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MÂN BETHAU: Dw i
I’ve started a new column in the Treasury which takes bits and pieces I’ve learned while studying Welsh and brings them round to the Bible. Because of the way things translate in Welsh and my dubious proficiency in the language, I may be on a hiding to nothing (or neud rhywbeth diddiolch) but here goes…
Way back on October 3rd when I began learning Welsh, the very first phrase to which we were introduced was, “Dw I” which means ‘I am’. It was a crucial phrase to learn that allowed us to communicate our intentions and define our actions and emotions.
If you think about it, one of the first things human beings learn is how to articulate “I am”. Even before we learn to speak words, our parents figure out what cries mean “I am hungry” and which wails mean “I am tired”. Without “I am” a parent will struggle to identify the needs and desires of their child and its development will be stunted.
In the Bible story, “I am” is a major theme. In Exodus chapter 3 God, speaking to Moses from a burning bush, identifies himself in the uppercase form, I AM. And while “I am” reveals the simple needs of a child, I AM tells us something profound about God.
I AM tells us about God’s eternity. It declares the stunning truth that God is outside of history. There is no point in history to which we can anchor him and speak of a time before him. As such, He is above and beyond our understanding. Often we try to contain Him by saying he existed before anything else but that can lead to the idea that he is old and decrepit, out of touch with the hi speed age we live in. I AM is the antidote to that mistake. The God that calls himself I AM is present tense! He is forever fresh, and when we begin to contemplate that we find ourselves whisked along in his wake, barely able to cling on to his coat tails.
I AM also reminds us that nobody defines God. As a human, I am defined by my family or my job or my class or my team or my label and I am accepted on those terms. But “I AM who I AM” is defined by himself. He is entirely outside of our systems of classification. I AM doesn’t wait for the media or the celebrity or the blogger to confer their endorsement on Him. He is on a different level to us and (as we see in Exodus) expects even the greatest king to respond humbly to Him as Lord of all things.
Maybe I have made I AM seem unappealing. Maybe I have made him appear to be the ultimate loner- a rebel without a cause, sneering at the world. That would be entirely wrong.
In the New Testament, God reminds the world of his name in the person of Jesus. I AM is breathtakingly, awe inspiringly different to us and yet I AM condescends to be one of us. When Jesus uses I AM he attaches it to imagery that shows the love and compassion and warmth that I AM has for the world. ‘I AM Jesus and I AM here to shepherd you. I AM going to show you the way to God and I AM going to bring you into into the House of my Father for ever.’
When a baby cries “I am” his ambitions are small, more food, more milk, more sleep. When Jesus says I AM he is revealing his great ambition to bring every single person that God has called, by his perfect sacrifice, into the presence of his Father where they will enjoy him forever.
