[T-shirts describe who you are]
Have you noticed how t-shirts are becoming more and more expressive? Perhaps even answering the age old question of “Who are you?” Maybe what we wear helps define who we are.
If you look at my t-shirts you might get a glimpse of who I am. [I hold up a few of my t-shirts]
This one has my name on it. Actually is says, “Irish Kevin’s Bar.” It’s from a pub in Key West.
This one says MN MALES. That group promotes men’s spirituality. What I like about the
t-shirt is what it says on the back, “The young man who cannot cry is a savage, the old man who
cannot laugh is a fool."
And then there’s this one, “Work for the Lord: the pay is bad but the retirement plan in out of this world.”
So what do our t-shirts (or any apparel) tell the world bout ourselves? Here are some interesting t-shirts:
Nothing scares me, I have daughters
I speak fluent sarcasm
If you met my family you’d understand
Always be youself unless you can be Batman, then be Batman
This girl is an awesome sister
Best grandpa ever
It’s good to see that I am not the only ugly person here.
Running always reminds me how much I hate running.
I’m not saying that I’m Spiderman. I am just saying no one has seen me
and Spiderman in a room together
I’m schizophrenic and so am I
This isn’t a beer belly. It’s a fuel tank for a sex machine.
Hey football team, get off the band field
Who are you really? Sometimes we get our life situation confused with our lives. Your life is always bigger, and more important than your life situation. Your life situation does not define you.
For example, let’s say that currently you feel depressed. Well that is your life’s situation, not your life.
You are not depression, you just have it currently.
Let’s say that you do something wonderful, like earn a trophy or an award. Well good for you, but that’s not your life, it is just your life situation. Most of the stuff that we “do” is just our situation, but it doesn’t define you. Whatever that is . . . you hurt your knee, you have cancer, you get 100 likes on Facebook, you get a promotion, you failed a test . . . those are your life’s situations. That is not who you are.
Does that mean, that none of us should ever try to get that letter in sports, or strife to win that Spelling Bee? Of course not. As I tell young people, “go for it,” get that degree, win that contest . . . just don’t believe it’s who you. You are much more.
In a sense all the readings today address the question of “Who are you?”
The first reading, from Isaiah, reminds us that God called us before we were born.
In the second reading, St. Paul tells us that we are part of a community that God has formed.
The gospel has John the Baptist model a servant for God who says “my life is about him . . . Jesus.”
Because really that’s who we are. That is, we are Christ followers . . . Christians. And most of the time, we don’t really understand it. Because Christian means that we believe and live the “Christ message.”
It’s message of hope. A belief that no matter how much we feel crucified, things will get better. That’s the Christ message: we are not left hanging on the cross.
Sometimes we think that’s who I am . . . I am this pain, this wound, this disappointment, this huge goof-up. NO! You are hope. You are resurrection. You are light, in the midst of darkness. You are a fresh start.
So your job, no matter what your life situation is about, we are invited to start over . . . each day. To be opened to the possibilities of grace and goodness that God has in store for us. And then to say, as we sang in the Psalm Response . . . “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”