Trinity Lutheran Elkhart Homilies
Ordinary 10: Our Truest Identity (feat. Pr. Vieth)
When God asked Adam and Eve after the Fall, “Where are you?” He wasn’t inquiring about the location of their bodies, but the location of their hearts. By eating the forbidden fruit and straying from the Lord, our first parents lost their identity and began to search for it behind fig leaves. Our fig leaves have gotten more sophisticated over the years, but they have the same goal: to hide the decay of our outer self. God doesn’t leave mankind in this misery, though. He promises a seed that will make all things right again. Jesus takes onto himself that which makes us most ashamed: our human flesh. He sanctifies it and calls us back to our true identity in him. The worst thing we can do is to reject this gift and the working of the Spirit in us. Jesus wants us back as his brothers and sisters – our truest identity! We should let his will be done.
When God asked Adam and Eve after the Fall, “Where are you?” He wasn’t inquiring about the location of their bodies, but the location of their hearts. By eating the forbidden fruit and straying from the Lord, our first parents lost their identity and began to search for it behind fig leaves. Our fig leaves have gotten more sophisticated over the years, but they have the same goal: to hide the decay of our outer self. God doesn’t leave mankind in this misery, though. He promises a seed that will make all things right again. Jesus takes onto himself that which makes us most ashamed: our human flesh. He sanctifies it and calls us back to our true identity in him. The worst thing we can do is to reject this gift and the working of the Spirit in us. Jesus wants us back as his brothers and sisters – our truest identity! We should let his will be done.