12-13-2020 -- "Why Am I Here?"

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b-55; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24;

John 1:6-8, 19-28

CENTERING OUR HEARTS IN THE WORD

“Why Am I Here?”

 When you were a kid, you were probably asked at one time or another what you wanted to be when you grew up. Sometimes we’re asked where we were born or grew up or about how we were raised. Most of us have been asked at one time or another where we were born. But one pastor raises an interesting question, that I suspect few of us have ever been asked or perhaps even considered. “WHY were you born? WHY are you still alive?” and “Where does your life find direction or meaning?”

The reason, the purpose, for which we were born is of far more importance than those other details. This pastor suggests that one reason we were born was “to be an advertisement for the God in whose image we were created. We have a model for this in the person of John the Baptist, and of course, Jesus.

AND, if God has put us here for this time in this place, we need to discover what that purpose is.

Today we’re going to be talking about two men named John who knew, without a shadow of a doubt, why they were put on earth and what they were supposed to do.

WHO IS JOHN AND WHICH JOHN ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

One of those men is John the Baptist, who we talked about last week from the Gospel of Mark — this year’s primary lectionary Gospel source. As a note, Matthew and Luke are the primary sources for the first and second years of the three year cycle through the Bible, and their gospels are fairly similar — here’s what happened: Jesus did this and Jesus did that. Sometimes they told about the same event, but often each chose to tell different stories. — in part because they were writing to different audiences and each had his own focus for that audience.

But there was a fourth Gospel writer, the Apostle John. He was probably closest to Jesus of the 12 disciples, and knew Him better than anyone else. But John is writing much later than the other Gospel writers, and he has had a long time to think about what Jesus said and did and what it all really meant. So His Gospel is different from the other three in many ways.

I’ll point some out as we go along, but some major themes are that the other Gospel writers are more historically-and-factually-oriented: focusing on the humanity of Jesus, including His human ancestry, His outward public ministry — with an emphasis on ethical and practical ideas that Jesus taught -- and that primarily around Galilee and having to do with Jesus and the crowds. On the other hand, John’s Gospel is more spiritually-and-doctrinally-oriented: focusing on His deity, His eternal existence that began in the very beginning with God (which we’ll read about in today’s reading), His more private ministry with His disciples and other individuals --- with an emphasis on the person of Christ, WHO He is — and happening mainly around Jerusalem at various Feasts.

Last week we read about John the Baptist from Mark’s point of view, this week, John’s. These accounts don’t contradict each other — they just give different details. But John has a much wider, broader view of Jesus than any of the other Gospel writers, and so he paints with much wider, broader strokes Christ’s true identity.

For example, John the Baptist saw his own role as the forerunner for the long-promised Messiah. We don’t know how much he knew or understood about the Messiah — what he would be like, what he would do. John the Baptist claimed no glory or honor, but rather saw himself as an humble servant preparing the way for the king that was coming. But he must have had some inklings — surely he was told of his father’s prophecies about the coming Messiah and this son who would become known as John the Baptist. Here are the verses about John, found in Luke 1:76-79 in the Common English Bible:

76 You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go

before the Lord to prepare his way.

77 You will tell his people how to be saved through the forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of our God’s deep compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon us,

79 to give light to those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide us on the path of peace.”

These words were spoken when John the Baptist was born. About 30 years later, he’s out in the wilderness, pointing out the sins of the people, calling for them to repent, and baptizing those who did. And that’s where the Gospel of Mark began with the story of Jesus.

The Gospel of John starts in a very different place and time and offers a different framework for thinking about Jesus and His identity. We’re going to hear how John tells the story — we’re reading a bit more than the lectionary suggests, and it’s fairly long, but I think it paints as good a picture as it gets as to what John, the Gospel writer, thought about Jesus — who He was and is, where He came from, and what His purpose was and is. Let’s listen to John 1:6-28 from the Common English Bible: CHANGE SLIDE

GOSPEL LESSON, JOHN 1:1-34 (CEB)

1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 2 The Word was with God in the beginning. 3 Everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word nothing came into being. What came into being 4 through the Word was life, and the life was the light for all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.

6 A man named John was sent from God 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone believe in the light. 8 He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light. 9 The true light that shines on all people was coming into the world. 10 The light was in the world, and the world came into being through the light, but the world didn’t recognize the light.

11 The light came to his own people, and his own people didn’t welcome him. 12 But those who did welcome him, those who believed in his name, he authorized to become God’s children, 13 born not from blood nor from human desire or passion. 14 The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

15 John testified about him, crying out, “This is the one of whom I said,

‘He who comes after me is greater than me because he existed before me.’ ” 16 From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace; 17 as the Law was given through Moses, so grace and truth came into being

through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has ever seen God. God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made God known. --

19 This is John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 John confessed (he didn’t but confessed), “I’m not the Christ.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” John said, “I’m not.” “Are you the prophet?” John answered, “No.”

22 They asked, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied, “I am a voice crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make the Lord’s path straight,’ just as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 Those sent by the Pharisees 25 asked, “Why do you baptize if you aren’t the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered, “I baptize with water. Someone greater stands among you, whom you don’t recognize. 27 He comes after me but I’m not to untie his sandal straps.”

28 This encounter took place across the Jordan in Bethany where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is really than me because he existed before me.’ 31 Even I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel.”

32 John testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. 33 Even I didn’t recognize him but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me,

‘The one on whom you the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. 34 I have seen and testified that this one is God’s Son.”

WHO IS JESUS?

Wow! What a Scripture! So simple — and so complex. All the other Gospels clearly indicate that Jesus is FROM God, SENT by God — but John is recognizing that Jesus IS God. Not only that, but God has sent both John the Baptist and God’s own Son, Jesus Himself, to earth for a purpose.

After all these hundreds of years, with no prophets and no word from God, suddenly God is speaking again, and He is speaking through John the Baptist and a dove has rested on Jesus as a confirmation of who He is — God’s Son, God becoming flesh and blood to live among men and like men, and to die for the sins of men and become the sacrificial Lamb of God. A lamb was sacrificed daily in the Temple for the sins of the people, and once a year a lamb was sent into the wilderness to carry with it the sins of the people. Jesus came to be the sacrificial lamb prophesied so much in the Hebrew prophets and writings. So much symbolism here, and yet there is truth as well. God sent Jesus to bring the good news to all people that God loves them and wants to be reconciled with them, despite their sins. THAT’S why Jesus came, what His purpose was.

WHO IS JOHN?

We’ve been talking about John the Baptist for a couple of weeks, so don’t need to spend a lot of time on him today. But we at least need to recognize that John the Baptist had been called to the world for a particular time and a particular purpose, and now was the time. The Jews have been waiting many years for the coming of the Messiah, and now on the signs are coming together that it is about to happen. John the Baptist is there, doing what he was sent to do: be a prophet, sent by God, to prepare the way for the Messiah, the Christ, which is what the word Messiah means. He’s getting the people fired up — for the first time in centuries — about God, and what God is about to do, and recognizing their own sin. John was calling people to repent and prepare for he coming reign of God.

And the timing was perfect. The people of Israel were chafing under Roman rule, and they knew their king was nothing more than a puppet for Rome. The people were ready for reform, and expectations were high that the Messiah would soon appear and make things right — He’d overthrow the Romans and bring Israel back to its former glory. That’s what they were expecting from their Messiah.

And then John the Baptist shows up with his message of judgment and repentance, and that resonated with people anxious for relief, especially when he announced that thee reign of God had drawn near and t hat God was ready to reveal the Messiah to the world — but the world knew it not.

It’s not surprising that some people thought John was maybe the Messiah, and there were cults that declared that he was the Messiah. And the world still doesn’t know the Messiah — what He is all about and the Father He represents.Not most of the world. Not even most of the United States or most of Texas. Because if the world really knew the Messiah, it would be a different world than it is right now.

CONNECTING TO THE WORD

Indeed, the entry of Jesus into history is “without doubt the paradigm shift of all time.” One pastor described a paradigm as “a way of looking at reality, of organizing what we think is true into a meaningful pattern. A paradigm shift is when that view of reality falls apart or becomes drastically altered.” Think of it like this — people went to bed one night thinking that the sun revolves around the earth, only to learn that the earth revolves around the sun. Folks go to bed thinking the sun revolves around the earth. That’s a paradigm shift — a whole different way of looking at the world.

John paved the way for a new way of thinking — that” just about everything ever believed about anything has undergone tremendous transformation in the light of Jesus. In fact, Jesus was so different from what anyone was expecting, that even John faltered in his belief. While in prison, John sent messengers to Jesus wanting to know if he really was the one everyone had been waiting for.

So what does all that have to do with us? That’s always the where we wind up each week.

I see several ways we connect today with the Word.

We look closely at our own lives. As one writer put it: “Have we latched onto some other Messiah, holding stubbornly to some other paradigm of spiritual reality? Do we trust in wealth, health, relationships, power or good standing in the community to make our lives rich and full?” Fullness of life is only in Christ Jesus. We miss the mark if we are too attached or committed to other things or ideas. Some of these may be good things, but are they what God wants for us? Or are we following a false reality?

Have we truly repented? John the Baptist taught that repentance was “turning around,” going in the opposite direction, moving TOWARD God, not away from God and the things of God. Are we modeling ourselves on the life of Christ and showing the love of Christ to others? Have we remained true to our baptism as an “outward pledge of commitment and fidelity to God as king? Do we know baptism as the experience that links us to our brothers and sisters in the faith?

I read an interesting quote the other day. The writer said, “Why would someone who watches us in an office, a shop or even a church want to believe what we say we believe? Why would someone who hears us at a party or at a dinner, a parent-teacher meeting or wherever else people express their views, want to follow us on the road to the Lord? These are questions that we should not ignore,” he said. “It is for us to make the Lord attractive to those who hear us, those who watch us and those who are influenced by our lives. It is for us to understand and accept that we are called to be voices in the wilderness and to lead lives that model faith as John did. It is for us to make straight the way of the Lord. The time we have been given to do that is now. That is the ultimate why of our lives.”

We can look at people we’ve heard of and think “I can’t do that. I can’t be like Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandela or Bill Gates or Billy Graham, so why try?

I began by posing questions like “Who am I? What is my purpose and what is my value?” But John the Baptist teaches us a lesson — he know who he is and who is not, and he won’t let others define him. The Gospel of John said “There was a man sent by God.” That’s John the Baptist — a man sent by God, a man who believes God can and will use him and the gifts that God has given him. John simply points to Jesus, no matter what. John went on to die for speaking out against the king’s adultery. Jesus went on to die for our sins. Both were called by God for a purpose. Neither called attention to themselves. Instead, they made people aware of God’s love and their lives were defined by the grace of God.

We can do t Ihat, too. I don’t have to be — I can’t be — John the Baptist. But I can be the best Diane Lee that God created me to be. And you can be the best “fill in the blank with your name” that God created you to be. In the end, what matters is that your words, your actions, your lifestyle “demonstrate the renewing love and forgiving presence of Jesus” to a hurting world.

OUR HEARTS RESPOND TO THE WORD

That’s what you can do this week. Another way to respond is to LIVE OUT THE WORDS we say in the Apostle’s Creed.

AFFIRMATION

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. change slide

GLORIA PATRI

Glory be to the Father, And to the Son, And to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, Is now and ever shall be, World without end. Amen. Amen.

INVITATION

INVITATION HYMN — “JOY TO THE WORLD” TWO VERSES

Another song about Joy – which has come to the world through Christ Jesus, the King who will ultimately rule the world with truth and grace. We’ll sing two verses. change slide Verse

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King!

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,

And heav'n and nature sing.

And heav'n and nature sing.

And heav'n and heav'n and nature sing.

Verse

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ,

While fields and floods,

Rocks hills and plains,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat ,repeat the sounding joy.

BENEDICTION

›FINAL SLIDE