I Am

First-responders are an amazing group of people. We saw their bravery highlighted during the height of the pandemic; they were first on the scene with admirable resilience. But the ultimate first-responder, the first Rescuer coming to our aid, is the one who meets our deepest need. The Greek word for firstborn in our scripture today is πρωτότοκος (pro-tot-ok'-os), where we get our English word “prototype” from, and it means eldest or preeminent. Jesus is the distinguished one, surpassing all others. When God was hardly a passing thought in our minds, he demonstrated his love by sending Jesus, his one and only unique Son; first among brothers and sisters. He is the one who came to rescue you. He is elevated, in control; even when things seem completely out of control. He is already on the scene, holding all things together.

Abraham had a lot going on. There was his barren wife through whom God had promised to give him a son, his aging body, his nephew Lot stuck in a godless city, and a caustic relationship dynamic between himself, his wife, his wife’s handmaiden, and their son, Ishmael. He had no shortage of things to keep him awake at night. But in the midst of it all he was visited by three men, one of that company being the Lord. And this visit led to a lot of conversation between Abraham and the Lord. Our prayer time may look similar to Abraham’s encounter with the Lord. We feel woefully unprepared, our empty hands filled only with the whys and why-nots of life. Relationship struggles weigh heavily on us and the future seems unsure. But God is standing at the door of your tent right now, available to hear your heart. How do I know? Because he says, “I AM”.

As I’m writing this, there is an excessive heat warning for central Florida, where my daughter and son-in-law live, with the heat index reaching 115. I can imagine how good an air-conditioned room and a cold glass of iced tea would sound to them today. But what if you couldn’t escape the heat? What if there was no way out? Wouldn’t it be good, uplifting to your spirit, to know that you weren’t alone? Well friend, you are not alone in the fiery trials. The fourth man comes forth in your trial; one like “a son of the gods” is with you. Jesus is his name, and he is with you at the start, through it, and to the end of the trial. Every step of the way, from beginning to end, he is with you. He is your good shepherd.

Weariness seems to pervade our lives today. Many of us search for a break, a time out from the go, go, go of a world spinning faster and faster. But where can rest be found? Well, you could ask the woman at the well. In the wake of her life was an abundance of failed relationships. Husband after husband became train wreck after train wreck. We’re not told the specifics behind why this was; maybe the culture of her day had something to do with it. Maybe there was a childhood abuse or maybe love was mis-modelled to her. We just don’t know; but we do know that everything changed after she met the seventh man, Jesus. After five failed marriages and a current non-committal live-in relationship, he made sense of it all. Jesus read her mail, and loved her more than any man ever had. Now there’s a definition of rest you can hold on to: loving embrace in spite of your past. Seven. Isn’t that the number of rest?

Jesus has promised to be with us every step of the way, to the very last step we take and the final breath we breathe, for, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Literally, “I with you am.” ² You could say our lives are hidden in the middle of the I AM. He himself is the bookends to our lives, holding us together from start to finish. Praise God! Think about the stories. For the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethesda, Jesus was the last man he would talk to as a cripple. For Lazurus, Jesus was the final word on death, “I AM the resurrection.” Death, where is your sting! For you he has the last word on your sin, guilt, and shame. And for all who look to him, his final words spoken from the cross ring out to bring an end to every striving: “It is finished.” From the first to the last, in the already but not-yet, he is, always.