We are starting a new teaching series today, but first I want us to celebrate what’s happened in the Epic community over just the past 7 days.

Over 1,700 people attended Easter this year. So many new people. So many faith decisions. Thank you for how you prayed, invited, and served over Easter.

We also launched the Center for Sacred Vocation this past week, which includes the foundational course called Sacred Vocation 101. We are launching 4 different groups who will go through this course – 2 of these are in person/2 are virtual. They all begin meeting the week of April 19.

I want to show you some images and then ask you what they have in common.

What do all of these places have in common? Yes, they are all stadiums or arenas for our Bay Area sports teams. But they also are named after companies. How did they get these names? Was someone just sitting around thinking, “I think Oracle is the perfect name for the Giants baseball stadium”? or, “I think we should really give this football stadium the same name as my favorite blue jeans”? The way these stadiums and arenas got their name is because a company paid for something called “naming rights”. And for the length of that contract, the stadium is identified with that company. Maybe you haven’t ever signed a contract like this, but is it possible you’ve made similar agreements when it comes to your identity?

Who or what are you letting name you?

You might be letting a person name you. You could be letting your past define you. Perhaps it’s your latest performance evaluation that you’re letting dictate who you are. It might be your level of wealth or the lack thereof. It could be your physical appearance. Or your accomplishments. Or your relational status. Or how you think you’re perceived on social media. Or by what group accepts you or what group rejects you.

Today we’re launching a new teaching series called Naming Rights: Jesus on Identity. Who am I, really? We tend to answer this question based on how we feel about ourselves in a given moment or we let it be determined by our latest success or failure or by what others think about us.

If we’re going to follow Jesus, we need to know who we are and whose we are. We want to get clear on who actually has the naming rights over our lives. The reason is simple – we live in a world that is so happy to tell us who we are. And we are tempted to earn a name that will be held in high esteem. Which works, until it doesn’t. Jesus knows that whoever we allow to name us will affect our entire lives.

Satan makes it his aim to confuse us about who God really is and who we really are.

If he can keep us from knowing who God is and knowing who we are (to God), there’s nothing else he needs to do. Satan, the great enemy of God and God’s children, is coming for your identity. And if you don’t believe that, he might have already taken it. This is what he came after with Adam and Eve. It’s what he came after with Jesus. And we should count on the fact that he’s coming after ours too.

Matthew 3:16-4:4 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

There is so much happening in this moment. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. This is one of the most compelling reasons we encourage you to be baptized after you put your faith in Jesus. Yes it’s a way of following Jesus, but it’s also very much how we identify with Jesus. We’re doing baptisms 2 weeks from today on April 26 and we’d love to celebrate you taking this step of faith. For Christians, baptism is like our naming ceremony.

Heaven opens up. The Spirit descends on Jesus. And there’s this voice. The voice of the Creator. The voice of the One who knows everything. The voice of the One who has all authority. It’s the Father’s voice speaking, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” What is God the Father pleased with the Son about? All that He’s accomplished? Nope. He hasn’t really done anything. Maybe the miracles He’s performed. He hasn’t done a miracle yet. Dying for the sins of the world? No. Rising from the dead? Not quite because it hasn’t happened yet.

God the Father isn’t pleased with Jesus because of what He’s done. The Father is pleased with the Son because He is His Son, full stop. And if Jesus came to make us children of God, guess where our identity comes from. Not from what we do or don’t do. Not from how much we produce or accomplish. Not from our title or even the ministry we do for God.

You don’t have to earn your name from God, but you do have to receive it.

And I want to encourage you to get clear on your name because you are going to be tempted to let something else or someone else name you. As soon as Jesus was baptized, the Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He’s fasting forty days and forty nights. Then Matthew tells us what seems quite obvious – Jesus was hungry. And here’s the first temptation he receives – “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

I don’t know what it’s like to be Jesus, but I do know what it’s like to think I have to prove myself. I do know what it’s like to have a sense of self that’s determined by my productivity or performance or accomplishment or how my last sermon went or how I perceive I’m doing as a leader. I can leave the office after a full day and start evaluating my identity based on what I did or didn’t get done that day.

I’ve gotten better at this, at least a little bit. Let me tell you how bad I used to be. Let’s say I had an 8:30 meeting somewhere outside of the church. I would still get to the church early, put my backpack down, and turn my lamp on so everyone would know, “Wow, Ben is really getting after it today.” Just to prove that I’m putting in the effort. Was it out of the way to where my meeting was? Yes. Did anyone care? No. Do I have performance issues I need to work through? Always.  But I want to live out of the name I’ve been given by God, not a name I have to earn on my own.

How does Jesus respond? “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In other words, Jesus rejects the temptation to prove himself or to earn his identity. He received His identity from the voice that matters the most. And Jesus wants to make sure we respond in like fashion. In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 disciples, two by two, to every town and place where he was about to go. He tells them to heal the sick and tell people that the kingdom of God has come near. They go off and do it. Then they bring a report back to Jesus. Do not miss this exchange, because I imagine you and I have done this kind of thing so often with Jesus.

Luke 10:17-20 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Imagine how excited these disciples were to tell Jesus about all they had done. And the truth is they had done some amazing things. “Lord, even the demons submit to us…IN YOUR NAME.” Jesus doesn’t dismiss what they had done, but he does let them know there is something that matters even more. Reflecting on this moment, Pete Scazzero writes:

“In other words, he wants them to remember that their joy comes from their relationship with him, not their achievements for him.” -Pete Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader

I love the work I get to do…most days. I believe God has given me capacity, gifts, and a calling for the work I’m doing. And I believe the same is true for you. It’s this vision that led us to launch the Center for Sacred Vocation this past Monday. We have 5 values that shape the center. Here’s the first one:

You are created to work.

When God creates the first humans, he puts them in a particular location and gives them assignments. He wants this for each of us too. But here’s the second value of the center:

You are more than your work.

In other words, yes, vocation does give meaning to our lives. But it does not define our lives. I’m always interested in the work God has for us to do. But I want to work from identity rather than trying to work for my identity. Aren’t you SO exhausted from performing or producing for your identity? Listen to Jesus.

John 6:27-29 “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

God has placed his seal of approval on Jesus and all who put their trust in Jesus. Here’s the work of God – believe the one he sent, Jesus. Let him name you as you put your trust in Him. Come be set free from earning your own name based upon your performance or achievement.

Believe Jesus. Receive the name God the Father wants to give you today – son or daughter. Live from it, not for it. Baptism – naming ceremony.

Is your name written in heaven?

Invite the Spirit to bring a naming ceremony and freedom from being defined by what we do.