SUNDAY, AUGUST 30TH, 2026, THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
THE REV. RICHARD BURDEN
Who are you?
I don’t mean your name, or where you’re from. Not what’s on your resume or your transcripts…certainly not what’s on any of your social media profiles…and not what your beliefs or hobbies or para-social relationships or your known affiliations are…Who are you? Without any of that…who are you?
It’s a notoriously difficult question to answer…fully, and truthfully. And yet, as difficult as it is to identify our Self, we constantly — and irresponsibly — quickly and easily label others.
We saw Jesus toying with this last week and playing the, “Who do people say I am?” game with the disciples. Remember how wrong everyone was: Elijah! John the baptizer! Jeremiah! a prophet!…You could almost hear them snickering as they rattled these off…But then he switched and asked, “Who do you say that I am,” and Peter said something that “flesh and blood [could] not reveal”…because it was so true that only the Divine dwelling within him could have announced it… ”You are the anointed one [the Christ], the son of the living God.” And today and from this point on, Jesus “begins to show” (very interesting verb that) to show the disciples what that means.
Now, he’s been both showing and telling quite a bit before this, but today things shift. Before today there’s been lots of casting out demons, and calming storms, and walking on water…and feeding thousands in the wilderness…big public miracles of great power and of overwhelming abundance…there’s also been sermons on mounts, and parables aplenty…all showing and telling what God cares about…and what the reign of God — “the kingdom of heaven” as Matthew calls it — is like.
But now, all of the big public showy stuff ends and from here on out it’s mostly: 1. Privately teaching the disciples about self-denial, being a servant, the cost of discipleship, and the coming Passion and 2. increasing public disputes with the Temple Authorities leading to the ultimate showdown with the Roman domination system.
In other words, from here on Jesus begins to show us what living a cross-shaped life truly looks like…and invites us to do the same…“denying our selves”, “taking up our crosses,” and “following him.”
You could generate volumes of text and still not get close to explaining who you truly are. Words are too finite…too malleable…too open to interpretation. Actions (as we all know) speak louder than words…and it’s probably (mostly) true that if you really want to know a person pay attention to what they do, more than what they say. (In a few weeks, Jesus will tell us a story precisely about this…2 sons…both told to work in the vineyard, one says “no” but then does it, the other says “yes, sir” but never shows up). So actions…probably more reliable than words.
But even gauging our actions is tricky, because we all have these personalities — these egoic operating systems — which are vitally important — we can’t actually live without them — but they are also constantly taking over…getting in the way…and making sure that we feel “right” and “vindicated” and “justified” in whatever it is we’re doing, and telling us that others are “mistaken,” or “wrong,” or “bad.” Remember how everyone (except Peter) missed the mark about who Jesus truly is — (and we can still be really wrong about that).
Paul points this out this earlier in Romans, when he says, “I don’t know what I’m doing, because I don’t do what I want to do.” I want to do good, but I don’t, and I don’t want to do evil, but I do. (Romans 7:15-20). So how do we know if our actions (or anyone else’s) are coming from a True Self…a soul…that Divine taproot that is always and already with us…the hidden pearl…the buried treasure…and not from our ego’s need to be good, or liked, or praised?
I’m always reminded of something I heard years ago…”you can’t know yourself by yourself.” Knowing and showing your true self is something you can’t do solo. Naturally, spending time in alone in prayer and study and contemplation is valuable for discovering your own hidden pearl, but learning how to lay down all of the accumulated ego stuff? That takes community.
Paul says as much today, “Let love be genuine…hold fast to what is good…rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer…weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who are rejoicing…don’t be haughty…don’t claim to be wiser than you are…live in harmony…” He’s not saying, “just be nice.” He’s pointing to something deeper.
Harmony is a key term, because harmony — as any musician knows — is all about relationship. Harmony isn’t everyone singing the same note…or reciting the same prayer…or marching at the same tempo…or saluting the same flag. Harmony requires difference — sometimes even dissonance — and it combines these differences into something altogether new.
You won’t find the answer to who you really are by staring in a mirror…or by listening to the myriad voices of the many egos that inhabit and surround us. You will discover it by laying down all of that accumulated ego stuff — as Jesus shows our True Self is revealed not by accumulation but by subtraction— by emptying…by letting all of that go — and simply being present to what is unfolding around you…weeping, or rejoicing as appropriate…feeding someone who’s never fed you…finding common purpose with someone you deeply disagree with…and most importantly…staying behind Jesus and following him to the cross instead of getting in his way.
Amen.