John 1:29-41 Epiphany January 16, 2005 The Rev. Diane Livingston, Deacon Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississippi In the scripture from the Gospel of John today let us focus on two of the main characters in the narrative and dialog. First, John the Baptist: the Fourth Gospel does not talk ABOUT John's witness but allows the reader to hear John's witness for themselves; the passage consists almost entirely of direct discourse. The more I have thought about John this week the more I am in awe of him: he boldly announces the truth to any who will hear. His role is to point the way, to say to those who will hear him that Jesus is the Son of God. And John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." Two of John's disciples standing with him heard John say this, and they followed Jesus. John has been telling his disciples about Jesus and so this is not new information to them. What is significant is that the two disciples follow Jesus as a direct result of John's witness. They gave up a previous religious commitment as disciples of John. After this testimony, John simply disappears from the scene. He has performed his function in the story and therefore the story is finished with him. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist disappears from the narrative with no mention of his death. Any one with as much pizaaz would probably not so easily glide from the story but John did. He knew what his role was and he did it and now it was time for another part of the story - a part that he would not participate in. I had to wonder who were the John the Baptists to me in my life. Who were or are they in your life? Who spoke the truth and gave straight answers and whose words directly impacted on what I decided to do with my life - the small decisions and the big decisions? Certainly we probably all think of parents, grandparents, teachers at school and at church, godparents. Even those who have gone on before us may be our John the Baptists. Consider the vows we all heard at last week's baptism: Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your savior? Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love? Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord? Think about it: some of us could have the role of John the Baptist with those around us. Would we have the courage and the fortitude to be John the Baptist to someone else? Would our witness that Jesus is Jesus possibly affect someone else's life and result in their choice of vocation and how they live their lives? Will we be spiritually grounded to be able to hear and then to believe and act on what our John the Baptist declares to us? Will we be pointed the way we are to go? Go deep within yourself and recall YOUR story and remember who spoke to you of these things and marvel that indeed you must have heard them or you wouldn't be recalling certain individuals now. Tell your story to someone else. There is a richness there that must not be lost. Our second character to consider is Jesus: What did he say? The Gospel tells us that "When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, What are you looking for?" This indeed is one of the central questions of this Gospel: What do people seek when they follow Jesus? What are you seeking when you follow Jesus? How would you answer that question? Let's back up for a moment - not fair to ask you questions without revealing what I would answer. One of my John the Baptists were my youth group leaders when I was in 7th grade: they were in their first year out of college, one a teacher and the other a social worker. At Christmas they led us in a project of adopting a family whom the social worker had access to in her job. Plans were made as we shopped for things the large family needed and wanted. Finally the Sunday evening came when we would take everything to their home including a Christmas tree which we stayed and helped them decorate. I can still see in my mind's eye the house that we all crowded into and how though awkward at first as we became involved in their lives that evening, soon there were some who played with some of the children and some youth who helped unload lots of gifts with the Father in the family somewhere outside where they could be brought out as a surprise on Christmas morning. One baby had a hurt back or leg and I remember there was a type of brace that he had to wear. The sounds, the smells, the emotions have all stayed with me a very long time now. Maybe my John the Baptist said that there are those who hurt in the world and who have much less than what is needed and you are among those who have much to give. The truth declared to me struck a deep chord that has stayed with me my whole life and guides me in the areas that I seek to put my energy and resources. My mother Joy was also a "John the Baptist" for me though her declarations of truth were more often by actions rather than by words. The ways that she modeled giving not only to her family but also to a great variety of others will come into my memory at times - often unexpectedly with a flashback of something that I really didn't focus on or even notice when it happened but suddenly in those moments when I "see" it again I can hear the truth her actions spoke. Though she died eight years ago, she is present to me in new ways since her death. Barbara Crafton expressed it well when she wrote: "The dead add to us, it seems, and we summon power from then that seem to come to us through our own souls, conduits of the divine love and power. So they (those who have gone before us) love us still. They are with us still. They are better than they were. And through their love, changed and ongoing, so are we." Second question: What am I looking for when I follow Jesus? I believe that I am looking for how I am to discover my gifts and then have some understanding of how to offer to the world what it is that I have been created to do, to share, to become. As Parker Palmer puts it: our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do grow into our authentic self, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks - we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. True vocation or calling joins self and service, as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as "the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need." REPEAT THIS. In our story today, how do the disciples respond? They ask Jesus where he is staying. Jesus does not answer the disciples' question directly, but issues an invitation that will allow them to find the answer for themselves. Jesus says to them, "Come and see." It is a call to a personal following. I believe that Jesus offers that same call to us over and over. "Come and see. Come and see." Thinking of last week's baptisms and the baptisms before that in November and the ones before that and the ones before that and back and back through time basically put all of us in a position of asking what we are seeking when we follow Jesus. Whether we are asked the question as a person being baptized or the ones who answer from the body of faith, we realize that we all are on this journey of following, of seeking. Our spiritual life is our full-time vocation. We start as children and there is within us each a story that begs to be told, to be shared. We may hear it in our dreams; we may hear the adults around us say it. Something within us says that we know who we are and we know that we are blessed. We each struggle with how we are to live that blessing out. Ponder a new these characters in today's Gospel. Is God calling you to be a John the Baptist to others; will your witness declare the truth to others and point them to Jesus? And, are YOU open to hearing and seeing your John the Baptists so that you won't miss the way to Jesus? When you are pointed toward Jesus and He says, "Come and see" will you go forward with courage and openness? And, if you do, be prepared to find within yourself ideas, insights, gifts, passions, that Jesus will lead you to share with others - for indeed that is why we were created as God's children within the great diverse family that the world is. If we "come and see," life will not necessarily be easy and without problems, but it will be blessed and we will discover where our deepest gladness meets the world's deepest needs.