I Am Who I Am

The Big Idea:

God wants to be everything to us.

Learning Goal:

To recognize that the God of the universe is also their God.

The Big Demand

The First Commandment demands ultimate confidence, trust, and faith in God alone. When this Commandment is fulfilled, the keeping of the others follows. All the Commandments flow from the first. With full trust we look to God as the source of all goodness and life. We trust that God does indeed bring daily bread to all people. We hope for a future dependent on God's graciousness rather than our own achievements. We recognize that every single breath happens at God's will and that both life and death are held in God's hand.

The First Commandment's explanation in Luther's Small Catechism, to "fear, love, and trust God above all things," asserts God's proper place in our lives. It virtually shouts out an echo of God's words to Moses: "I am what I am. What I am is your God. And you shall not put any other person or thing in my place!" God allows no one else a place on the divine throne.

The Truth about Sinners

Although we know the Commandment, we forget daily that God is truly God. Thus the First Commandment is a wake-up call shaking us with its radical demand for full trust. No halfway measures will do. Simple agreement with statements about God is not enough. No good works, good intentions, or good will toward God can achieve compliance.

This Commandment requires us to look to God for everything we need in life, in good times and in bad, when we rejoice and when we grieve. Only God is God; all else is less than divine.

This Commandment tells the truth both about us as sinners and about God. When we look honestly at ourselves, we see we don't put God in the foremost place in our lives. The truth is, like the Israelites and their golden calf, we regularly chase after other gods, thinking and hoping they can rescue us.

The devil, the world, and our own sinfulness continually suggest "reasonable" alternatives as gods. Sometimes they tempt us to see our own human desires as an ultimate need. Often these false alternatives come wrapped up in an ad campaign, telling us our happiness must lie in the right brand of clothes, a car to be proud of, a properly hygienic and deodorized body with white teeth, or the latest electronic gadget or game.

Most often, though, the truth is we attempt to become our own gods. Day after day we assume we can act as though we're in charge of our own futures. This is the subtlest way breaking the First Commandment shows up in our lives. It appears to make sense for us to think we are responsible for our own identity and future. It's a foundational part of the culture that surrounds youth of confirmation age: I have to become the right kind of person so I can be part of the popular group. I have to get the best grades or the right job. I have to maintain constant vigilance to make sure nothing threatens my future. It's just the way the world works, right? These "realities," often encouraged by well-intentioned adults, force their way in, relentlessly demanding attention.

The First Commandment proclaims that this is not how God intends for Creation to work. God insists that all of life rests in God's unending mercy and care. Every morsel of food you eat, every ray of sunshine on a spring day, every breath you take—God is the one who gives us each of these things and more. God speaks the First Commandment to put an end to our fantasies about ourselves and our illusions about our own power, but also to make us ready to hear a new word we can trust.

Love and Trust

Hidden within the First Commandment is good news that will show up in its fullness later in the Small Catechism. In Luther's explanations to the Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Sacraments, we see what God does in Jesus to create the very love and trust the Commandment demands.

When grappling with the Commandments, however, it's important for us to remember that God promises to be the one to whom you can run when things go bad. God is the one who will comfort you when tears flow. God is the one who makes your next breath happen. God is the one who will raise your lifeless body from its grave. God is the one who promises that your past is forgiven and your future is assured.

With a God who knows the truth about your sins and who dies so you can be forgiven, fear, love, and trust aren't things to create on your own. With that kind of God, you can't help but place your ultimate confidence, trust, and faith in God.

Adolescent Connection

"I am who I am." God gave Moses these words to use when responding to the Israelites' question of who sent him (Exodus 3:14). Who are your teens? Image and self-esteem are an important part of the life of a teen. They see themselves in the reflection of their peers, in the media and magazines. It is important to maintain their fragile sense of self, while shaping the persons God would have them be. This is a constant area of tension, a fine line to walk, and is often cause for confusion and parental concern. God is who God is. Teens are who teens are. Can there be a blending of spiritual and secular? When gently guided, not pressured or coerced, teens can and do maintain their identity while still holding a core belief system with God at the center.

Opening Prayer

Invite youth to open their Bibles to Psalm 136:1-9, 26 and read responsively by half verses, or provide a handout with Psalm 136:1-9, 26 printed on it.

L: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

C: for his steadfast love endures forever.

L: O give thanks to the God of gods,

C: for his steadfast love endures forever.

L: O give thanks to the Lord of lords,