A Sermon delivered on March 16, 2025 by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley

This morning, I want us to begin with a light existential question to ponder. Ask yourself, “Who am I?” Who are you? Are you a mom, a dad, or a grandparent? Are you a doctor, lawyer, or teacher? Who are you…really? What defines your identity? Is it what you do for a living or a role you play? These are pretty significant questions for each of us to ponder.  The deal is this: if each of us do not know who we are then we are prone to be defined by the world and people around us. 

For people who follow the path of the Nazarene carpenter turned Rabbi, who we are is given and declared to us in our baptism. St. Augustine of Hippo some 350 years after Christ was resurrected said our identity is given to us upon our baptisms. In his Sermon 227, he declares to those preparing to join the church through baptism, “You have been re-born; you have been born again… Remember, then, who you are. Remember, ou are not who you were.” Consequently, our identity is gifted to us through the sacrament of baptism. 

“Remember, then, who you are.” This is a vital question for us to wrestle with and remind ourselves of with respect to our identity. In baptism, when we join the church, we are spiritually reborn. We have our feet in two worlds simultaneously – one in the already and the other in the not yet. Our lesson from Paul’s letter to his beloved Philippian church unpacks this for us this morning. Turn in your Bible to Philippians 3:17. Listen to the Word of the Lord.

Philippians 3:17-4:1

¹⁷Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. ¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

 ^4.1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved (NRSV).

Paul encourages the Philippian church to mimic both he and other leaders of the Christian community because there are forces in the world working to undermine their Christian life. What is working hard to undermine the people? Their mind and desires are focused more upon earthly goals and pursuits, not heavenly ones. Paul reminds them our primary citizenship is in heaven and that at the moment, Christ-followers have feet in two worlds – this one and in the Kingdom; consequently, we are called to zero-in on heavenly things. Our text today is about our identity and whether we are living into that identity…or not.

The first thing Paul tells the church is to, “imitate me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.” What is Paul asking them to do exactly?  Is he bragging how he and others have it all together and are perfect in their Christian walk? Not at all. Ever since Paul got knocked off his horse in Damascus when he beheld the risen Christ, his life and identity immediately changed. He would be the first to say he fails to live a perfect life; what Paul would say is that he lives a cruciform life.^[1]

A cruciform life is a life that is shaped by the Cross. It is a life that places itself in the service of God regardless of what a person does for a living or the role she has in the community.  People won’t see a bank president; they will see a woman whose business ethics are shaped by the Gospel. People won’t see an auto mechanic; they will see a man who is pouring himself into his dirty work so that others can travel safely with the kids in the car. People won’t see a nurse or doctor; they will experience the care of someone who treats them as more than a “billing code for insurance” but as a human being with physical and emotional needs.  

Beloved, when we identify ourselves as following in Christ’s Way upon our baptism, our identity is to be shaped by cruciform living as Jesus lived: Humbly, lovingly, sacrificially. 

The second thing for us to remember is that we live out our identity in a cruciform life because our citizenship is stamped in heaven’s passport. Back in the 1930’s when Adolf Hitler nationalized the German church, a group of pastors and theologians came together and reminded the people where their ultimate loyalty lie. Their identity as a Christian shaped their identity as a German and not the other way around. Theologians and pastors from Karl Barth to Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote one of our confessional documents, The Theological Statement of Barmen, to remind the German people the Fuehrer, the Lord, was not Hitler but the real Fuehrer is Jesus and our initial loyalty is to him. They wanted to remind the people their primary allegiance is to the Kingdom, the Reich of God and not the Third Reich of the Nazis. The call is to live out the distinctive cruciform life of our identity out in our neighborhoods and national politics.

And friends, this is where it gets to pinch a bit. As people whose identity is formed and shaped by Jesus of Nazareth, as people who have signed on to living in the Kingdom of Heaven, our Christian sensibilities need to be troubled with the way our national government is treating immigrants, its own employees, our veterans, our allies, and the millions of people around the world who relied on our commitments to USAID. Our Christian sensibilities should be enraged, not only for the 3,000 Israeli citizens who were killed on October 7th but should be weeping for the 47,000 dead Palestinians whose only crime is they live in Gaza. It should make our Christian conscience squirm to realize our tax dollars are being used to build the bombs destroying Gaza and it will be our tax dollars that will be used to rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure.  Our Christian identity should be troubled whether mockingly or not that our politicians are talking about displacing Palestinians from their homeland in order to build an American Riviera on the Mediterranean. 

Friends, our heavenly passport and citizenship determines what type of American citizen we are; my American passport does not determine my Christian identity. Our Christian identity should determine our personal and community’s ethical expressions and outcomes.  Do they? Are they?

Friends, Lent is the time to talk about difficult issues of our faith. My preacher colleagues and I often hear, “Preacher, keep politics out of the pulpit” and I smile and shake my head and reply, “When Jesus spoke to his hometown synagogue that he is there to proclaim good news to the poor and release for the captives, well, that train had already left the station. Jesus was speaking about how we are to relate with each other in the polis, the Greek word we get our English word for politics. I will not speak of Republicans, Democrats, or Independents not of Libertarians, but I will address the spiritual and ethical ramifications of how our primary citizenship as the people of God needs to be expressed. I am following Jesus’ footsteps on this one.

Remember St. Augustine’s words: You have been re-born; you have been born again… Remember, then, who you are. Remember, you are not who you were. In the name of the One who is, who was, and who is to come. Amen.

© 2025 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, NY 12801. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, New York and shall not be altered, re-purposed, published or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

^[1] Mark E. Hopper says, ““This passage in Philippians serves as a bridge between the reality of the cross and the application of cruciform living in daily life. Perhaps we need to weep more for ourselves than for anyone else. Cruciform living is necessarily countercultural.” ― from “Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide”