The Question of Identity: What is Your Name? | Jesus Is The Question

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Hello everyone and thanks for listening in to Trinity Sermons.

This is episode 6 of our sermon series, Jesus is the Question.

Rev. Rob Perkmans is back with us today where we will be looking specifically

at the question Jesus asks a man, what is your name?

And what would we say and what can we learn if Jesus were to ask us

the very same question? Thanks for listening in today.

We hope you enjoy the message and God bless.

Mark chapter 5 verses 1 to 20.

Mark 5:1–20

They went across the lake to the region of the

Jorusenes. When Jesus got out of the boat a man

with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

This man lived in the tombs and no one could bind him

anymore, not even with a chain. For he had

often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains

apart and broke the irons on his feet.

No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day

among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out

and cut himself with stones. When he saw

Jesus from a distance he ran and fell on his knees

in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice,

what do you want with me Jesus, son of the most

high God? In God's name don't torture me.

For Jesus said to him, come out of this man, you impure

spirit. Then Jesus asked him,

what is your name? My name is Legion, he

replied, for we are many. And he begged Jesus

again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs were feeding on the nearby hillside.

The demons begged Jesus, send us among

the pigs, allow us to go into them. He gave them

permission and the impure spirits came out and went

into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand

in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake

and were drowned. Those standing the pigs

ran off and reported this in the town and countryside

and the people went out to see what had

happened. When they came to Jesus they saw

the man who had been possessed by the Legion of Demons

sitting there, dressed and in his right mind

and they were afraid. Those who had seen

it told the people what had happened to the demon possessed

man and told about the pigs as well.

Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their

region. As Jesus was getting into the boat

the man who had been demon possessed begged to go

with him. Jesus did not let him but said,

go home to your own people and tell them

how much the Lord has done for you and how he has

had mercy on you. So the man went away

and began to tell in the Decapolis how much

Jesus had done for him and all the people were

amazed. This is the word of the Lord.

How many people here know what a

pick up line is? What's a pick up line? Alright, a few of you

know. How many have ever used a pick up line?

Oh, I see one or two hands down there. So just to let

you know, a pick up line is kind of a cheesy conversation

starter that people, usually guys, use

to try to engage a girl in conversation

with the hopes of getting from her

her name or maybe even the chance to go on a date with

her or something like that. And the idea being that maybe the better that your pick up

line is, the better chances of finding out the name of this person

that you've seen across the room. So today what I want to do is I want you to help me

rank or rate some of the best pick up lines of all time. And so what I'm going to

do is I'm going to share four pick up lines with you and then at

the end we'll vote by applause as which is the greatest or

cheesiest pick up line of all time. Okay, so here we go. Here's pick up line

number one. Hey, is your name Wi-Fi?

Because I'm sure feeling a strong connection.

Okay, that's number one. Three more. Two.

Hey, is your name Ariel? Because I think

we mermaid for each other.

Okay, three.

Hey, is your name Google? Because you have everything I'm

searching for. And then number four.

Hey, is your name Skywalker? Because you look

so good.

Cringy. They're all cringy. But you got to vote on which is

the best of the cheesiest pick up lines. So by applause

is it Wi-Fi? You've got a good connection.

Is it two? Is it Ariel? Mermaid for each other.

Thank you, Justin.

Is it Google? You've got what I'm searching for.

Okay. Or is it Skywalker?

Because you look so good. Guys, our winner is

Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is the cheesiest pick up line.

We've got a good connection. By the way, if I hear anybody using any of these pick up lines

at the barbecue after the service, you are officially banned from

Trinity forever.

So we're in the middle of a teaching series which we're calling Jesus is the Question.

And what we've been learning is it's quite fascinating actually, but Jesus

was much, much more of a question asker than he was an

answer giver. For example, just to let you know, Jesus

asked 307 different questions throughout the Gospels

to different people. But Jesus only answered like three or

four questions that people asked him.

Which means that if you were to go to Jesus with a problem, he's 40 times

more likely to answer your problem by asking a question than by

giving you an easy answer. There's something about

questions. They're very, very transformative. More transformative

than a simple answer. And today what we're going to do is we're

going to look at one of those questions that Jesus asked someone and we're going to see how transformative

it is. But what you're going to say is, well, that's not an exciting

or transformative question. But as we go through, I think you'll see that

it's actually very powerful. This question is very powerful and it can

change your life. So here is the question. The question is this.

What is your name? What is your name?

Now, if some creepy guy comes up to you at club and asks you

this question as part of a pickup line, it's totally lame. It's a lame question.

Right? Or if you go to the doctor's office and the receptionist says, okay, what is your name?

That's like really straightforward. There's nothing profound about that. In fact, there's a hundred

ways you could ask this question, what is your name? And they're all kind of boring

and straightforward. But when Jesus asks the

question, what is your name? Now that is a different

story. That is actually a very profound question that

can change your life. And let me explain why. Because

when you ask a question like this, when Jesus asks a question like this, first of all,

it is a question of intimacy. Because to give someone

your name is actually to give them something that is very

essential to who you are. It's intimate. It's your name. It's

who you are. What is your name is a question

of intimacy. But what is your name is also a question of

relationship. Because whenever you ask what is your name, it is the first

step in beginning a relationship. You cannot have a

relationship with someone, at least not a very good one, unless you know

their name. And relationships are completely

transformative as we all know. But there is a third reason

why what is your name is so important. And that is

because there's a connection between who you are

and what your purpose is. What your name is

and what your mission in life is all about. And I thought perhaps the best way

to kind of show you the connection between the question of a name

and the question of a purpose is to show you a clip

from a deeply religious film. This film is called

Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. And in

this clip you'll see the connection between the question of a name and the

question of a purpose.

Yes, Bridgekeeper, I'm not afraid.

What is your name?

My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot.

What is your quest?

To seek the Holy Grail.

What is your favorite color?

Blue.

Right, off you go.

Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

That's easy!

Stop!

Who approaches the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three.

The other side, he see.

Ask me the questions, Bridgekeeper, I'm not afraid.

What is your name?

Sir Robin of Camelot.

What is your quest?

To seek the Holy Grail.

What is the capital of Assyria?

I don't know that!

Ah!

Stop!

What is your name?

Sir Gellahad of Camelot.

What is your quest?

I seek the Grail.

What is your favorite color?

Blue.

No, no!

Stop!

What is your name?

It is Arthur, King of the Britons.

What is your quest?

To seek the Holy Grail.

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

What do you mean?

An African or European swallow?

I don't know that.

I don't know that.

Ah!

How do you know so much about swallows?

Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

Well, I confess, I do not know the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, but I do know that there is a connection between these two questions.

What is your name and what is your quest?

Because what's really being asked here are two questions.

One is a question of your identity and a question of your purpose.

What is your name and what is your life all about?

They're related, right?

What is your identity and what is your mission?

It's related.

Who are you and why are you here?

Those are related, related questions.

So I want to start by, let's first look at this question of identity.

Does your name, does your name really make a difference to who you are?

Juliet in Romeo and Juliet once famously said, a rose, if it was called any other name, it would still smell just as sweet.

And some of you might agree with it.

You might say, Rob, I don't think it really matters what my name is.

I would still be the exact same person.

Others of you would disagree.

And you might agree with someone like Frederick Buechner, who says that if my name were different, I would be different.

Some people really like their name.

Other people maybe don't like their name very much.

I've always liked my name.

My name's Robert.

I've always felt like a Robert before our children were born.

Sally and I usually had a few names in mind about what we might call them when they were born.

But we didn't actually settle on a name until they'd actually been born and we were holding them in our arms.

And we looked down and we were like to say, yes, this is a Petra.

This is Petra for sure.

This is Georgia.

And so on.

You might even know somebody who had a baby and they thought they knew what they were going to call that child until the child arrived.

And then they realized that name didn't fit.

And some people go through their whole life with a name that doesn't feel quite like it fits my mother-in-law.

Her name is Dora.

But at some point early in her life, she said, this does not fit me.

I'm not a Dora.

I'm not a Dora.

And so she started calling herself by her second name, which was Audrey.

And if she were here this morning and you met her, you would say, of course, she's clearly an Audrey and she's not a Dora.

So to ask someone what is your name is actually to get at the essence of who you are to tap deep into your being.

And it's only when we know who we are and who God has made us that we're able then to figure out what our purpose in life is.

In fact, I would dare say that if you try to embark upon your purpose in life, your quest in life, without first having a sense of who you truly are,

what your name really, really is, then you're often going to end up going in the wrong direction or going down the wrong path.

I think of some of the young people that are here this morning that we had up on the stage, teenagers.

You're making decisions.

You're forced to make decisions about universities and programs and careers.

And you're only 16 years old, only 17 years old.

And and yet they're trying to determine their life's quest while they're still trying to figure out who they are,

who God has made them to be.

Often what happens is we go off to school for a couple of years and we're like, you know, this doesn't fit.

And we make a change or we start a job.

And a couple of years later, we say this, this doesn't fit who I am, because it's only after you find your identity in Christ that that's your purpose in Christ kind of becomes apparent to you.

And I think deep down we know this.

Have you ever noticed that whenever you meet someone, you ask them two questions, you say, what is your name?

And then you say, and what do you do?

We don't start by saying, what do you do? And then say, what is your name?

We always start with what is your name?

Because inherently we know that our identity, our identity leads to our purpose.

The identity comes first, that being leads to doing.

But the problem is the world wants to define us by what we do, not by who we are, which is very dangerous.

Maybe you know someone who put all their worth and all their time into what they do, into their achievements, into their accomplishments.

But what happens when they don't perform well?

What happens when they don't succeed?

All of a sudden they feel like a personal failure.

All of a sudden they're lost.

They don't know who they are anymore.

It's because they've been so focused on the doing they forgot to figure out who they were being.

In fact, some of us maybe grew up in homes where we had people constantly forcing some kind of an identity on us, parents or our family or friends, or maybe it's just culture or social media or whatever.

And sure, you played the part and you acted along and you went along with it.

But deep down, you know, this isn't me.

This is not who I am.

And so for you today, Jesus asks you the question, what is your name?

Who are you?

What is your identity?

What Jesus is going to teach us this morning is that no one, nowhere, no thing can tell you who you really are except God.

Let's check out the story for a little bit here.

It starts when Jesus meets a man who is clearly struggling with lots of things.

But one of the things he's struggling with is his identity.

This man lived in the tombs.

No one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.

Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and he would cut himself off.

He would cut himself with stones and so on.

Some of you are like, I cannot relate to the story.

Rob, how are we supposed to relate to a story of a guy who, like, is a madman living in the tombs?

But just think about it for a moment.

We probably all know someone who is, you know, struggling spiritually, mentally or physically in some way.

They're troubled.

Do you know anyone who's decided, you know, it's just better to avoid others.

I just want to withdraw from society.

Maybe because of drugs or alcohol or abuse or life, whatever life did to them, they just are at this breaking point.

And they now feel like, you know, the only way to exist is for me just to get away from others.

Maybe you even know someone who hurts himself, someone who cuts himself.

And so, yeah, this isn't so far fetched.

These people who feel like loners, maybe they spend all their time in their bedroom with the door shut.

They spend all their time gaming.

They spend all their time on their phone.

They're withdrawn from people, from society.

And many people, like this guy, thought that if I could get away from society, get away from those people,

then I could figure out who I truly was and I could finally have the peace I'm looking for.

But look, it's not working for him.

He's still in the tombs every day, crying out and cutting himself with stones,

which means that the real problem this guy is facing is not a question about society.

It's a question about his identity.

And Jesus knows this.

And that's why Jesus's question to him is not, hey, what's going on here?

Or, hey, where did you come from?

Or, hey, what happened to you?

But his question to him is, what is your name?

Now, this is not merely like a polite question.

Oh, hello, what's your name?

No, as we already said, when we ask this question, when one human being asks this question to another human being,

it is a question of intimacy.

It is an invitation to relationship.

You think about it.

Think about this man.

He's been exiled.

He's been forgotten.

He's been left for dead.

When was the last time someone asked him his name?

For years, he's probably just been known by labels.

He's the madman in the cemetery.

He's the beast, the crazy guy over the hill.

But Jesus asks, what is your name?

It's a question of identity.

But with Jesus, questions are never questions.

They're always invitations.

It's an invitation to intimacy.

It's an invitation to relationship.

It's an invitation to healing.

It's an invitation to life.

The answer he gives is also very interesting.

He says, my name is Legion.

Now, a legion is a unit in the Roman army.

6,000 Roman soldiers equals one legion.

And you probably know enough about Roman soldiers from the

history books to know that they were brutal.

They could be oppressive.

They were destructive, which means that what this man is

saying when he says, my name is Legion, is he is saying,

my soul is under attack.

My identity has been oppressed and suppressed and is being

brutalized by some other identity, some other power.

The way Mark tells the story, he says the man was filled with

demons.

Many of the behaviors as man possess could also be symptoms

of serious mental illness.

Whatever the case, Legion is not his real name.

It's not his true identity.

He's forgotten who he truly is.

But Jesus, Jesus is about to remind him.

And so Jesus does what only Jesus can do.

He saves the man by bringing him back to his true self.

In this odd twist, what Jesus does is he sends the demons

into a herd of pigs, which then proceed to gallop over a

cliff to their death.

And with that, whatever false identity this man had, it's

gone.

Whatever name he bore, Legion, that brutalizing, horrible

name, it's no more.

Now he's got a new name.

Now he's got a new identity.

Now he's got a new life.

Just look at him.

There he is.

He's sitting there.

He's cured.

He's dressed.

He's thinking clearly for the first time in his life.

We still aren't told what his real name is, by the way, but

he knows now who he is.

He's reclaimed his identity.

He knows he's a child of God.

He knows he's beloved.

And do you remember that I said that all of our doing flows

from our being, and it's only when we know what our name is

that we know what our quest is.

It's interesting.

As soon as this guy is restored to his true identity, he's

ready to launch out on a mission, launch out on a quest.

Now his idea is he wants to follow Jesus around the

countryside and stay with him.

But Jesus has another quest for him.

Jesus says, go home.

Go to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done

for you.

And so the man went away, we're told, and he began to tell how

much Jesus had done for him.

And all the people were amazed.

I can just imagine this guy walking back into his hometown

back into community, back into relationships, and telling the

story of how Jesus helped him find out who he truly is.

And I bet he began the story by saying, you know, the first

thing Jesus asked me was, what is your name?

What is your name?

Who are you?

Maybe all this talk kind of gets you muddled and confused.

Maybe you're not quite so sure who you really are.

Maybe you're a young person, like I said, and you're still

figuring out who you are.

Maybe you're older and yet somehow you forgot who you truly

were.

Maybe today you're in the midst of some kind of identity crisis.

I don't know.

Yes, of course, I know you know your name.

Your name is Bula or Naomi or Zion or your name is Julie.

But who are you really?

Do you know?

It's always so sad and it's so painful when someone we love

forgets our name.

But what happens when you forget your own name?

When you forget who you are, you don't even know who you are.

It can be scary.

It can be disorienting.

It's an identity crisis.

Well, today I want to end with some good news, some good news.

And that is this.

If you want to know who you truly are, there is someone who

knows the answer.

In the Bible, we read this, God says, fear not, for I have

redeemed you and I have called you by, say it with me, name.

You are mine.

Or in the book of Jeremiah, God says, before I formed you in

the womb, I together knew you.

God knows your name.

God knows who you are.

Jesus knows your true identity even if you don't, which means

that the more you get to know Jesus, you don't just get to

know who he is, you get to know who you are too.

This fall, I want to invite all of you, especially our guests

and visitors, hey, join us at Trinity as we learn more about

this Jesus and in the process, we get to learn more about who

we are too.

Unlike the man in the story, we know that these kind of things

are best learned in community and in relationship.

Here at Trinity, we believe that we mermaid for each other.

And we would love to get to know your name.

We would love to get to know a bit more about you this fall

because it's only once we truly know who we are, only then can

we embrace that purpose, that mission, that quest that God has

for us.

And week by week, we really can go out those doors and do the

thing that God wants us to do.

But remember, all of our doing for God starts with our being

in God.

I'm going to leave you with this last little tidbit.

Jesus had a name too.

Do you know what Jesus' name means?

Jesus comes from a Hebrew name, Yeshua, meaning the Lord saves.

That is his name, Jesus.

That is his quest to save.

And he saves people like this man in this story.

And he still saves people like you and me today.

So thanks be to God.

Amen.

Thanks so much for listening to our sermon today.

And make sure to come back next week for another reflection on

one of Jesus' many questions that he asks.

If you liked what you heard, make sure to like and follow our

podcast.

And to learn more about who we are, please check out our

Facebook page and visit us at www.trinitystreetsville.org.

Today's sermon was taken from the August 27, 2023 service at

Trinity Church, Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario.