Being the Beloved – Reflections on Henri Nouwen and Identity Part 1
This series of blog entries were inspired by a sermon series given by Henri Nouwen that can be found here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFWfYpd0F18
I am a shepherd for the college age adults in my church. One of the questions it seems every student is always trying to answer is “who am I?” They throw thousands of dollars into classes, books, conferences, and mission trips hoping that somewhere they will find the answer. The problem I have found is not that students do not know the answer, but rather that they are discontent with the answer that God has already given them.
In a sermon series on “Being the Beloved,” Henri Nouwen addresses the heart of this issue. “We are,” he says, “the beloved sons and daughters of God.” This is our center, our foundation, our answer. Yet we find, as he goes on to say, that it is all too easy to place our identity, and our trust, in what we do, what others say about us, and what we have. What do we do then though when we face failure in what we do, praises turn to criticism, and all we have has been lost? The instability of these foundations produces in us a rollercoaster effect that enables constant turbulence in not only our lives, but also our relationships.
Jesus clung to His identity as the beloved son of God, enabling Him to carry out His mission to bring good news to the poor, even when that meant ridicule and death on a cross. Nouwen uses Luke 4:1-13, the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, to demonstrate Christ’s centeredness in God. Even when asked to turn stones to bread (the power to do), throw himself from the highest point in the city and be saved (the desire for praise), and to bow before Satan to gain kingdoms (the privilege to have), Jesus denies all three and claimed his identity as the heir of a God who promises far more. We, brothers and sisters, according to Romans 8:17, share in that privilege as co-heirs with Christ sharing “in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Therefore, Nouwen says that we should see rejection as an opportunity to reclaim the truth that each one of us are beloved sons and daughters of God. When we can hold strong to that truth we will stand firm through the storms free to receive love from God and to pour out love to others without need for their love, praise, or even respect in return.
