June 14, 2026
Moana, a Disney character in her own movie, is a strong-willed, independent girl who has moments of self-doubt but takes on challenges believing she can cross any ocean. In her sung lyrics, she declares: “They have stolen the heart from inside you; but this does not define you; this is not who you are; you know who you are.”
Do we know who we are? Ted Lasso, with his own television show, urges to “be a goldfish.” Supposedly, a goldfish has a ten-second memory. He is telling his teammates not to be so hard on themselves and not to dwell on their mistakes. Be a goldfish!
Many films have the theme of one’s calling and identity. Simba’s journey in The Lion King after his father’s death, but cannot reclaim his throne and purpose until he remembers his identity. Jason Bourne wakes in amnesia to realize that the assassin he was trained to be is not who he chooses to become.
In the first reading, Moses reminds the Israelites to know who they are. Coming out of drought and attack, he reminds them that they are God’s treasured possession. And they have a calling as a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.
When Jesus calls the disciples, he commissions them to participate in his mission of proclaiming the gospel and responding to human need. Know who you are. Jesus reminds harassed and helpless disciples that you are my ambassadors.
Know who you are. What is your calling now? Who and what is the church today? What is the calling of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer and Gethsemane Lutheran Church? Where is God calling us, and do we know who we are as God’s church?
Jesus tells the disciples: “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Is there a plentiful harvest today? Or are there so few working the harvest that the produce rots on the ground? Church life is not the center of our culture. Many churches struggle in the constantly rising tide of competing demands and growing consumerism. We often become caught in traditions or the past of what we expect, and yet the culture is always changing.
And how does our context inform our mission? Living in California in 2026 has its own unique social and political opportunities and challenges. The Juneteenth holiday this week reminds us to tell the truth, to begin with injustices in our state, nation, and world, even as we seek healing today. Two other anniversaries come to mind this week as well: 10 years ago was the Pulse nightclub shooting, where 49 people were shot and killed at a gay dance club, and 11 years ago, the Emanuel Nine were killed while attending Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church by a declared white supremacist.
Often, our identities as Americans are more fluid, finding many models and guides that shape us, inform us, and reshape us, including podcasts, role models, teachers, and stories. We could be judgmental for many good reasons. We can easily get hung up on the past. We have apathy and disdain for good reasons. But we are called, as we hear Jesus’ words today, to listen to the needs, questions, hurts, and concerns of people today. Despite adversity and apathy, how are we called to change? What opportunities are presenting themselves? How can we be formed in faith, community, justice, and hope?
Over the next few months, we have the gift of a mission and vision consultant doing her internship with us to help us identify and name our identity as God’s people. As we prepare to mark the 75th anniversary of both Redeemer and Gethsemane in 2030, we need to know who we are. Jessica Kreigel works with corporations and is a published author in the area of mission, vision, and goals. Jessica will be listening to each of us in interviews, surveys, group sessions and many forums to help us have a mirror to who we have been and who we are now as God’s people?
Is there a plentiful harvest? And what would it look like? What are the spiritual yearnings today? What are the needs of our world today? What is our calling?
Thankfully, God keeps finding ways to remind us who we are in Scripture, the sacraments, and community. As Paul writes, even in our struggles and sufferings, we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. We have hope because the Spirit, the sign of God’s abiding love, has been poured into our hearts.
The mission of the church may seem like a homework assignment or impossible. But what if we saw it as transformational? What if we saw our identity and calling as a source of joy and freedom?
What if, more than preserving the status quo and history, the church transformed lives and the world for the better, saved lives, and changed lives? If, as a community, we could not only find sufficiency but also transformation in knowing our belovedness.
We might say, we are too old, weak, and forgone to change. Yet Genesis calls to mind Abraham and Sarah, whose seemingly barren womb gave birth to centuries of faith. Sister Joan Chittister, in Leaven and Labor, writes: ”Where life and commitment converge, age is no factor. The Scripture says that when the angel-guests who had yielded to their insistent hospitality told Abraham and old Sarah she would bear a child, Sarah laughed. Yet from her came the beginning of a whole new people.”
Know who you are. With authority to cast out unclean spirits, moving from disease and sickness towards healing and health, leading lost sheep home, receiving and giving in generosity, and being raised from death.
Know who you are. Live like a goldfish. Keep changing.
Know who you are. Be open to where God is calling you. Let grace change you. And trust there is mercy when you fail.
Let each new day bring new gratitude and new purpose.
From Ignatius of Antioch: “Pray constantly for others. Permit them to be instructed by you, at least through your deeds. To their anger, be meek; to their boasts, be humble; to their abuse, utter your prayers; to their error, be steadfast in faith; to their savagery, be gentle. Let us be zealous to imitate the Lord, so that no plant of the devil may be found in you, but with all purity and sobriety you may remain in union with Jesus in both flesh and spirit.”
[Ignatius, in The Apostolic Fathers: An American Translation, ed. Edgar J. Goodspeed (NY: Harper & Brothers, 1950), 209-210.]