I remember my first summer here at First Lutheran I went on the National Youth Gathering to New Orleans with the kids and several of the adult chaperones. I was a recent seminary graduate… had spent most of my life in other fields of work. For 36 years of my life, I had been known simply as “Rebecca.”
So when one of the chaperones was trying to get my attention, she kept saying “Pastor! Pastor!”
I didn’t respond. Didn’t turn to look at her – nothing.
Because I still did not identify myself with that name, that label. It was not, in my mind, a part of my identity yet.
I think she yelled that for a good five minutes before she had to resort to using my name to get my attention.
But that’s what we do – we use a variety of different labels to identify each other. Sometimes we’re identified by our occupations or our abilities…
“Hey, you know Jan?” “Jan?” “The lawyer?” “Oh yeah…”
Other times, we’re instead known and labeled by our inabilities and failures. By things we can’t do – or that we are prevented from doing.
Which is what is going on in our Gospel story for today.
