Third Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2008
John 1:6-8, 19-29
6There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness
to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He
himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 19This
is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked
him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor
Elijah, nor the prophet?" 26John answered them, "I baptize
with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong
of his sandal." 28This took place in
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared,
"Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
On this third Sunday of
Advent, I have a question for you: Have
you ever wondered what sort of god, God is? Maybe it sounds strange to you, but bear with me. If you had to describe God, what words,
images or pictures would you use?
As I’ve been thinking about
that question this week, I realized that we’re usually pretty good at coming up
with answers about what God does – you know, God creates the world, God chooses
the people of Israel, God gives the 10 Commandments, God gets involved when a
little shepherd boy named David, goes to battle against the giant named Goliath
– and of course, God sends Jesus, God raises the dead, God gives the Holy
Spirit. We can give any number of
examples of the things God does. But I
don’t think that’s the same thing as answering the question, “What kind of god,
is God?”
And if we have a little
trouble coming up with the answer to a question like that, think of how
challenging it might be for someone hasn’t spent much time thinking or hearing
about God. In fact, if you’re really
brave and willing to listen to some challenging words, try having a
conversation about this question with some of your friends who aren’t regular
church goers. Ask them what impressions
of the God of the Bible they’ve received from the Christians they know or from
the church in general.
In my experience, you’ll get
a variety of answers. Some simply
haven’t thought much about God. A few
will have their own unique picture of God. But all too often, the image in their mind is of a being who has a permanent frown affixed upon his face. And the frown is there because God basically
disapproves of this world, and God is especially disappointed with the failings
of the world’s people. And because of
that disapproval, God is itching to rain some judgment down upon us. Some even imagine God rubbing the divine
hands together with glee in anticipation of sending folks off to that cosmic
BBQ that lasts forever. And I suspect it
doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if that’s your idea of who
God is, it’s no surprise that there are lots of people who would just as soon
stay as far away from that God as possible.
I’ve been thinking about
these things, because it seems to me that the season of Advent brings this idea
of what kind of god, God is, into sharp focus. That’s because Advent is about waiting for God, preparing for God,
looking for God. And the assumption is
that our waiting and preparation is done with eagerness and anticipation. We believe that God’s advent – God’s coming
to us - is a good news, something we truly want.
Yet, if we could convince
those folks who imagine God primarily as a steely-eyed judge, that this God is
indeed waiting in the wings, ready to make an appearance – I can’t help but
think they would see it as bad news – a real downer as they get ready for
Christmas. And it’s no surprise why they
would see things that way. If you have
the idea that God disapproves of you and dislikes you – that God is eager to
judge and send you off to the flames of hell, you aren’t likely to greet God’s
coming with excitement or expectation.
Now, I suppose it would be
easy to bemoan the fact that people have received such a misguided picture of
what God is like. How could
they have gotten things so wrong, we wonder. But maybe it’s not as surprising as we think. Sometimes the
church, and the people who are part of it, have set themselves up as the
protectors of morality in our culture. And the result is that the church is perceived as being primarily in the
business of saying no to all the things that are wrong with the world and its
people. But while standing up for what’s
right and wrong is indeed important – if that becomes the center of the
church’s message, no wonder God comes to be seen as little more than a divine policeman.
But maybe the problem is even
closer to home. If people I know,
friends I have, see God’s face permanently etched with a divine frown – what
does that say about me? I’m one of God’s
followers, one of God’s children, one of God’s ambassadors. Is that the God that I communicate to
people? Is that the God they see present
in my life? Or is it just that I haven’t
done much to counteract that picture of a stern and cranky God? They are sobering questions for me.
And maybe that’s why I find
today’s Gospel lesson so helpful. Because at its heart, I think it is about helping people to answer that
question I began with, what kind of god, is God? In a way, that was John the Baptist’s mission. This is how our lesson put it: There was a man sent from God whose name was
John. He came as a witness to testify to
the light. In other words, John’s
purpose in life was to be a witness to the light – a witness to God. His mission was to help others see who God
really is.
It’s a mission that begins in
a rather strange way. Authorities come
from
But the whole point here is
that for John’s mission to succeed – John himself is secondary. It doesn’t matter if people know him. What matters is that they know God. And for that to happen, John doesn’t need a
name. All he needs is a voice and a
finger. A voice to
announce that God is coming – and a finger to point and say, there he is. It isn’t about me. It’s about him.
Do you remember how this
first chapter of John’s Gospel begins? “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word
was God….. And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” That’s the truth that John the Baptist came
to announce. God, the
one who created the world. God, the one who was there before the beginning of time. This God has become flesh. This God was born as a baby in
Now the truth is, there are all kinds of things we don’t know about
God. There are divine mysteries we will
never penetrate. God even says in the
Scripture, “My ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your
thoughts.” Yet the miracle of Christmas,
the wonder of the birth we are preparing to celebrate in this Advent season –
is that in Jesus, we get to see God, know God, love God. All that is most important about
God is revealed in the one who is the Word made flesh.
Think of what this
means. Look at Jesus welcoming little
children and blessing them, and know that God is here today to welcome the
children among us – and to bless Symone who is baptized here this morning.
Look at Jesus feeding the
hungry and know that God cares deeply about the poor and the hungry and invites
us to share his compassionate concern.
Look at Jesus welcoming
outcastes and strangers, and know that there is a special place in God’s heart
for the ones that are so often forgotten in our world.
Do wonder if God is that
stern faced judge, eager to find a reason to send us packing with condemnation
– then listen to Jesus say, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
son… For God sent the son into the world
not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him.”
And if you still aren’t sure
about God – watch as Jesus goes to the cross. When he dies there, it is ultimate sign of this God’s love for us. He will give up his own life, before giving
up on us. That’s why Jesus tells a story
reminding us that God is like a good shepherd, a good shepherd who will not
stop searching until every lost sheep is found – a good shepherd who is willing
to lay down his life for the sheep.
This is the one to whom John
points today. This is the one who in
whom we see what kind of god, God is. But of course, it’s not just about John. While our lesson today begins, there was a man sent from God whose name
was John – perhaps it could just as easily say, there was a person sent from
God whose name was Mary, or Bill, or Ann or Dwaine or – well you can fill in
your own name. Because in a world where
so many people aren’t sure what to make of God – who wonder if God really cares about them: witnesses are still important. And to do this work, we don’t need to be perfect. We don’t need a seminary education. We don’t need to have all the answers. All we need is the same things that John had
– a voice, a life and a finger, all the things John used to point to Jesus.
And that’s what I invite you
to do in these remaining days of Advent. We can use our voices to remind each other that amid all of the
celebrating and gift giving that we are preparing for – at the center of it all
is a God who will come to offer us a gift beyond anything we could ask for or
imagine – the gift of a savior, the promise of a place in God’s family forever.
And we can use our lives to
show the world what this God is like. As
we feed the hungry, and care for the poor, and welcome the stranger as God’s
people, our actions will become signs that the compassionate God who was revealed
in Jesus, is still present in God’s people.
And we use our fingers to
point to the one who will come on Christmas. We remind our families and friends neighbors. We remind ourselves, that if we really want
to know God – there is only one place to look. It is Jesus. In
the child of
Amen.
Thanks to author, Leonard
Sweet, for some of the images and ideas used in this sermon.