Advent 3
John 1:6-8, 19-28
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
Sermon
Today is the Third Sunday of Advent and we continue our waiting and watching for the coming of Jesus. The Advent candles are lit, the countdown continues. And so we ask ourselves “What does it mean that Jesus is coming?” “What does it mean that he is coming to our hearts, and minds, and souls?” What is a person to think? What to do?
One of my favorite cartoon strips has always been Peanuts, Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy and the gang. One particular strip showed Linus and Lucy having a conversation. They were looking toward a hill on the horizon as they leaned on a fence. Lucy says to Linus, “You know what I believe Linus? I believe that all the answers to all of life’s questions are just over that hill. Every solution to every problem, every answer to every riddle, is just on the other side of that hill. If we could just get to the other side of that hill we would know everything we need to know for things to make sense.”
Linus replied, “Do you suppose that might be some other kid on the other side of that hill looking our way? And what if that kid on the other side of the hill is thinking the exact same thoughts, that all the answers to his questions are on this side of the hill?”
The last frame shows Lucy cupping her hands to her mouth and shouting with a loud voice “Forget it kid! There’s nothing over here!”
As you heard the reading of the gospel from John this morning, no doubt you heard lots of questions. The Pharisees sent some priests and levites to pepper John the Baptist with questions: Who are you? Elijah? What makes you think you can do what you’re doing? Are you the prophet? Maybe the Messiah? Spill it, water boy! Questions are all over the page in the story of John the Baptist.
Day in and day out, questions pile higher and higher to the point sometimes we can’t even see the light of day. Oh, to have the clarity of someone like John the Baptist!
The further you read in today’s lesson the more you get a sense for what made him so popular a speaker. He had a way about him He had some sort of charisma, some energy that just drew people from far and wide. They travelled, some more than a day, to get to him. Camped out like a bunch of eager beavers at a Best Buy midnight madness sale. John’s voice would roar and thunder, sending chills up the spines of people both young and old. The hair on the back of their necks would stand straight up as John’s voice would rise and fall, either because of fear, or excitement, or both. This was a new day! No doubt about it. Certainly, John didn’t have any doubt about it.
He was as clear as a bell about who he was and what he was supposed to be doing. He knew exactly where he stood in the big scheme of things. When the priests and levites asked him if he was the Messiah? John said “No.” In fact, it says that not only did John deny that he was the Messiah, he confessed it. From the depths of his heart, from the core of who he was, from the depths of his very being . . . he was not the Messiah. Got it? Good! Clarity, Conviction, Commitment . . . these are the kinds of words that describe John.
He was not the messiah. He was not Elijah. He was not the prophet. He was simply the voice of the one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way for the Lord.” John was convinced that the Lord was coming. And his job was to help get people get ready. Actually, John tried and tried to get people to follow Jesus. Later on when Jesus walks up, John says “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Follow him.” When Jesus walks up, John gives him the finger, the index finger that is, point away from himself to Jesus. Go that away, John says. Things were as clear to John as they could be. Certainty and conviction filled the air around him.
Maybe you can remember a time when you felt a kind of certainty. When you knew who you were and what you were supposed to be doing in this world. Perhaps you remember the sense of direction and purpose that marked the sound of your stride as you went from one place to another. Pretty good feeling, huh? Maybe, you felt that way in your marriage, or in your job, or with your kids. Maybe you felt that way about your country or your faith. Do you not remember when at least life seemed secure and certain? If so you probably also remember how it felt when certainty slipped away from you, when questions invaded your quiet confidence and doubts chipped away at your conviction.
If there is anyone here today who knows what I am talking about, then you have also been down the road of John the Baptist. Because later on, in John’s story, we see that he goes from certainty to confusion, from conviction to doubt, and from clarity to desperation. He doesn’t know what to think. The gospels report that at some point after Jesus begins his ministry, John the Baptist is arrested and thrown into prison. While he is there, we see just how overcome with questions John is. He calls his disciples to him, John’s disciples, that is. And he sends them on an errand. He has a question of his own for Jesus. “Are you the one, or should we wait for another?” (Matthew 11: 2-3). “ARE YOU THE ONE, OR SHOULD WE FOR ANOTHER?” Are you kidding me? Wasn’t John the one who was “light’n up” the crowds with his impassioned messages about Jesus the coming one? His question now shows that he isn’t so sure. His question now shows how what he believed was absolutely certain was up for grabs.
How many times have you looked out at your world and said to yourself, “This just doesn’t make sense?” How many times have you looked at the pieces of your life and wondered to yourself “How in the world are you going to put things together?” How many times have you, like me, looked at the numbers and seen that things just don’t add up?”
In his prison cell, John the Baptist lost sight of the most basic realities that gave his life purpose and meaning. In his prison cell his questions overwhelmed him and he lost touch with what gave him greatest joy. And all he could do was sit.
And Jesus? How does Jesus respond? When you, or I, or John the Baptist, lose sight and lose touch with who we are and who Jesus is because the questions have backed us into a dark corner, how does he reply? Well I tell you what he doesn’t do. He doesn’t give you a kick in the pants and tell you to stop being a wuss. He doesn’t slap you upside the head and tell you to suck it up. He doesn’t turn a cold shoulder to you and tell you to apply a little elbow grease, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, or put your nose the old grindstone.
I had a boss that said that to me once. One of my first jobs was at a grocery store called Albertsons. It’s like Kroger or Marsh. I started sacking groceries when I was 16 and was the best sacker the world had ever seen. My supervisor noticed and gave me a promotion, washing dishes. I moved from the front end of sacking groceries to the deli kitchen to be the sud-buster with a nice raise to boot. One day after school, I arrived at work to find out that the grill had caught on fire and burned it to a crisp. All the grease and oil from I don’t know how long had caught on fire and then baked onto the outside of the grill. It was my job to clean it. After I finished the dishes I commenced to working on the grill. I tried everything I could to get the dark black burned grease to come off. I made several trips to the cleaning aisle to try every toxic product I could on that grill. That grill had every chemical, corrosive and acid, I could find poured onto it. I tried SOS pads, steel wool, emery cloth, a hammer and a chisel. I even looked for a jackhammer. I threw everything I had at my disposal at the problem, but for nothing.
About midnight my dad called the store and wanted to know where I was. I said I was still working. He said to come home. I called the store manager in the office. He was a burly fellow with some sort of Hungarian, German, or Austrian accent. I don’t know but he was a foreigner and mean as all get out. He once punched a customer and broke the guy’s jaw. Most people avoided him like you’d avoid a big brown bear. I told him it was late and I had to go. He said “you’re not done yet.” I said I can’t get it off. And he just said “Use some elbow grease you little %#!”
When Jesus answers John he gives none of the typical answers you might hear from some hardnosed individual. He simply tells John’s disciples “Go and tell John what you see and hear. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.” You have to help John see what he can’t see. You have to help John hear what he can’t hear right now. You must be his eyes and ears. You must point out what is taking place.
People come to John with all kinds of questions today. “Who are you? What’s going on here?” etc. And John hears their questions, their confusion, and their consternation. And once they have aired them all, John takes them into consideration and then sets them aside for the moment. And he tells them that the one who he has been talking about, the one about whom they have been asking . . . is here, now. Right now he stands among you and you can’t even see it. John sees it.
“Among you stands one [Jesus] whom you do not know.”
Many of you have lived long or hard enough to develop a list of questions you’d like answered. As John shows, some have pretty quick and direct answers. But some questions don’t respond to our attempts to explain or understand. Sometimes the pieces won’t come together. Sometimes the solutions are nowhere to be found.
If that is the case for you today, then set them aside for the moment. Take the open ends of your life and just lay it down for a second and hear what John has to say: “Among you stands one [Jesus] . . . .” Jesus is here, right now. He is among us. Here in this room. Put your questions to the side for the moment, sense his presence. Draw from his strength.
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