You know who you never see on the front of Christmas
cards? John… John the Baptist, that is. After all, he’s not the poster child for
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” is he?[i] Last week, we got a vivid
description of him from Mark’s perspective – a manly man, a hermit, a recluse,
maybe even to some, a little bit weird. He probably wasn’t the only one. It was
a trying time in first-century Palestine. The Roman authority was ruling with
an iron fist, and the Jewish community was waiting for the promised savior – a
Messiah – to save them from the life that they were just barely enduring. John
told anyone who would listen – “I am not the one who is promised, but I have
come to prepare the way for him to come. Knowing what we do know, John would
have done just as well if he said, “Get ready folks … it’s going to be a bumpy
ride.”
This week we encounter John again but from a
different perspective. Written 50-60 years later, the writer of John’s gospel
shows us a different side of John. No longer is he described as “the baptizer”
… now he is a witness, someone who has seen Jesus. But he’s also something
more. John is willing to testify for Jesus … to tell the truth about Jesus,
which will end up costing him his life.
There is no nativity story in Mark’s gospel… it all
starts with John, Jesus’ cousin and prophet extraordinaire, proclaiming the
beginning of Jesus' ministry, soon to come. In the next few weeks, we will hear
the stories of Jesus’ birth from two different perspectives. We tend to mash
the Matthew and Luke versions of the story together into one crazy Christmas
pageant, but a study of the gospels reveals that each narrative was written with
a particular audience in mind
20 years later, Matthew wrote to a primarily Jewish
audience, and focuses on how Jesus fulfills the role as the Messiah promised
through the Old Testament prophets. Luke wrote to a primarily Gentile audience,
and focuses on how Jesus came to save everyone – the least the last and the
lost. Matthew’s nativity features events which address Jewish expectation.
Luke’s nativity welcomes the meek and lowly – angels sing to shepherds and
welcome the whole outcast crowd at the manger.
The writer of John’s gospel, writing another 40 years
later, does relate Jesus’ coming to another significant event… the creation. We
didn’t read these verses today as a part of our lesson, so I’ll include them
here:
1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All
things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into
being. What has come into being 4 in him was
life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John
1:1-5)
For John, Jesus didn’t come first as a prophet or a
baby. Jesus was present from the beginning, at creation. John’s gospel frames
Jesus’ coming in a whole new way… John understands something very profound and
proclaims that loud and clear.
Jesus is the light of the world.
That statement flips every expectation we have about
Messiah on its head. Jesus didn’t come to be a white knight on a horse, riding
in to slay our enemies and whisk us off to freedom. No, Jesus is the light
that illuminates the darkness of the world and helps us to see the world
around us as it really is. Jesus is the candle in the darkness. Jesus is the
rest stop in the middle of nowhere. Jesus is light and life and everything we
need to know to be the people God created us to be. A simple concept, yes, but very, very hard to grasp
all the time.
You have to give John credit. He was a very memorable
witness. Each of the gospel writers gives him credit for ushering in Jesus’
ministry. John provides context for Jesus’ coming. He says, “I am not him – I’m
just the warmup act.” And he baptizes people – washes them with water in the
Jordan River as a symbolic act of cleaning them from their sins. This itself
was a promised sign. It’s why the priests and the Levites ask, “are you the one
who was promised? Or maybe you’re the prophet Elijah who has come back to usher
in a new age… what’s your story … why are you here?” And John’s answer is
simple. “I am not him, but he is coming soon.” John is a witness, preparing
the way.
"Witness" is one of those weird words. It is both a noun
and a verb. In one way, a witness sees something. This person knows that
something happens and remembers it. But a witness also tells the story. In the
courtroom, witnesses are not just judged on the story they tell, but by how
credible their version of the story is. Can it be corroborated by other
witnesses? Does it feel true over the passage of time? Does is feel likely in comparison
with known experiences from the past and expectations for the future?
We don’t hear about John’s lineage here, but next week
we’ll encounter Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin. John is the baby that leaps in her
womb. There’s every likelihood that Jesus and John grew up knowing each other,
maybe every playing together as children. But John doesn’t know Jesus is the
promised Messiah from cozy family gatherings. John knows Jesus is the Messiah
because it was a fact revealed by God, as we see later on in verses 32-34.
Seeing the dove descend on Jesus’ head at his own baptism was the confirmation
that John needed to witness or testify to others about who Jesus is… in John’s
mind there is no doubt that Jesus is the Son of God.[ii]
The same is true as we hear the Magnificat, the
response of Mary to the angel to brings her incredible, terrifying news. Mary
has words, for sure, and they are words of power – words that see how God’s
choices can turn the world upside down. Mary’s words are revolutionary. But so
are John’s… both are a witness to their own experiences of God – words they
could not keep to themselves.
All of this leads to the question of the day: What does
this mean for us?
Some days I wish that it was so easy to just be the
witness who sees but follows silently along. But Jesus doesn’t want us to be
passive participants in the Kingdom of God. Action is required. Sometimes it’s
speaking… sometimes it’s doing. Let’s not be fooled into the belief that we
must have all the words if we are going to talk about him when all Jesus wants
us to do is open our mouths and say a few words with faith. We think we have to
fabricate the grand gesture, displaying extravagance when a just-in-time simple
gesture of love is all the witness required.
I just finished facilitating a PWOC study on the book,
Everything Happens for a Reason and other lies I’ve loved by Kate
Bowler. Kate was a 35-year-old Ph.D. candidate and associate professor in American
Christianity at Duke Divinity School when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon
cancer. Ironically, her field of expertise was in the prosperity gospel, a
branch of North American Christianity which, simply defined, believes that an
increase in our faith will increase our health and wealth, and conversely, that
if we are lacking in those areas, it is because of a lack of faith or
unconfessed sin. Kate accidentally writes a memoir of her first-year journey
through cancer, which has her questioning assumptions of sickness from her own
perspective and through the reactions of others she meets along the way.
We had a great class. Our reading of Kate’s memoir
offered many of us permission to process our own griefs, and to ask the
questions that arise when we are confronted with the reality that life is
really not fair. In the end, in two appendices, she lists first unhelpful
things to say to those going through a crisis, and ends with the helpful
things… I’m going to spare you the things to absolutely never say because they
are a different sermon for another day. The helpful things, well, they are not
just about what to say, but about how to make our words and actions reflect what
we believe in what it means to love and to serve God and those living in
the world around us.
Here they are:
1 – I’d love to bring
you a meal this week – can I email you about it… BTW, it doesn’t have to be
a meal… it could be a load of laundry, or watching kids, or a ride to a
doctor’s appointment… the question is really, how can I lighten your load
today?
2
– You are a beautiful person… it’s a good reminder that we are not defined
by our circumstances.
3 – I’m been thinking
of you and I’m on your team. No judgment, no analysis, no platitudes… just
being.
4 – Can I give you a
hug? It’s important to ask permission to enter someone’s space… but people
in crisis are often bereft of human touch because we don’t know what to say…
this was obviously written before a time of extreme social distancing.
5 – Oh, my friend,
that sounds so hard. Sometimes all we want is affirmation that we are not
going crazy.
6 – **** Show up and sit in silence**** It’s
not for others to entertain us in their struggles… perhaps it’s one of the
hardest things, just being there.[iii]
Can you see what those things have in common? They are
about presence… they are about meeting and loving people where they are… they
are about understanding that the best testimonies are not always filled with
beautiful words but helping people believe that they are not alone.
Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a witness. But
I’ll bet that God thinks of that way. Jesus’ story starts with John’s witness,
not just to the person of Jesus, but to the light which points to Christ. Our
witness, our involvement with other people, our giving of ourselves in even the
smallest ways can be the light that infuses the darkest times in others’ lives.
[iv]
And if you’re worried that the job requirements for
being a witness are good public speaking ability or great organizational skills,
you’re thinking about this too hard. All you have to do to be a witness is to
see a situation or a person who needs a word of hope. Many of us are here this
morning because, at some time in your life, you saw the Light of the World,
believed, responded in kind.
All of us have a story about how we came to know
Christ. Some people’s stories are very dramatic – worthy of a documentary or
Lifetime movie of the week. But many of us have very quiet stories of how we
came to trust Jesus… our stories are still in progress. And while many of us
are Christians because many generations before us were Christian, we don’t
inherit our faith like we do brown eyes, blonde hair, or bad knees.
For a long time, I thought I had to have a set
testimony… complete with scriptural references and deep theological insight.
But eventually, I realized that I just needed to see Christ alive and active in
my everyday life and be willing to talk about that when people needed to hear
about it. The good news of Jesus became something that I had just share, just
because it was too good to keep to myself.
My friend Will Willimon tells a story of the first
real witness he experienced. He was an elementary-aged child and preparing to
ride the bus, but realized that he didn’t have any money to pay for the ticket.
He only needed 50 cents, but without it he was stranded. Another boy, about his
age, was standing nearby. He saw Will’s dilemma, thrust his hand into his
pocket, and pulled out a handful of change… “Here,” he said. “Take what you
need.”
John’s message was a message of light – of hope – of
love. Remember this as you speak and live your witness to the world, and the
one standing next to you in need of just this very word.
As we close the sermon today, I’d like you to pray
this prayer with me… repeating each line as I lead.
Lord, open my eyes
To your presence in our
world.
Make my open eyes to see
others around me
Who have yet to see
What you have given me.
Enable me, in word and
deed,
To show them the good
news. Amen.
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