Know Who You Are

In Jeremiah1:5 we read:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

And, in Psalm 139:13 we read:
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

These two verses have become battle cries for those who use them to validate a political agenda. We all know about the continued fight between those who are anti-abortion, pro-life or anti-choice and those who are pro-abortion or pro-choice. The the long and often mean spirited fight can be summarized in who controls what a woman does with her body. Does the woman control her body? Or should religious institutions have that privilege? Lawmakers? Family? Society? Who or what controls what a woman does with her body? This battle seems never ending, and sometimes violent. Over the decades, men have been the most visible and the most vocal on both sides.

When we take the text for today literally, the message is clear; God knew us even before we were born. Our life's work, the reason we are born, is determined even as we are being formed in our mother's womb. This means that before our bodies are functional organisms, before our bodies even exist in this world we are who we are and God knows us. Based on the literal interpretation, we might decide that a woman should not have the last say over what she does with her body. However, if we accept the literal interpretation, we have to also agree that a particular version of Christianity should be the law of the land. We have to agree that everyone, regardless of their personal beliefs or religious affiliations, is subject to this one version of Christianity. The separation of church and state dictate that we cannot establish one religion as law, so we need to look deeper.

In Matthew 7:5 we read:
Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
This means that we need to know who we are first. We need to see our own flaws, clean up our own house, remove the plank from our own eyes before we can even try to see the speck in another's. The message to know who you are first is quite clear.

Self-knowledge is not easy mainly because who we are is often not who we want to be. Who we are is often not who we think we should be. In Jeremiah we are literally told that God knows who we are before our bodies are formed: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. God knows who we are, first. Our bodies come after the fact. Now, let's move away from the literal understanding and look at a common theme for clarity. We might even be able to find some sanity in this particular battle. The theme is grounded in knowing or knowledge.

The biblical know is varied. There is the know as in God knowing or divine knowing. Genesis 3:5 is an example of this: For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

There is the know as in sexual knowing between people. Genesis 19:8 is an example: See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.

There is the know as in naming something or someone. Genesis 2:19 illustrates this: Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

There is the human knowing God: Genesis 6:7: I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Know as in the knowledge of good and evil Genesis 2:9: And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Making oneself known or revealing yourself. Genesis 45:1: Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

We can see that know, knowing, revealing, and knowledge are important in the Bible based on prevalence. This makes knowing important to us.

Many of us choose to think that knowing means that we can claim to know what is in God's mind all while we have no clue about our own motivations. We decide that biblical knowledge gives us permission to tell the world what/who God loves, and what/who God hates. We then use this 'knowledge' to justify who and what we love and who and what we hate. All while we do this, we have no clue about how to love God. We have no idea about whether our neighbors feel love from us. In addition, we refuse to see the most destructive sin of all, which we commit each time we ignore the pain of another.

We have already established that when the text is literally applied, abortion should be banned and a woman's right to privacy should be denied. If God knew us before our bodies were being formed, then abortion is, in fact, murder. This is a common understanding. Not so common, however is the fact that we can also use the Bible to justify protecting a woman's right to abortion. If God knew us before our bodies were being formed, then abortion does not stop us from existing. This means that abortion cannot be murder because we exist independent of a physical body. Consequently, a woman's right to privacy can be protected without contradicting what the Bible teaches.

There is a problem with this when we include the separation of church and state. Using the Bible to impose a particular religious perspective, or belief, or judgment on others is against our constitution. Both the anti-abortionist and the pro-abortionist are wrong when they use religion to justify passing a law. When we decide what God wants, likes, expects, for anyone other than ourselves this is hubris. If you do not know what hubris means, part of your lifework after this sermon is to look it up and learn the word. When we say:
you need to...

Or, she has to...

Or, they are not saved.

Or, he is going to hell.

Or, God doesn't want those people in his house.

Or, God don't like ugly.

Or....you fill in the blank.

When we say these things, and then point to a verse in the Bible to support our opinion, we use the Bible to promote what we want. Rather than accessing the Bible to support and inform us as we make our way to self-knowledge, we use the Bible to help us feel superior to others, First remove the plank from your own eye. Know who you are, first. Know where you are in your life, first. Know the plank that is in your eye, first. The Bible is here to support your individual process, not to enable you to impose your will on others.

If you strive to know who you are, you will learn that self-knowledge is sometimes painful, joyful, difficult, easy, and a life-long process. When you strive to know self you gain skills like patience, understanding, consistency, endurance, honesty, and clarity. Then you are able to use your skills, when the opportunity is offered, to help another. Conversely, if you spend most of your time and energy memorizing the biblical verses that help you feel accepted and valid, if you spend all your time rejecting verses that contradict what you think is right, you are insulting a long held tradition. In addition, you reject knowing the one thing that is yours alone, you.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you.. It is up to you to fill in that blank by knowing who you are. What are you appointed to do? Do you know? Are you working to find out?

The last time we were together I gave you what I call lifework. This is like the homework that everyone has as students. Lifework is what we do to gain the skills we need to turn our lives around. The last assignment was to take 10 minutes every day and remove all distractions. Then find a part of your body that you like or that you are comfortable seeing and really get to know that part. At the same time, you were to repeat this phrase: my body is home to my spirit. Now, we are going to build on what we have been doing.

Find a comfortable place, and expand the time that you set aside to 15 minutes. Sit in an upright position and remove distractions. Close your eyes if you are comfortable doing so. If not, find a spot to rest your eyes. Once you are comfortable, and things are quiet, sit with your thoughts. Do not try to censor your thoughts or change your feelings. Be gentle with yourself and give yourself 15 minutes of time when you do not think you are wrong, or silly, or ugly, or fat, poor, too old, too young, or any of the things that we all have thought about ourselves. Do this every day if possible. Give yourself 15 minutes of uncensored, uninterrupted time to be.

Until next time, may God continue to bless and keep you,

Amen