Who Am I?

The following story is one you may have heard before, but it bears repeating. A great reminder who we are in Christ Jesus.

Fred Craddock was a seminary professor and a great story teller. Once, while he was lecturing at Yale University, he told of going back one summer to Gatlinburg, TN, to take a short vacation with his wife. One night they found a quiet little restaurant where they looked forward to a private meal——just the two of them.

While they were waiting for their meal they noticed a distinguished looking white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting guests. Craddock whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn’t come over here.” He didn’t want the man to intrude on their privacy.

But the man did come by his table. “Where you folks from?” he asked amicably.

“Oklahoma.”

“Splendid state, I hear, although I’ve never been there. What do you do for a living?”

I teach homiletics at the graduate seminary of Phillips University.”

“Oh, so you teach preachers, do you. Well, I’ve got a story I want to tell you.” And with that he pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with Craddock and his wife. Dr. Craddock groaned inwardly. Oh, no, here comes another preacher story. It seems everyone has one.

The man stuck out his hand. “I’m Ben Hooper. I was born not far from here across the mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born so I had a hard time. When I started to school my classmates had a name for me, and it wasn’t a very nice name. I used to go off by myself at recess and during lunchtime because the taunts of my playmates cut so deeply.

“What was worse was going downtown on Saturday afternoon and feeling every eye burning a hole through you. They were all wondering just who my real father was.

“When I was about 12 years old a new preacher came to our church. I would always go in late and slip out early. But one day the preacher said the benediction so fast I got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. I could feel every eye in church on me. Just about the time I got to the door I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I looked up and the preacher was looking right at me.

“‘Who are you, son? Whose boy are you?’

“I felt the old weight come down on me. It was like a big, black cloud. Even the preacher was putting me down.

“But as he looked down at me, studying my face, he began to smile a big smile of recognition. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said, ‘I know who you are. I see the family resemblance. You are a son of God.’

“With that he slapped me across the rump and said, ‘Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.’”

The old man looked across the table at Fred Craddock and said, “That was the most important single sentence ever said to me.” With that he smiled, shook the hand of Craddock and his wife, and moved on to another table to greet old friends.
Suddenly, Fred Craddock remembered. On two occasions the people of Tennessee had elected an illegitimate to be their governor. His name was Ben Hooper.
(from Power for Living, by Jamie Buckingham, 1983)

Let us each be reminded today that we are children of God with great futures and unlimited possibilities.

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- John 1:12 (NIV)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, today I want to live up to my family resemblance. I am not a defeated, hopeless individual. I am one with high family lineage, with all power available to me, and a future filled with Your blessings and planned successes for my life. I humbly but proudly declare, “I am a child of God.” AMEN.

Blessings!
Pastor Roger