John 1: 6-8, 19-28 NRSV
Remember
the game show “What’s My Line?” It ran from 1950 to 1975. Panelists would ask
contestants questions about actions they did and then try to guess what they
did for a living or what they had accomplished in life. The show is most noted
for giving us the phrase “Is it bigger than a breadbox?”
Additionally
there was another show called “All in the Family” that poked fun at the stereotyped
“red-neck, blue-collar, bigots of America.” It portrayed a very bigoted man named
Archie Bunker. On one memorable show, Archie told his wife Edith that he wanted
to be on a bowling team so bad that he could taste it!
Archie
described the bowling shirts that this team, named “the Cannon-ballers,” wore:
All yellow silk, with bright red piping on the collar and sleeves. And on the
back, there’s a picture of a cannon firing a bowling ball at a set of pins.
He
said, “When you got something like that on your back, Edith, you know you’re
somebody!”
That
show was poking fun at the idea that a man could gain a sense of identity and
importance from being a part of a bowling team and wearing a gaudy shirt. But
that idea raises two questions for us today, “Who are you
and what’s your line? What is the source of your identity? And what
motivates your actions?
Could
you wear a logo or an image, kind of like the old medieval coat of arms that
tells others who you are?
Should
your sense of who you are before God as a Christian shape how you live and what
you do?” And what effect should Christmas and advent have on your life?
We
have a pretty good example of how it should be by looking at the person who
first acknowledged Jesus, who we can call the first “responder” to Jesus:
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He
came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that
through him all men might believe.
He himself was not the light; he came only as
a witness 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.
This
passage shows us that John the Baptist was a man who was clear on who he was not
and also clear on who he was. He was also clear on who
Jesus is. So he was able to point out to others clearly that
Jesus is the only Savior whom they desperately needed.
At
this point, we leave John’s opening passage and begin a long section (up to John’s
chapter 12) that builds and clarifies testimony for Jesus as the Son of God,
the one in whom all should believe. That’s John’s goal in his gospel.
Chapter
1 of John presents the witness of the forerunner, John the Baptist, to Jesus. Maybe
we should start thinking of him as the 1st responder to Jesus.
There
are two purposes for this section of scripture: “first, to show John’s witness
to Jesus at the start of Jesus’ ministry; and second to clarify John’s
relationship to Jesus as one of witness rather than rivalry or antagonism.”
In
our first verses, we saw three aspects of the Baptist’s testimony to Jesus:
John
is not the Light; second, John has been sent to bear witness to the Light; and
third, John’s intention is that all might believe through him.
In
the last part of chapter 1 John’s witness bears fruit as several of his own disciples
believe in Jesus and leave to follow Him.
It’s
clear that we are to learn this point from John the Baptist: We need to be
clear on who we are in God’s kingdom so that we can effectively point others to
Jesus for salvation. What we believe and how we act on that is important.
John’s
message is clear, Jesus’ purpose is clear, and God’s Love in Grace is clear.
The
writer A. W. Tozer says it means that “What we want most, What we think about
most, How we use our money, What we do with our time, The company we keep, Whom
and what we admire, and even What we laugh at,” matter.
It
means we must be ready to answer questions and live in such a way that others
can learn “what our line is,” and the example-ship in which we live our lives.
Rabbi
Zusya years ago said, "In the world to come I will not be asked, 'Why were
you not Moses?' I will be asked, 'Why were you not Zusya?'" The problem is
how to be the person we were meant to be.
As
you know, I am always reading, studying, and searching God’s word for wisdom
and understanding. Most of the time I wander and know there is way too much
information to learn and discover in God’s word.
You
know that I consider us living in those days closer to Jesus’ return because of
the signs and prophecy around us. I recently have been concentrating on how we
are to be God’s people in a highly volatile and hostile world.
Learning
in God’s word is an amazing thing – you can read things over and over and never
understand or only partially discern. But then the Holy Spirit zings you.
Let
me read you a passage from the Book of Revelation, chapter 14, verses 6-7.
“And I saw another angel fly in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying
with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment
is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters.”
God is telling us three things: We need to first, fear God, second, to glorify His name, and third, to lift high Jesus as the creator of Heaven and earth!
Everything we do as God’s people and His church must be searched and the question asked: Will this glorify God? Does this demonstrate that we fear and honor God? Does this worship God as Jesus as the creator of our world? Does this testify to the world what we believe?
John
the Baptist gives us an example that should show us the way and God shows us
the rest of the way. Amen
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