Ep 149 | Cover to Cover 28 | Pastor Chris Ryan | July 12, 2026

Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.

You are listening to a message from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praises in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

"Morning, champ."

Those were the words that our DCE Youth Director, Paul Nelson, said to me the morning after our fantasy baseball season ended, and well, it made sense to greet me that way.

After all, I was now the two-time reigning champion of our fantasy baseball league.

Please hold your applause.

I was the champ and it was gonna stay that way.

My strategy was flawless.

I couldn't be beat, all right? Fast-forward just under a year later, and I am well on my way to being a three-time fantasy baseball champion.

That crown was gonna stay on my head.

I was the king.

I was inevitable, and so was my championship.

At least it seemed that way, until this guy got in the way.

Let's just say my team might have struck out its thousands, but Pastor Clark's team, it struck out its tens of thousands.

It hit pretty hard, those words that I heard the morning after our fantasy baseball season ended last year.

Our DC Youth Director, Paul Nelson, walked into the office and he said, "Morning, champ."

I looked up, but he wasn't talking to me.

He was talking to Pastor Clark.

I was no longer the champ.

I was no longer the king.

A truly sad story.

Am I right, St.

John's family? And sorry if I get a little emotional up here.

That happens sometimes.

And don't people tend to get emotional when they feel like pieces of who they are being taken away from them, the most important bits of their identity? Boy, do we see that this week in our two-year Bible read-through, right? With King Saul, he fears he's about to be replaced, and he feels as if who he is was being taken away and erased, and it becauses him to become rather emotional, doesn't it? And then some, actually.

Saul has himself a little bit of an identity crisis, and the truth is, sometimes we have identity crises just like Saul.

But furthermore, the truth is, those don't have to happen at all.

They can be entirely avoided if you understand who you truly are.

And who you truly are, that's not something that can be taken away from you or erased, St.

John's family.

And I hope you understand all the more who you are through this message today and through the story of King Saul.

Now, that story, if you recall, it didn't begin in our two-year read-through this week.

It began a couple of weeks ago.

The story of Saul truly begins with the Israelites going to the prophet Samuel, and they demand a king.

They say, "Give us a king."

And Samuel says, "You already have a king.

You have your Heavenly Father.

The Lord God Almighty is ruling and reigning over you."

And they say, "No, no, no.

Give us one of those real kings, one of those earthly kings like everyone else around us has."

And God says, "Fine, Samuel.

Give them what they want."

And Samuel goes, and he finds King Saul, and he anoints him to be the first human king of Israel.

And when we're introduced to Saul, we find someone who's tall and handsome, and boy, is he humble.

In fact, when Saul first hears from Samuel that he's gonna be the king, Saul responds by saying, "Who am I for something like that? Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?Samuel, you can do better than me."

Well, as the story goes on, Saul might remain tall and handsome, but at a certain point he is no longer humble, is he? It'd be tough to be humble with being elevated on that pedestal like he was.

And because he is no longer humble, he believes to think that he knows better than Samuel, that he knows better than God, and he actually disobeys a very direct order from Samuel and from God who created him.

He offers this sacrifice that he knew he wasn't supposed to offer, and because of that sin, and that was a sin, Saul finds out that the kingship, it's gonna be taken away from him.

Now, we know who the next king's gonna be.

We already found that out, right? In 1 Samuel 16, the prophet Samuel, he goes to David, the youngest of Jesse's sons, the shepherd boy, and anoints him to be the next king of Israel, just like he anointed Saul.

And we can see that young David is destined for great things, isn't he? Just one chapter later, he's slaying the 9'9" Goliath.

And talent like that, it doesn't escape Saul's eyes.

He takes note of David.

He drafts him into the military, and it says whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.

This pleased all the troops and Saul's officers as well.

Everyone is happy with David, at least at first, right? His fellow troops, his fellow officers, even King Saul appreciates the good work that David is doing.

But Saul's good opinion of David comes crashing down when they return from those battles against the Philistines.

It says, "When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres.

As they danced, they sang, 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.'"

You can almost picture it, right? Saul would have loved the first part of that.

Maybe those were familiar words.

Saul has slain his thousands.

Say it again.

Saul has slain his thousands.

Saul, Saul, Saul, Saul But you can almost hear the record scratch when it gets to the next portion there.

"And David his tens of thousands?" Come again? Did I, did I hear that right? Did they just say David has slain his tens of thousands? Oh, they said it again.

This can't be.

Don't they know who I am? Don't they know that I'm the best? I'm the best warrior.

I'm the king.

Have they forgotten that? And when Saul feels the most important parts of his identity, at least according to him, being taken away, well, like I said, he becomes rather emotional.

In fact, it says Saul was very angry.

This refrain displeased him greatly.

"They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands.

What more can he get but the kingdom?" And from that time on, Saul kept a close eye on David.

And if you have been reading along in your two-year Bible read-through, you know what that means, right? Throughout our readings this week, Saul looks for opportunity after opportunity to murder David.

And in fact, we see that several times over.

In 1 Samuel 18:10-11, Saul hurls a spear at David not once, but twice.

1 Samuel 18:10–11

A chapter later, Saul's son Jonathan has to stop him from killing his friend David.

In 1 Samuel 19:9-10, Saul hurls a spear at David once again.

1 Samuel 19:9–10

Couple verses later, Saul sends troops to David's house to kill him.

1 Samuel 23, 1 Samuel 24, once again, Saul makes attempts on David's life He is bound and determined to take out this one who's gonna take away the most important parts of who he thinks he is.

No one's gonna take away that crown from me.

I'm the best.

That's who I am And because Saul doesn't understand who he truly is, a little bit of a spoiler alert here, it's gonna be in your readings this week, his life comes to a rather sad end, doesn't it? His life ends with him surrounded by enemies, and then he falls on his own sword because he wouldn't let anyone take away who he thought he was.

"No one's gonna take away the crown from me but me."

And because he feels that part of his identity slipping away, he feels as though his life truly isn't worth that much, and the sad truth is it didn't have to be that way at all.

In fact, I'd say he wouldn't have been upset at all if he would've understood who he truly was, if he would come up with the correct answer to that question, "Who are you?" So let's make it personal for the second half of this sermon here, St.

John's family.

How would you answer that question? Who are you? I did a little research this week, and statistically speaking, people tend to answer this question in one of three ways.

The most common way that people answer this question by far is by anchoring themselves to another person, and then they use a very positive adjective to describe themselves in that role.

"Who am I? I'm a good mom.

I'm a good dad.

That's who I am.

Who am I? I'm a caring husband, a loyal friend.

I'm a superb boss.

I'm a faithful worker.

I've been at that company for 40 years doing my thing."

The second most common way that people answer that question is by attaching their name to a hobby.

"Who am I?I'm a marathon runner.

26.2

miles? I'll do it in my sleep.

I'm a singer.

I'm a scratch golfer.

That's who I am."

And the third most common way that people answer that question is by describing their favorite personality attribute.

"Who am I? I'm funny.

That's who I am.

I'm helpful.

I'm compassionate.

I'm caring.I'm

loving.

I'm kind.

That's who I am."

St.

John's family, I cannot stress this enough.

Do not make things like this the center, the core of your identity.

Because all of those things, they can be taken away from you, lost or erased, just like that.

Let's use that first one up there as an example.

I'm a good mom.

I'm a good dad.

That's who I am.

And maybe you do listen to all the podcasts.

You've read all the parenting books.

You've actually done the things the experts have told you to do.

You signed your kids up for all of the right programming, and look at them.

The scoreboard says things are going well so far, doesn't it? You secretly enjoy the whispers of other people as they look at your children and they say, "Wow, look at those kids.

She must be a great mom to have kids like that.

He must be a great dad to have kids like that."

That's all well and good, but what happens on days when you're not a good mom or a good dad? What happens when you make a mistake or a series of mistakes? What happens when you think your kids are gonna be doing the right things and they don't? What happens when you don't give the kids your grace and mercy and love that God wants you to give to them? What happens when bad days of parenting turn into bad weeks? Or better yet, what happens when your kids start to make mistakes of their own? Maybe they make one or two, maybe they make a series of mistakes, maybe they make big mistakes.

And all of a sudden, those whispers of appreciation and admiration, they've turned into whispers of degradation as people look at you and look at your children and say, "Wow, look at those kids.

Wonder what went on in that house for them to turn out like that."

And all of a sudden you're not as good of a parent as you thought you were.

You feel that portion of your identity being taken away from you, erased.

You're crushed, you're depressed, asking that question, "Who am I if not that?" And St.

John's family, we could do that with each and everything on this list, couldn't we? "Who am I? I'm, a caring husband.

That's who I am."

Are you sure? Because it looked like you couldn't care less the other day when you walked by your lovely bride when you knew that she needed your tender love and affection, but you had your own things going on, didn't you? "I'm a loyal friend.

That's who I am."Eh,

maybe mostly, right? But didn't you gossip about your friend the other day and betray their confidence? "I'm a superb boss.

I'm a faithful worker."

Yeah, you were, at least at one point, until the day that you retired or the day that you got fired.

Who are you now if you're not those things? "Well, I'm a marathon runner."

Are you still gonna be a marathon runner in 10, 20, 30 years? 26.2

miles, that's a long way.

"I'm a singer.

That's who I am."

Your voice isn't as good as it once was, I'd be willing to bet.

"I'm a scratch golfer."

Come on now.

Not even professional golfers are always scratch golfers, right? What happens when you have a bad round? What happens when you get an injury that makes it so you can no longer golf? Who are you then? "Well, I'm funny, all right.

That's who I am."

Are you so sure about that? Maybe you've experienced getting up in front of a crowd, and you tell a joke, and no one laughs.

It hurts, I'll tell you that.

Little laugh there.

I'm helpful.

That's who I am.

I'm compassionate.

That's who I am.

You so sure about that? Didn't you drive right by someone the other day who you knew needed your help, who you knew needed your compassion, but you were just a little too busy? Maybe next time that's will be who you are.

Like I said, all these things, they can be taken away, erased by our mistakes or by the opinions of other people And when you put stock in these things, when you make these things the core of who you are, that's my identity, well, when they go away, you're gonna be left with an identity crisis on your hand asking that big question, "Who am I?" This leads me to my very important point of the day.

If you've been tuning me out, tune me back in for just a minute here.

You should never, and I repeat never, look to creation for your true identity.

You should only look to your creator.

Saul should have absolutely looked to God, his creator, for his identity, and if he had, he would have heard that he was God's anointed one, specially chosen and loved by God.

But instead, he looks to creation, he looks to himself, he looks to others' opinions of him, ever-changing, and it leaves him depressed and wondering who he truly is.

And as I said at the start of this message, sometimes we make that same mistake that King Saul made.

We look to ourselves, we look to others for our identity, and it's gonna leave us ultimately questioning who we truly are So let's not look to ourselves, let's not look to others, let's look to our creator, God, and see what does he say about who you are? And St.

John's family, it's quite the list.

But by far the most important thing on this list is gonna be this: God says, "You are my child."

That is who you are.

You have been adopted into God's family through the precious body and blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Nails through his hands, nails through his feet, his perfect life and death offered on the cross, that is your adoption papers signed, sealed, and delivered.

You are a child of God.

That is your identity, and that is your worth right there.

You are certainly not worthy of Jesus' death on the cross, but you certainly must have great worth at the core of your identity if God was willing to die just for you.

And that's what Galatians 4:4-7 talks about, our epistle lesson today.

Galatians 4:4–7

It says, "But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship."

Because you are His sons, you are His children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but God's child.

And since you are His child, God has made you also an heir.

In other words, I'll say it once again, through Jesus, you have been adopted into God's family as His child.

That is who you are, and you now get all the privileges of a child of God because that is your identity.

You get the Holy Spirit.

You get an eternal relationship with God, one that starts now and lasts forever.

And that's not going to change, because your identity, I promise you this, it does not depend on what you do, but on what God has already done.

Your identity does not change with your performance this week.

Your identity does not change depending on how good of a mom or a dad you were this week.

It doesn't change on the mistakes that you made at work.

It doesn't change on how well you did at your extracurricular activities this week.

Your identity does not depend on how many home runs Aaron Judge hit in your playoff matchup in fantasy baseball Your identity does not depend on what you do, but on what God has already done.

And in fact, your identity remains constant despite the mistakes that you and I both make.

Romans 5:8, a great verse here, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

In other words, you're not just a child of God, you are forgiven, you are beloved, you are not your mistakes.

Make no mistake about that.

In fact, I'll go on to say that God says you are not a mistake.

Ephesians 1:4 here, a great verse.

Ephesians 1:4

It says, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."

God designed you very purposefully.

He has a plan and a purpose for your life.

You are his child, forgiven and beloved.

You are not a mistake, and boy, could that list get long about the things that God says you are.

Things that He will never take away from you.

You can give these things away if you truly want to, but they cannot be taken away from you because God does not change.

You are His child.

You are forgiven and beloved.

You are not a mistake.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You're His masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

You're more than a conqueror.

God gives you His Holy Spirit, and within you the power to overcome the things of this world as He has already won the ultimate victory for you.

You're a light in the world.

That's who God says you are, shining His light, the love of Jesus, into the darkest corners.

And ultimately, you're a citizen of heaven who's one day gonna be face to face with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

That's part of being God's heir.

You're gonna be with Him forever one day.

And understanding who God says you truly are, it's gonna change the way that you go through life.

It's really hard to embrace this each and every day, but if you understand that that is the core of your identity, it's gonna change a lot for you.

It's gonna provide stable worth in your life.

You're not gonna be your ups or your downs.

You're not gonna be, "What have you done for me lately?" It's gonna be stable worth.

You are God's child.

It's gonna offer you freedom from your past.

You're not your mistakes.

That's not who God says you are.

You are beloved and forgiven.

You are His child.

It's gonna help you have lasting security as you look forward to the next life.

And of course, it's gonna give you purpose and confidence as you go through this life.

And so, St.

John's family, I think it's gonna be rather obvious what my prayer for you this week is.

May you not doubt for a second what your true identity is.

May you not look to creation for their approval, yourself for your approval, for your identity.

May you only look to your creator, God, who says, "You are my child.

You're forgiven and beloved.

You're not a mistake.

You're a masterpiece who I have fearfully and wonderfully made.

You're more than a conqueror.

You're a light of the world.

You are a citizen of heaven."

You are all of these things, St.

John's family, because of Jesus.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

You've been listening to a sermon from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

If you would like more information about St.

John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www.

stjohnsbuffalo.

org.

Thank you and God bless you.