Advent 3 John
1:6-8, 19-28
12/11/05
“Who
Are You?”
Back in the 1960’s or 70’s pop psychology had people
asking, “Who are you?” The
purpose was not to elicit the other person’s name.
Rather, the question was intended to get people to think deeply about
their identity and how it was formed.
A person might answer:
I am a woman, a secretary, and a wife
or
I am a teacher, a golfer, and a son
or
I am a seeker, a lover and a free spirit
or
I am a Christian, a mother and a friend
The possibilities and variations were endless, and when
honestly answered, very revealing.
The priests and Levites were not leading a psychological
identity search, of course, when they asked John the Baptist, “Who are
you?” It was part of their
job to protect the Jewish religion from false prophets.
Many of these false prophets had come along in the centuries before
Jesus’ birth. End times
writing had become popular due to the influence of foreign cultures and
historical events. Jewish
expectations of the Messiah’s coming had reached a very intense level.
Thus, as word of John’s Elijah-like appearance, charismatic
personality and prophetic proclamation reached the religious leaders, they
wanted to know who John was claiming to be.
They couldn’t have the people misled by a charlatan and they
certainly couldn’t afford to have some rabble rouser stirring up trouble.
So, they ask, “Who are you?”
Notice that John doesn’t give them a direct answer or the
answer they were expecting. Instead
of looking deeply into his own psyche, he looks deeply into their hearts,
and declares who he is not. “I am not the Messiah.”...”I am not
Elijah”... “I am not the prophet (Moses).
With this answer we see that he’s not interested in taking glory
for himself or pleasing anyone but God.
Finally, having said who he is not, John speaks from the
depths of his soul of who he is. He
is “the voice of one crying the wilderness, make straight the way of the
Lord.” This should tell them
all they need to know. In
quoting from Isaiah’s prophecy to a people in exile, John is saying that
he is preparing the way for the One who will lead the people back to
spiritual freedom through a right relationship with God.
But, even as John denies that he is the Messiah, Elijah or
the prophet, we – the reader – know he is a very special person.
We have been told that John was “a man sent from God.”
The only other man sent from God in the Gospel is Jesus.
Therefore, John was anointed for a special mission and purpose.
He was to be a witness to the coming of the Christ, the Anointed, the
Light of the world. He was to
announce the Messiah’s coming and prepare people to receive Him by calling
them to repent of their sins.
Very good. Now,
we have the answer to the “Who are you?” question.
John’s answer is:
I am an anointed messenger from God.
I am a witness.
I am a voice crying in the wilderness.
Soon John will fade from the scene, as God meant him to.
He is just a sign pointing to Jesus.
It is Jesus, who Himself is a sign pointing to God, is to be the
focus of the salvation story.
Though John fades from the scene, his mission continues.
God still anoints people to prepare the way – now, to prepare the
way for Jesus return. Each of
us is privileged to be an anointed messenger sent from God, a witness and a
voice crying in the wilderness.
We are anointed at our baptisms.
We receive, not just the baptism of the repentance of sin done with
water only. We receive the Holy
Spirit in the baptism of Jesus. That
anointing is our sending, our commission to carry forward the divine plan.
This is why the baptismal vows we make both as parents and
sponsors, and as a congregation are so important and profound.
A baptism is not just a nice ritual or a bit of magic that ensures
baptized’s place in heaven. A
baptism is an anointing, a sending by God to share the message of salvation
and God expects that child (or adult) to grow up to carry on John’s work.
We become witnesses in baptism, as well.
We witness to God’s action in our lives and in the world.
Part of our learning and growing in the faith is developing our
ability to see and experience God in life, so that we can witness to His
presence.
This is why the confirmation program we are now using is of
value. While head knowledge –
the ability to recall the story and the beliefs that come from the story –
is important. It is even more
important to be able to see how that story is still going forward and how we
are a part of that story. By
spending time with a mentor the youth learn how to connect their faith
knowledge to life, and thus see and experience God in life.
We can only witness to what we experience and hopefully each of us
can witness to the presence of a loving, forgiving, redeeming Lord in our
world. That world needs to hear
our witness, so...
We become a voice crying in the wilderness in baptism.
By our actions as well as by our words we lead people to know the God
who loves them so much He died to be in relationship with them.
We may think that our cries are unnecessary today.
We live in a “Christian nation”.
You can go into any bookstore and buy a Bible.
You can turn on the TV and listen to televangelists.
You can find a church in just about every town in the nation.
Why even our politicians ask God’s blessings on the nation at the
end of every speech.
But, the truth is we live in a wilderness just as surely as
the people of John the Baptist’s time.
Ours is not a Christian culture.
You need only turn on the TV any night of the week to see what people
really worship. You might be
amazed at how many people in our own towns know nothing about Jesus.
You could be shocked at the attitude some people have toward
religion.
The sister of a colleague told of hearing that a friend’s
child asked, “Mom, why do the Christians keep trying to mess with
Christmas by putting all this Jesus stuff into it?”
We Christians by our lack of witness have allowed Christmas to become
largely a secular holiday and in some cases not even Christmas as political
correctness waters this Christian day into just a generic holiday.
That child needs an anointed messenger from God who will
witness to the truth of Jesus Christ born in a stable so He could be one of
us. And our world needs to hear
all of us crying in the wilderness of our secular culture that that baby
grew to manhood, rose from the grave and will come again.
Preparing the way of the Lord is what we are sent to do.
When we fulfill our mission we can then answer the question, “Who
are you?” as John did, I am a voice crying in the wilderness, make
straight the way of the Lord.” Amen