Come and See the Lamb of God

January 15, 2022 2 Epiphany The Rev. Mark Pendleton Christ Church, Exeter Come and See the Lamb of God John 1:29-42 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! 30This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God." 35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed). 42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter). What I try do in every sermon I offer is to ask these basic questions: What is God saying to us in the readings we have just heard? Is there a theme or insight that can inform, deepen, and feed our faith? Might there be something we have never thought about before that surprises us today -- to look at the familiar in a new way? Do the readings help us know more about who God is, how God works, and why Jesus, for Christians, is the way, the truth, and the life. In a nutshell: what is God up to in and through these ancient texts that come alive when we read them in community. Today I am taken by two phrases: the "Lamb of God" and "come and see." My sermon last Sunday looked at the addition and multiplication at the heart of Jesus' ministry when he lived, taught and healed. Multiplying justice, opening eyes, and changing and transforming lives of people beyond the immediate family, tribe, and nation. This is the central message of the Epiphany season. Jesus was the one God spoke of in Isaiah 49: "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." If I haven't already worn out the math metaphor, today's gospel reading starts out by reminding us of how subtraction re-enters the equation of how God works through Christ. John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Whatever weight or burden or stain was keeping a wide distance between God and humanity was erased - taken away - by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We may be familiar with some of descriptive names attached to Jesus in the gospels - they seem endless: Savior, Redeemer, Bread of Life, Lord, Son of the Living God, Only Begotten Son, King of King, Alpha and Omega, Immanuel, Teacher, Prophet, Prince of Peace, Good Shepherd, True Vine, Son of Man, and Christ. And today we hear another name, offered by John the Baptist. Lamb of God. This name hides in plain view when we sing or say the Gloria, the ancient hymn of praise: Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us. Why Lamb of God and not another animal: lion, tiger, or bear? Lambs were about sacrifice in Jesus' day and centuries before him. Lambs were sacrificed at Passover and on other days on the altars of Israel. And this is the connection that Christians make: that when Jesus died on the cross - the prime symbol of Christianity (literally hanging over our heads) he was like a lamb being sacrificed. But his would be the last sacrifice of the kind. No more lambs would have to slaughtered and offered up, because he offered up - sacrificed - his life. There is much to unpack and yes, we can get lost along the way. If I did a word search of my years of preaching, my hunch is that words like compassion, welcome, forgiveness, love, hospitality, justice, would add up to much higher count than sacrifice. In the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament, the word sacrifice means gift or tribute. A sacrifice was a gift to God. If one lived a few thousand years ago, what would you give to honor God? Talk about the challenge of shopping for someone who has everything! Animals were valued above all else: cattle, sheep, goats, and pigeons. Some were sacrificed and burnt whole, sometimes peace offerings were made so the people could eat the meat - the best parts for the priests thank you very much. A sin offering was offered to cleanse the space of impurity. Before I lose too many of you in Temple rituals - or I may have already - the point of these offerings was to give back to God a portion of what God had already given, and as a way to bridge the distance and divide between God and humanity that went all the way back to the Garden of Eden when paradise was lost. When we read the Bible, we are hearing and learning about the eternal story of how God is a God of relationships - always trying to come closer and be present in our minds and hearts. I heard a story once of a mother who became over tired by her long days and was exasperated by her young child following her around, under her feet, everywhere she went. Kitchen, living room, even the bathroom. Lacking sleep and overwhelmed, the mother finally looked down and said: "what do you want?!" The child looked up and said: "to be next to you mom" - which is when the mother collapsed in a pile of tears and sat for a child and held her child. Our psalm for today: "I waited patiently upon the Lord, he stooped to me and heard my cry." 40:1 To be next to -- not far away. For Israel to narrow the distance, more and more rituals were offered and at some point, God became impatient with all the sacrifices the people were offering up: all the animals and rituals. In Jeremiah we hear God saying, "your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me." As it turns out, it is our hearts and lives that God desires, not a few more farm animals or buckets of grain. But how about today? What do you think of when you hear the word sacrifice? We might think of the sacrifice people make for a purpose or cause greater than themselves. Those who enlist and serve in our nation's armed forces: living apart from family for long periods of time. Putting their lives in danger to ensure the safety of others. Mother Teresa once said that "a sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves." As we look at the gospels each week and learn about the life of Jesus, what I hope we see is his compassion, his power to heal and make whole, and his inclusion of many on the margins. We might also see the cost of living such a life that centers on the love of God and the love of neighbor. Jesus said: No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15:13. That is sacrifice. If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? Matthew 16:24-26 It is the tried-and-true paradox of our faith that should be familiar to us. To save is to lose. To have power is to serve. To be weak is to be strong. To receive is to give. And the other phase to lift up today: When Jesus says to those asking: "Come and see." There are days when I pick up the phone in my church office and listen to someone who is interested in Christ Church, maybe has a baby to baptize or is new to the area. Before I describe to them what I think most defines this worshipping community, what I often say is what Jesus said: "come and see." Check us out. If you visit once, come another time because first impressions can be tricky. Jesus is saying to those listening: if you want to learn and become more, come this way. Follow me. What will people see is they come our way here at Christ Church? What I hope they see is we are a people on a journey. Not knowing all the answers but still thinking through the big questions of life. We hold a space where one can still doubt and believe. Where even if you haven't yet been baptized, you are welcome to the altar to receive Holy Communion because this is the place where God welcomes and feeds all of us. Where, by in large, we try to leave the judging to God. Where we don't have to check our minds and reason at the door when we are talking about the big ethical issues of the day. Where we can slowly but steadily learn one another's names and faces and share our hopes and lives with one another. What is God up to in this gospel reading for today? That was the question I asked. For me, it is about how our lives are changed when we discover that believing in God can take away hold us back and keeps us down. Call it sin -- whatever makes us stumble. I once heard that "if you feel far from God, guess who moved?" The one that John called the Lamb of God erased the distance once and for all. the next move is ours. 2