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"Who Are You?"
The Rev. Kong Namkung's first Sermon at
Cornerstone United Methodist Church
Exodus 19:5-7; Matthew 5:13-16; 1 Peter 2:9-10
June 27, 2004

A Sunday school teacher taught about God, about his presence.  She taught about his omnipresence to her Sunday school students.  Now at the end of the class she said "Children, now, can you tell me where God is?" 

One boy raised up his hand, "Teacher, I know!" 

And she says "OK, tell me." 

He said, "God is in our bathroom." 

She was shocked and said "Can you tell me why?" 

The little boy responded by saying "We have five family members and only two bathrooms in our house.  Every morning whenever my brothers and sisters went to the bathroom, my father stood outside of the restroom and he was knocking on the door saying "Come out!" And he said "Come out, come out!  Oh Lord, are you still there?!"

Well, unfortunately, this child misunderstood God and God's presence.  The misunderstanding of God causes us to have our first identity.  Who is your favorite singer?  I can tell mine, and she is Celine Dion.  I love her songs.  One day I saw her on the TV.  She had an interview and the host of the interview asked her why she became a singer.  Celine said "When I was five years old, I had an opportunity to sing on a stage.  When I held the microphone to sing for the first time, I realized that 'This is my life'.  I wanna be a singer.  I wanna be a great singer, I wanna be.  This is it.  From that time on she identified herself as a singer, even as a little child.  In order to identify herself as a good singer Celine had to spend many hours of extra time and extra effort to pronounce certain words correctly, and later on she said "I am going to be a good singer.  That is my life, and I have always identified myself as a singer."  In order to be a great singer she put her energy and her time and she will have to practice this stuff.  The same song, not only once, twice, ten times, a hundred times, and sometimes she sang over and over again until she feels I am not good, I am Great.  A thousand times she sings a song over and over again.  She identified herself as a singer.

The question that I have today is "Who are you?"  If someone asked you "Who are you?", what is your answer?  Many people in this country, they identify themselves with three P's. Number one: "Possessions" -- how much they have.  No matter what kind education you have, what kind character you have, if you live in a big house, a huge one, they think you are a good person.  People identify themselves with possessions.  Number two: "Power" -- Or with some special event, they want to identify themselves with power, with how much power I have -- social status.  Number three: "Pleasure" -- Or some people they say, I will identify myself with pleasure.  The more I have pleasure, good, you can have a car, boat, you can go golf, you have all kinds of pleasure.  You can have all kinds of pleasure, they can identify themselves with. 

For some people they can identify themselves with their order.  Who are you?  Oh I am the Manager of Office Depot or Wal-Mart.

Rick Warren, in his book, "The Purpose Driven Life", says that we, all of us Americans, want to have driven life, but in that driven life we only want to have materialism, that calls us to drive our lives.  Or that power, that power we want to have, that calls us to drive our lives.

Eric Fromm, one of the most famous scholars in psychology said "If I am what I have -- and if what I have is lost, who then am I?"  I believe that is a good question!  In this world, if we do not have the three P's, possession, power, and pleasure, you are very low.  That's what Warren says.  It doesn't matter how much you know, what kind of personality you have, what kind family background you have, what kind of position you have -- it doesn't matter.  If you don't have these three things, possession, power, and pleasure, your price is low.

Who switched the price tag of ourselves?  The world confidently tells us -- if you don't have these three things your price is low.

My wife and I went to Wal-Mart a few years ago to buy our son some pants, what time of year a don't remember.  We usually try to buy short pants and short shirts in the winter, and long pants and long shirts in the summer, so we can get a good discount.  One day we walk in the Wal-Mart and I find pear pants with three price tags, one place of the other.  The first price tag said sticker Salem, and was $3.99.  Have you ever peeled off the sticker?  Well I did.  I peeled the first sticker off and found out that it was $5.99.  I then peeled off the second sticker and found out it was $9.99.

I learned as time goes and if you do not maintain your value goes down.  Well I got a note, and I'm really gonna throw that away, somebody says in America the population is aging.  Young people, particularly beautiful young women, is priceless.  Well, as time goes the price of ourselves is changing because of the worldview impact on our mentality.  Who are you?  In this world, who are you?

The famous Swedish psychologist, Carl Yung said "If you do not know who you are, the world will tell you who you are". If you do not know who you are, the world will tell you who you are.  They give you a price on your life, they give you a sticker and put on you. 

Who are you?  Countless and numerous people today have lost their identity.  They think of themselves as coming from nowhere and on their way to nowhere.  Lots of people they are like the clouds in the sky and they will disappear so quickly.  Is that You?  Who are you?

In today's Scripture lesson the Apostle Paul tells us who we are.  The Scripture tells us you are a royal priesthood.  You are a chosen race.  You are a Holy nation, God's own people.  You are special people.  You are more precious than gold and silver here on earth.

In this world, as I have said, if you do not have three P's, possession, power, pleasure, they treat you like trash.  They treat you like junk mail.  As we moved into our new home last week, we received a lot of junk mail as you can imagine.  I don't know about you, but when I check my junk mail and find it not worth opening, it goes in the trash can.  It does not get any attention from me.

In this world if you do not have possessions and power and pleasure they say you are trash.  You are nobody.  You are nothing.  That's what the world says to us.  Is that You?

But today's Scripture says, it clearly tells us that You are a God child.  You are special, a very special person.  Our price tag has been changed because of the one who was crucified on the cross.  Our price tag has been changed because He has suffered for us.  Our price tag has been changed because He rose from the dead. We are not anymore nobody, for we are somebody.  We are not anymore low trash, but we are precious jewels in the sight of God.

We are special, very special.  As a special people, we have to live according to God's call so that we may proclaim His mighty acts in Jesus Christ.

Totoyo Gaya is a famous Japanese pastor and theologian.  He preached incredible inspirational sermons and wrote lots of books.  But behind his successful career as a pastor there is the story about his finding his identity.  Well, unfortunately his mother was a prostitute, and his father was an alcoholic.  Where he lived there were lots and lots of children who they did not know their father's name.  The children were cussing, cussing, arguing, and constantly fighting.  And when he became a middle school student he said "Well, I am the son of a prostitute and my father is an alcoholic.  That's me, that's me.  Do I have to live longer?  No.  No."  His friends mocked him by saying "You are a son of a prostitute."  He felt ashamed of his mother and his father, and even shame for himself.  And he tried to commit suicide.  He who only wanted to be a friend and alive.  That's it.  That's it.  He had a question about his identity.  And as he got older he was a person to keep asking questions, "Who am I?"  So one day he sat down at the bottom of the stairs and again thought about it, "How am I going to live?  This is my identity.  How much longer do I have to live alone?"  At the time he heard a little, little trumpet sound, far away.  And there were the sound of the drums.  He started to pay attention.  And as the sound came closer and closer and closer, he heard a voice through the megaphone.  It said, "Believe in Christ and You and your family will be saved!"  And he said "What?", and he then ran to the person.  He said "Excuse me Sir.  My identity is that my mother is a prostitute and my father is an alcoholic.  A person like me cannot be saved!"  The man said "As soon as you believe in Christ you will be saved.  You are not the son of a prostitute, You are not the son of an alcoholic, but You are a child of God."  And he became a Christian.  Whenever there came into his thought "Don't you remember?  You are the son of a prostitute, You are the son of an alcoholic.  Don't you remember that?  That's who your identity is!"  And he said, "No!  I am not anymore.  I am not!  I am a child of God!  I am!"  That happened to him and from that point on he identified himself as a child of God.  Not anymore the son of a prostitute or alcoholic.

Who are you?  In today's Scripture lesson it clearly tells us our identity.  You are the royal priesthood.  You are a chosen race.  You are special!  You are, You are very special!  That's what the Bible says.  Because of your identity you have to live as the light of the world.  Because of your new identity you have to live as the light of the world.  You have to keep His commandments. 

We believed that we were nobody.  We believed that we were junk mail.  We believed that we know we were trash.  But through his blood we went through the sacrifice on the cross.  We become somebody!  We become special.  We become a royal priesthood.  God chose us through his son Jesus Christ.  We are, we are very, very special.

I am going to read you a poem written by somebody and at the end of each sentence I would like to ask you to say "But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be young --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be old --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be a male --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be a female --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be educated --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may not be educated --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be a black --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be a white --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be a Asian --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be rich --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be poor --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be healthy --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be thin --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be married --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be divorced, be married, or separated --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be living in a nice home --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be living in a small home --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be successful --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be a failure --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I may be addicted --"But I am somebody because I am a child of God."

I will tell you in the next several weeks where I came from, but I can clearly see for myself that I was nobody.  I was trash.  But God loved me so much that he make me to be a somebody.  Totoyo Gaya was a nobody.  Celine Dion was a nobody but she became a somebody as she put her effort, time, and energy to practice a song over and over again until a thousand times.

My beloved brothers and sisters, God made You to be a somebody.  God changed the price tag in you and on You because God wants You to proclaim the mighty acts of God in Jesus Christ!  It is our job, it is our obligation that we go out and tell people "Yes, I am a child of God!  Do you want to be a child of God?  Would you?"  That is our job.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Exodus 19:5-7

5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the peop
NIV

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Matthew 5:13-16

13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
NIV
 

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1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But 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. 10 Once 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.
NIV
 

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