds and shapes your actions, your throughts, your world view.  It changes how people see you and how you see others.  The answer to "Who are you?" begins with your relationship with God.

 ⁸ Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
       We are the clay, you are the potter;
       we are all the work of your hand.

 ⁹ Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD;
       do not remember our sins forever.
       Oh, look upon us, we pray,
       for we are all your people.

You have been made by God and you are the work of his hand!  You are one of God's works of art.  That fact alone makes you worth and so much value, yet there is so much and I mean much much more.

²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Our basic identity is summed up in these  three short verses.  It clearly says that we are sinners, we are forgiven through Jesus Christ.  Who are you?  By your faith in Jesus Christ you are a forgiven sinner.

  ⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

These words apply to me as well to you.  How does it make you feel to be reminded that God sees you in this way?

Knowing that we are forgiven sons and daughters of God changes everything.  All other aspects of who we are comes from the gifts God has given us, the ongoing, never failing love and care that God provides for us and the meaning and the purpose that God gives our lives.  Understanding who we are in Christ is the beginning of learning to live in the balancing act.

It's no surprise to you, that as Christians, we live live in the constant tension of living in the world but not being of the world.  If we go to the exstreme in our attempts at being "not of this world," we may often closet ourselves in the church basement and lose our ability to relate to and influence the world arround us.

 ¹⁴I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷Sanctify^[b] them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Why do you think Jesus wants us to remain in the world?

 ¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

I remember in Sunday school I was taught in a song.  "hide it under a bushel? oh no!!! Let it shine!"  If you only associate only with other Christians, how will people living in darkness all around you see your light?  In what ways can you be a reflection of God's light to those in your community and this world?

It can be terribly diffecult to reach out to world that doesn't love us or the message of Jesus which we bring.  Sometimes it is much easier to point our sins and problems in the lives of our unbeleiving neighbors than it is to show them how much God loves them.  The accusing finger of blame is easier to wag than the open hands of service...but an open hand is much more likely to be grasped by another.

 ¹⁵But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

How can your attitude be one of gentleness and respect when you are dealing with someone who disagrees with your world view as a Christian?

 ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I think it is very clear throughout the scripture that God doesn't want us to be in the world.  How can we interact with non believers enough to show them God's love and let our light shine without letting their world view change our own?

The balancing act is not always easy but it is vitally important!!!  God works through us to reach his loved children who are living in darkness.  He sent us into this world to be salt and light.  He sent his people into all creation. (Mark 16:15  ¹⁵He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.)  That means everyone.  Even those we don't like, those who have wronged us and even those who we don't think deserve it.  Yikes!!! The balancing act seems to just be getting harder.

 ¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Wow!!! That is a tall order.  As long as we live in this world we will struggle with the balancing act,  of being in the world and not of it.  We will toss between our own sinfulness and the workds of love we are called to do.  Our accusing finger will want to wage war against our open servants hands.  A dancer can tell you that whenever you are having trouble keeping balance, it is always good to have a focus point to help steady you.  By focusing our eyes on a unmovable point, we are able to prevent ourselves from falling to the ground in a heap.  Our focal point is Jesus.

 ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When our calling as Christians seems incredibly diffecult and impossible to live up to, it is no time to go back to our identity in Christ.  When you feel like the balancing act is to much to hand look in a mirror and ask yourself "Who are you?" and answer " I am God's loved, forgiven Child."

While this world has us caught us in the middle, there is another lasting world that we are headed to where we will be completely balanced and at  peace with who we are and whos we are.

 ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Make this  your theme for the week