December 14, 2008

John 1:6-8; 19-28

3rd Sunday in Advent

 

“Among you stands one whom you do not know”

 

            John, the writer of this gospel, has a view of God’s creation in which we need to be aware if we are to understand what he is telling us about Jesus. He believed that creation was divided into two arenas – Heaven and the world. The world was a place of darkness and was filled with evil, hate, war, and lies. Heaven was full of light and was where God dwelt. There you find love, truth, beauty, and oneness. God sent Jesus from heaven to bring light into the darkness of the world in order to enable people who believed that Jesus was sent from God could follow his Way and experience heaven as they lived in the arena of the world.  

The writer of John says, “The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth…”  In today’s reading we are told that this is happening through the testimony of John the Baptist who God sent as a witness to testify to the light that was coming.   

So the mucky mucks of the Jewish Temple came out to talk to John asking him “Who are you?” John the Baptist told them mostly who he was not – I’m not the Messiah, not Elijah, and not a prophet. On the positive side he said simply - I am just a voice to prepare you for the big event that follows. One person’s perspective that I read this week said, “He was the smell of coffee that wakes you up in the morning.”

People have to prepare for a big event, don’t they? I went to a few rock concerts in my younger days, and there were always rock bands playing to warm up the audience for the headline group. They usually were not as talented as the headline group, but it was still rock and roll. We prepare for a big football game by tailgating, don’t we? We have baby showers to prepare the new mother for the birth of her child. Well, John the Baptist was the one who prepared people for the coming of God’s light in Jesus. He didn’t tell us anything else but that Jesus was the light. No theology of taking away your sins or that he will tell you how to live. No, just that Jesus is the light and we are to open our eyes to the light.   

And then he tells them a surprise. “Among you stands the one you do not know but to whom I am preparing the way for.”   I can imagine them looking around wondering who the rascal was.  

Yesterday in the Religion section of the Houston Chronicle there was an article on the exhibit at Houston’s Museum of Natural History about the Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story. A lot of very old artifacts of that time 2000 years ago are displayed around the historical story of the time told by the ancient historian, Josephus. It shows that the Jews did not have a monolithic society of common religious beliefs. There were many diverse sub groups; and although the Jews were hoping for a Messiah, the definition of what the Messiah would look like and do varied widely. Some expected a suffering servant of humble origins, but many hoped for a military figure from God who would chase the Romans from their lands. And there were many other hopes all between these two I named. But when people’s hopes were not met, they turned against him and were glad to see him killed.  

We all have hopes to be met. Maybe that is why you came to church this morning. We need God to come and set things right for us and meet our expectations. Preachers in pulpits all over the world today will be looking at people dwelling in poverty, hunger and war crying out for relief. Preachers will be looking at people caught up in this massive economic crisis who are losing their homes, their jobs, and their savings. So many people are in pain and need to be set free.  Never before has it been so obvious how interconnected we all are in the world.  What happens in the derivative markets of the U.S. explodes in the Chinese economy. What happens in hostilities between India and Pakistan greatly affects the security of our nation.  Our world is in darkness and needs the light of God to light our pathways.  

“Among you stands one whom you do not know.”  Jesus is standing around waiting. 

What are you looking for in God’s messenger from the light? We all have our pre-conceived perceptions of what God’s son will do for us. Much of it is doctrine developed over 2000 years that has been passed on to you, but perhaps it got tangled up with cultural and personal biases. Are you going to miss his coming into your life because of your preconceived notions? Will you miss him altogether because you are looking in all the wrong places? I invite you this morning to simply put aside those glasses you are wearing that dictate what you see or don’t see and let God’s light dawn upon you. Let the aroma of God’s presence enter your senses and wake you up to a relationship with Him. That is what God wants of you. The rest is just window dressing. You begin by admitting that you live in darkness and do not have all the answers to your life. Allow God’s light to simply enter your darkness.