The Valley of Zombies

As we concluded last time, monsters are creative constructions that help us to safely face our fear of death.  If monsters provide a catharsis for our fear of death, then perhaps the monsters with which that specific fear is most vivid are zombies.  Where most monsters are harbingers of death, zombies are more.  Zombies are death itself come back, reanimated, in order to kill us.  The dead bringing death.

Moreover, the scariest part about zombies is not their predatory quickness or their cruel intelligence, but rather zombies are frightening because of their numbers and because they are relentless and unstoppable.  One zombie is easy to dispatch.  They are stupid, plodding creatures.  Slow enough for anyone to overcome when they are alone.  No, zombies are dreadful in large numbers because they can overwhelm even the most experienced and skilled fighter.  In this respect, zombies are a perfect metaphor for death itself.  We can run, we can even fight for a while, but eventually death will catch and overwhelm us.  Death does not need to move fast, because claiming us for itself is inevitable.

Zombies occur a handful of places in the Bible, believe it or not.  But the most chilling account of zombies is found in the book of Ezekiel.

Please read Ezekiel 37:1-14 

(No really, you are going to want to read this one before proceeding.)

Imagine, for a moment, what Ezekiel witnessed.

He was shown a valley full of dry bones.  And God reanimated them.  First, the bones gathered themselves back into skeletons.  Then, sinews, organs, flesh and skin began to form within and around those skeletons.  A whole army of zombies was being built before Ezekiel's eyes.

Think how horrified Ezekiel must have been.  He had no reason to believe that these humanoid creatures had human souls.  After all, they just stood there, silently...waiting.  But then, God commanded that breath be sent into the mechanically refurbished, but lifeless, bodies.  This is the turning point.  Before the breath comes, the reconstituted bodies are just the walking dead.  Ezekiel must have been struck with fear--to be faced with an army of zombies.

But as with so many things, God takes what we expect--death--and gives us the opposite: life.  God breathes life into the zombies, giving them back their lives, complete with personalities--their very beings.

God does not make zombies.  Yet, without the Breath of Life, zombies these creatures would remain.  Breath (ruach in Hebrew and pneuma in Greek) is more than just the exchange of carbon dioxide we exhale and the oxygen/nitrogen etc. mix of air we inhale.  In Scripture, when God breathes into a human being (like he did with Adam and Eve), God is bestowing upon them a part of God's self...a distinct being that is one with God's own being.

The word we use today is "soul."  However, I don't like using that word.  The word "soul" implies--in the minds of our present day culture (because of the Victorian Era's impact on these matters) an independent form of our being.  Not only independent from the physical, but also independent from God.  The latter is complete rubbish.  There is no part of us that is eternal apart from Jesus Christ.  We are created mortal--body, mind and soul.  And so if we have eternal life it is only because we inhere or abide in God.

The former is also tragically misguided.  The story of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel is clear: just as our bodies need breath in order to live, so too does our breath need a body.  God resurrects the people bodily first, and only  then is able to bestow the life of the soul.  In the resurrection that we are promised when Christ returns, we may not get physical bodies in the way we have now.  Paul says that we will put on incorruptible, spiritual bodies--whatever that means (1 Corinthians 15).

The point is that even if we are faced with inevitable death, such as a valley full of zombies coming for us, we still do not fear.  We do not fear even the valley of the shadow of death because of Jesus Christ.

So this Halloween, I encourage you, just as the Bible says:
"For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you...; for God did not give us a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:6-7).  Like the self-discipline not to want to eat our neighbors' brains.

Halloween is about working through our fear of death, so that we can be ready for All Saint's Day.  So that we can be ready for God's words promising resurrection.  If we do not first fear death, then we will not know the great relief and joy of the resurrection.  Halloween and All Saint's Day must come together, just as surely as we need both the Cross and the Resurrection.  They are but one act, but one event.

Thanks be to God that neither life, nor death, nor un-death can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

God be with your spirit.
Amen.

Even Monsters are Created by God

God's creation is full of things that strike fear in the hearts of human beings: wolves, jellyfish, sharks, alligators, mice, hornets, fire ants, lions, tigers and bears (yes, I'll say it--Oh, my!).  Humans are, at least without our brains and technologies, quite vulnerable.  We were not created with tough hides or large teeth, or fast running speeds.  If we have no natural predators today, it is because we climbed our way up the food chain.

But Scripture tells us that God also created monsters that will always keep us vulnerable.  These monsters were made for their own sake, because God willed it, but they also serve the purpose of keeping us humble.  These biblical monsters, whether real or mythical, have the purpose of making sure that we remember that sometimes God is our only help and defense.  Let's take a look at some of the most-well known monsters of the Bible:


LEVIATHAN

Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
         creeping things innumerable are there,
         living things both small and great.
There go the ships,
         and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.  (Psalm 104:25-26)

Leviathan is a huge sea monster.  Its skin is described as chain mail, its back as being made of shields set in overlapping rows.  Iron is like straw to this creature, and harpoons, hooks and swords have no effect on it.  (A good modern depiction of a Leviathan-like creature, are those living, flying, snake-like troop carriers in the recent Avengers movie.)  It breathes smoke from its nostrils and spews fire from its mouth.  "On earth it has no equal, a creature without fear.  It surveys everything that is lofty; it is king over all that are proud" (Job 41).  Only God can subdue this aquatic nightmare.  In the mind of ancient humans, the sea was a place where chaos still held sway.  At creation, God separated the waters and brought forth order.  But God did not eradicate chaos entirely, instead he put limits to the sea--land and sky.  The sea was a dangerous, unpredictable place--a place where humans were simply not created to live.  Leviathan is the ruler of that place, the king of chaos.  It lives in the deep, and easily claims ships and all the souls aboard.  As terrifying as Leviathan is to us, God's creation in the monster is good.  It proves that God is able to create life in the most hostile of environments.  Leviathan was made to sport--or play--in the chaotic seas.  However, it is best not to play with Leviathan.


BEHEMOTH

Look at Behemoth,
         which I made just as I made you;
         it eats grass like an ox.
Its strength is in its loins,
         and its power in the muscles of its belly.
It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;
         the sinews of its thighs are knit together.
Its bones are tubes of bronze,
         its limbs like bars of iron.
It is the first of the great acts of God--
         only its Maker can approach it with the sword.  (Job 40:15-19)

Some liken Behemoth to the (fictional) Brontosaurus--a plodding creature with a huge tail and thick, sturdy legs.  The word "behemoth" means "beast."  But the image is of a huge animal.  Since the Behemoth was an herbivore, the danger was not in being eaten or hunted.  Rather, the dread that came from this creature was its size.  You feared Behemoth because it could crush you so easily, and because there was no way to stop it.  God made some things for humans to just stay away from.


LOCUSTS of the ABYSS

"In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle.  ON their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and the teeth like lions' teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.  They have tails like scorpions, with stingers, and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months.  They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name is [the Destroyer]" (Revelation 9:7-11).

I would not want to ever meet these things...never.  These things were not created by God per se.  Instead, they are more like frankensteinian science experiment gone wrong.  God created their constituent parts (locusts, humans, horses, scorpions, lions, etc), but the abyss--Hell--has changed and twisted them together into a fearful hybrid species of monster.  In the Book of Revelation, they are unleashed upon the earth because our sinfulness has finally reached a head at the end of the age.  They are not a punishment sent from God, but rather they are called forth from Hell by our own wrongdoing and bloodthirsty fallen nature.  So, if you don't want to encounter these things then either be good, or trust in God.  (I would recommend the latter, since we can only sustain the former for so long before we slip--part of our human nature.)


THE DRAGON (Revelation 12)

The Dragon is, in a word, Satan.  Throughout the course of history, the Dragon chases the Son of God to kill him and devours human beings.  At one point, the Dragon thought he won, but death could not keep the Son of God...because God's life is too strong.  The Dragon shows up in Revelation as the steroid-enhanced version of the Serpent in the Adam and Eve story in Genesis.  Long before time began, the Dragon was cast down from heaven to earth.  Since then, he has prowled like a roaring lion, coming to devour.  For a limited time, he is able to roam freely on the earth, trying to turn humans to his side.  He is the source of all evil in the world, and king of monsters (in a bad way, not in a good way, like Godzilla).  The Good News: God always wins out against the Dragon.  And at the End of Days, God will win the ultimate victory and the Dragon will vanish from existence.  Thanks be to God.


As we can see, most of the monsters of the Bible--just like almost all of the monsters we know and love today--are inspired by natural things.  Either they are creatures that have been on the earth the whole time, just hidden away somewhere.  Or they are creatures that have been changed or mutated because of our irresponsible actions, especially in science.  For example, Godzilla was created by the nuclear blasts on the island of Japan.  The movie The Fly was a bout a man who was changed into a giant fly through some science experiment.  In any case, monsters help us deal with our fear of those natural processes--or creatures--that we cannot control or cannot defend ourselves against.  Ultimately, all of these monsters symbolize death: the natural process from which we can run, but we cannot hide.

When faced with monsters of any kind, human, medical, natural or supernatural, we must always remember that God has power over all of it.  And that since God's life is stronger than death, no monsters will get us in the end.  No one slips out of God's hands.  Thanks be to God.  Amen. 

Witches, Warlocks and the Spread of the Word

The Bible contains many accounts of the faithful striving against the occult.  Moses was in a contest with the Pharaoh's sorcerers; Elijah and Elisha performed many miracles in contest with the prophets of Baal; Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dreams when all of his magicians failed to advise him about the future.  We might think, however, that these phenomena are relegated to the Old Testament--a time when people believed in the power of spells and curses and magic.  And yet, we find witches and warlocks in the time of the early Church.  These accounts are recorded in the book of acts.

Paul and Silas meet a Witch:
One day, as they were going to pray, Paul and Silas met a slave-girl.  Now this slave-girl had a spirit of divination that she used to make a fortune for her masters.  As the two apostles kept moving, the girl started to follow them, and she kept repeating, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation."  She kept doing this for many days.  Annoyed, Paul turned and said, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her."  And the evil spirit of divination came out of her.  Later, when the slave-girl's owners saw that their way of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them to the authorities.  They brought charges of disturbing the peace and "advocating customs that are not lawful for Romans to adopt or observe."  Paul and Silas were flogged severely and thrown in prison.  Once in jail, the two apostles began praying and singing hymns.  Suddenly there was a massive earthquake that tore a big hole in the wall of their cell.  The guards rushed in to find Paul and Silas still sitting and praying.  The jailers were frightened and they asked, "What must we do to be saved?"  Paul and Silas preached the gospel and said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."  The next morning, Paul and Silas were freed.  (Acts 16:16-40)

Many Christians refuse to celebrate Halloween because they think that it is a holiday for the occult.  Even if this were true, it is no reason to abstain from Halloween.  [Last year, I think I wrote about how the origin of Halloween was thoroughly Christian, and is part of the celebration of All Saint's Day.  See my blog: "Who're you gonna call? -or- Halloween: The Holy Day Christians Forgot"]  First of all, we see in this passage that the occult is little more than an annoyance.  Scriptures consider the occult real enough, but when compared to the Word of God, it is impotent.  The occult may bring worldly gains, such as riches.  But Jesus Christ offers salvation and eternal life.  There is no contest.

Second, when it comes to confronting the occult, those who live in the gospel never turn away in fear.  Paul and Silas confronted the slave-girl who carried the evil spirit.  They called the evil out of her.  Then later, when society told them what they could and could not do, God instigated an earthquake as a miracle to show that Christians are always free.  You, therefore, according to your confidence in the Word and power of God, are allowed to confront the occult this Halloween.  Feel free to dress up, and to fill your houses with decorations of the superstitious.  The best way to show mastery over the Old Foe is not to run, but to confront.  Still better if we laugh at the Enemy by masquerading, by showing how powerless worldly traditions and magics are--never forgetting that we need not fear anything, because Jesus Christ is stronger.

Third and finally, we learn from this passage that God responds to magic with miracles.  Miracles look an awful lot like magic.  In fact, the only difference between a magical act and a miracle is the source.  Miracles come from God, Christ and the Word.  Magic comes from evil or the world.  In another account from Acts, Paul cast a spell on the warlock Elymas.  Paul, "filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, 'You son of the devil....  And now listen--the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.'"  Elymas was blinded, and all who witnessed it were brought into the faith.  [Read the whole story: Acts 13:4-12]  The point is that we are called into contest against evil when we see it, and we are empowered to do deeds of power.  In the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus is talking to his disciples and refers to the miracles that he has done throughout his ministry.  He says (and I paraphrase), "When I ascend into heaven, and my Father gives you the gift of the Holy Spirit, then you will be able to do greater works than these."  Jesus promises that we will be able to work greater miracles than he worked.

So, do not be afraid of Halloween, or the occult.  Instead, celebrate with a free conscious, knowing the true power which God has given you.  Let's take Halloween back from the occult--for they stole it from us and not the other way around.

Go out and celebrate God's victory over evil, for that is what Halloween is all about.  It is a fitting prelude to All Saint's Day.  

Bloodsuckers in the Bible

Little has captured the supernatural imagination like the mythology of vampires.

The Twilight series notwithstanding, vampires have struck fear into the hearts of humans for hundreds of years.

I do not know the exact roots of this vampire mythology.  My guess is that vampires, as we know them, do not have their genesis in the Ancient Near East.  Nor, I think, did the Bible spark the original image.

However, we do find vampires--of sorts--in the Bible.

We begin in the Book of Revelation (16:4-6)

"The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.  And I heard the angel of the waters say,

        'You are just, O Holy One, who are and were,

              for you have judged these things;

         because they shed the blood of saints and prophets

              you have given them blood to drink.

         It is what they deserve!'"     

Thus, drinking blood was a punishment for those who killed the saints and martyrs of the Church.  Those who were bloodthirsty would also be made to thirst for blood.  And in the end of times, bloodsuckers wouldn't just find blood to drink in other living humans, but God would turn rivers and lakes and wells to blood.  Perhaps to save his people?  In any event, the important part is that drinking blood was a punishment.  And why was it a punishment?  For that, we must head to the First Testament.

In Leviticus, God warns:

"If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from the people.  For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (17:10-11a).

This law concerned any animal, but especially humans.  To drink the lifeblood of a creature was to steal the creatures life, ingesting it and thus mixing it with your own life.  Vampires stay young and live forever because they steal the lives of their victims.  Hoarding life in this way is stealing from the God of Life.  Since God created all things, all life belongs to God.  Another danger that can be inferred--with a little imagination--is that if you drink the blood of another creature, you might take on characteristics of their life.  I would become more like a cow.  If you took on other human consciousnesses, this could constitute being possessed.  The main point, however, is that if you eat blood, God will cut you off.  Only the damned eat blood.

Proverbs also has a passage that can be considered vampiric.  

"...there are those whose teeth are swords,

         whose teeth are knives,

to devour the poor from off the earth,

        the needy from among mortals.

The leech has two daughters;  

        'Give, give,' they cry.

Three things are never satisfied;

        four never say, "Enough"

Sheol, the barren womb, 

        the earth ever thirsty for water,

        and the fire that never says, 'Enough' (30:14-16)

Although the Wisdom writer is using metaphor, the image is frightening.  Human figures roaming the earth who have knives for teeth.  The image that pops into my mind is a human being with large fangs. And we are led to believe that these fangs are used for devouring blood, because these same humans are referred to as leeches--bloodsuckers.  But the point here is not what we can or cannot eat (i.e. blood of other humans).  Rather, all of the human bloodsucker talk is a metaphor for stealing from the poor and taking from the needy.  Avarice.  Greed.  There are some humans that are just never satisfied with what they have, and so they devour the vulnerable in society, take everything from the weak.  The assumption in that day was that resources and money were finite.  And so, to be rich and hoard goods and money was to drain the poor and needy of their subsistence.  These people are likened to Sheol (or Hell), to a barren womb, to dry earth, and to raging fire.  These are images of damnation.

Therefore, we can see two interpretations of vampires in the Bible--one literal and one metaphorical, advocating for social justice.  Either way, the Bible is clear, vampires are damned.

Calling Upon the Dead

A lone candle adorned the large, round wooden table.
The light from the small flame barely reached the walls of the dark room.
Then, into the dim light a woman's voice: "Place your palms upon the table, with your thumbs touching, and your little fingers touching those of your neighbors.  Do not speak or make a sound.  And do not break the circle."
Those gathered silently take up each other's hands.
The woman begins to mutter something quietly.  Then she speaks a name.
Minutes pass.  The woman never ceases her arcane speech.
Suddenly, the woman stops...silence.
A chill goes through everyone seated around the table.  The room goes unnaturally cold.
Faintly, then stronger, the men and women around the table hear whispers.
The voices start from the corners of the room, and move toward the center--just above the flame, which is now flickering madly.
As if mimicking the candle's light, a pale mist appears and begins to dance above the middle of the table.
The fog coalesces into the figure of man...
...and it speaks.

The scene above was common enough in the Victorian era.  A time when interest in the supernatural came to a peak in our modern times.  A time when imaginations were also most fertile when it came to the paranormal.  I have described a certain type of meeting, in which a medium calls upon the spirit of a dead person so that his or her loved ones can converse and commune with him or her once again.  I have described a seance.

Believe it or not, one can find a seance in the Bible.
In 1 Samuel 28:3-20a, King Saul consults a medium at Endor.  He asks the medium to call upon the spirit of the dead prophet of the Lord, Samuel, who was an important advisor to Saul.
[I encourage you to read the whole passage, as I will be leaving out some interesting details.]

King Saul was losing a war against the Philistines.  After Samuel died, Saul tried to inquire of the Lord--that is, he tried to talk to God and seek God's will--but the Lord did not answer him.  Desperate, Saul went to the medium at Endor, and begged her to contact Samuel from beyond the grave.  The medium did, indeed, conjure up the soul of Samuel.  And the following conversation ensues:
--
        Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"
        Saul answered, "I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; so I have summoned you to tell me what I should do."
        Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy?  The Lord has done to you just as he spoke by me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, David.  Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord....  Moreover, the Lord will give Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me...."
        Immediately, Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel....
--

Now, I firmly believe that most to all of the scriptures are of use to us.  So, what can we possibly learn from this episode in the First Testament?  In a word, don't call upon the dead.

Today, we have things like horoscopes, Quija boards, seances and various types of televised and un-televised ghost-whisperers.  Or, at times, we may even be tempted to talk to or pray to deceased loved ones for advice or guidance.  Now, you might be saying to yourself, I don't do any of those things because I think they are hocus-pocus, they are fiction and supernatural gobbledygook.

Well, the scriptures (both the Old Testament and the New Testament) tell us not to participate in such things.  But the writers of scripture do not warn us against such things because they are silly.  Instead, Scripture tells us not to participate in these activities because they are real...because they call on a real--and dark--power.

Notice that Samuel was actually conjured up for Saul to consult one last time.  Notice that Samuel does give information to Saul.  But Samuel also makes clear what Saul's sin was in using the medium.  Instead of calling on God and discerning God's will through the Holy Spirit, Saul contacts a mortal soul.  We are to always call on God.  And if God seems to be silent, then there is a reason.  And our task then is to wait on the Lord with patience and humbleness and endurance, trusting that God will finally answer our prayers.  Ultimately, it comes down to trust.  Do we trust human attempts to tell the future or answer questions about life, or do we trust God?  Putting our trust in anything but God is sin and evil--we are called to trust God above all things.

And so the next time you are tempted to hold a seance, or read a horoscope, or use the Ouija board with friends (even if you think those things are nonsense and just for fun)--don't.
Try praying, instead.  Praying to God.
God will answer your questions in good time.
And if God ever seems silent when you need him most, seek out the church.
God usually speaks through the living, not the dead.

The First Haunting

The first murder was motivated by jealousy; the jealousy between brothers.
(Genesis 4:1-17)
Genesis tells us that God favored Abel's offering over Cain's.
Enraged over the unfairness, Cain brutally murdered his own brother.
And God confronted Cain, saying, "What have you done?  Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground!" (Gen. 4:10)  God heard Abel's blood crying out like the shrieking of a ghost.

And from then on, for the rest of his life, Cain was haunted by the voice of his dead brother.
From then on, for the rest of his life, Cain was cursed.
Before he killed Abel, Cain was a farmer.
After, the ground would no longer yield any crops.
Before he killed Abel, Cain had established a home near where he planted.
After, Cain was forced to wander.

Upon reading Genesis 4, many assume that it was God who cursed Cain as a punishment for his sinful act.  Not so, not so.  For God said, "And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand" (Gen. 4:11).  The ground was haunted.  Abel's blood ruined the ground and made it infertile, so that Cain could not farm it.  Cain was cursed "from the ground," not from God.

Cain was ripped away from all he knew--from his home and from his vocation.  It was the blood he spilled that cursed him.  Haunted by the blood of Abel and his guilt, Cain said to God, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!  Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; i shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me" (Gen. 4:13-14).  Cain blamed God!!!  How often when we are guilty of some sin and forced to face the consequences of our own actions, do we turn on God and blame him for our "misfortune"!!!

Ignoring the consequences of his own actions and blaming God, Cain wished for death--hoped that someone, anyone would kill him, so that he would no longer be haunted by his brother's ghost.

But God, who always remains faithful to his children, even when they turn on him, said, "Not so!  Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance."  Then, the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one would dare kill him (Gen. 4:15).

Once again, when reading this passage, the reader is so easily mistaken.  We believe that the so-called "Mark of Cain" is another aspect of Cain's punishment.  Think of the horror that implies!  The assumption we make is that death is, indeed, better for Cain than for life.  And further, that God punishes Cain by forcing him to live.  Life is turned into an evil and death into a good.  Oh, how backwards!  Oh, how much we twist the Word of Life.

No, the Mark of Cain is a blessing.  The Mark preserves Cain's life, which is always a good.  The Mark protects Cain from the same sin that he committed against his brother.  You see, God didn't want murder to beget murder or violence to beget violence, and so he broke the cycle with a Mark.  And that Mark created time and space for Cain's redemption.  For the scriptures tell us that Cain went on to find a new home, and to start a family.  Cain founded the first city on earth and named it after his first-born, Enoch.  Cain started a new civilization and culture on the earth that would transform the way humanity lived.  All of this happened because God preserved his life by marking Cain as God's own.

When we are haunted by our sins, we must remember that we, too are marked by God.
We, like Cain, are marked so that our life can never be taken away from us.
We, like Cain, are marked so that God can continue to do great things through us.
Our mark is the Cross.
We are given that mark at baptism, when God promises to always redeem us and forgive our sins.
We are given that mark on Ash Wednesday, as a reminder that not even death can take our life away.

No haunting ghosts can withstand the power of Jesus Christ.
We do not fear what has come to pass, but instead rejoice with courage for what is to come.
And so, when you hear blood crying out from the ground, do not fear it.
Fear, instead, the Lord, who does awesome works and who has power over death itself.
Thanks be to God for that.
Amen.

Who Am I?

How would you respond if someone asked: "Who are you?"
I would start with my name: "I am Ryan Howard Anderson."
Although one's name does give the questioner a unique designation, a name does not do much to describe one's characteristics.
Going further, we might identify ourselves by family relationships.
I am the son of Phil and Sally.  At church, I would more often use my grandparents as a reference, as they were more well known in that context: I am the grandson of Burnell and Vivian.  My brother and I went to the same High School and College.  And, as he is a year older than I am, I could often say to teachers and staff: I am Erik Anderson's brother.  If he had been a bad student or a trouble-maker, though, I would not have invoked his name.
Going still further, we might identify ourselves by our vocations and activities.
I am the Pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Toluca.  I ride my bicycle.  I am a runner.  I play racquetball.
Or for other examples: I am a straight 'A' student.  I play football...or basketball...or baseball...or softball.  I am in theatre.  I am a member of Rotary International.  I am a farmer.  I go to such and such a church.  I am a Bears fan.  And the list goes on....

But if you had to choose just one response to the question, "Who are you?" what would your answer be?  Think about that for a second before reading on.  What statement best encapsulates who you are and what you are about?

The Psalmist has his own answer:
"O Lord, you have searched me
        and known me.
For it was you who formed my
        inward parts;
you knit me together in my
        mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully
        and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are you works
        that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
        intricately woven in the depths
        of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed
        substance.
In your book were written all the days
        that were formed for me,
        when none of them as yet existed.
Psalm 139:1, 13-16

The Psalmist seems to be implying that only God truly knows who he is.  God has special knowledge of the Psalmist because he knit him in his mother's womb, and because God's book has record of all of the days that were formed for him--even before they happen.  God creates each of those days.  And so, the Psalmist's answer is this: "I am God's creation."

Doesn't that seem to say it all?

Yet, we Christians can say more.  Jesus Christ took human form so that he might call us brothers and sisters.  Jesus Christ took up the cross, or rather allowed himself to be taken up to the cross, so that we might be reconciled to God the Father.  And so we are not mere creations of our God.  We are God's children.

How far down on your list of things that describe you is "I am a Lutheran" or still better, "I am a Christian" or still better, "I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a disciple"?  Or, try using the best answer of all: "I am a child of God."

Think of what a witness to the gospel that would be!  If all the saints of the church responded to the question "Who are you?" with the words, "I am a child of God."  People might laugh or be confused or even be offended.  But all of those are normal reactions when we begin to share God's Word.

Try it sometime.  You may just get someone thinking.

Who are you?

You are a child of God.

Thanks be to God for that.
Amen.