"Have you found Jesus yet?"
Advent 3 - John 1:6-8, 19-28
Here we go again. John the Baptist, in the wilderness,
proclaiming, prepare the way! In the
spirit of John’s call, I should tell you that I have a confession to make. Our daughter Mary Katherine has learned how
to say the word Santa before learning how to say Jesus. I could stand here and make excuses about how
s’s are easier
to pronounce than j’s—which
is true—but the reality is that we have more Santa’s in our house than Jesus’s.
Perhaps as a bit of an
over-correction, our poor preacher’s
kid is going to get a Fisher Price Little People Nativity set for
Christmas. Don’t worry. She is also going to get a
Cinderella Little People set. So in the
coming months I am sure I will have stories about how Cinderella managed to
find her way into the manger and about how Jesus managed to make his way into
Cinderella’s carriage.
All
jokes aside, the sad truth is that it is easier for us to say the word Santa in
our culture today than it is to say Jesus.
In all honesty, there have been a lot of Christians who have done damage
to the word Jesus in recent years so we are just as much to blame as
anyone else. Even still, it saddens me
that many especially in our businesses and schools are restricted to simply
saying, “Season’s Greetings.” One of you told me this week that you would
rather just say nothing at all.
Some
of you may be wondering, “What’s
wrong with saying ‘Season’s
Greetings?’” Well, if you aren’t a Christian, then I suppose there is
nothing wrong with saying it. However,
if we, who proclaim ourselves as followers of Christ, use this greeting then I
believe we are only doing ourselves, the church, and the other person a
disservice.
I learned this truth
during my time on the Interfaith Council at the University of
Alabama. I found that our dialogue was
much richer if we proclaimed the faith we believe as opposed to reducing our
faith to almost nothing at all as a means to find some common ground.
As a member of the council, I learned that it wasn’t
my job to convert people to Christ; it wasn’t my job to convince people that Jesus is the only way to the
Father—that is the Holy Spirit’s
work. Instead, I was charged to proclaim
my faith and point to Jesus. Like John
the Baptist, I learned that I was supposed to testify to the light.
I also learned that it
was my responsibility to listen especially to those of other faiths. It was my responsibility to listen and point
to how Jesus was present in the faith of all people and all religions. It was my job to remember that Jesus is not
bound to a certain religion. Jesus is
bigger than religion. Jesus is the
incarnation of God. Jesus is all in all.
I admit that we have a
delicate line to walk. I know that Jesus
is a loaded word especially to those who have been harmed or disillusioned by
the church. I believe much of this harm
has been done those who try to be too much like Jesus, by those who act better
than everyone else because they are “Christians.”
For example, do you
remember those “What would Jesus do bracelets?”? I believe these bracelets are a product of a
Christian culture that preaches the law without grace, a product that teaches
us that you need to live up to “this” standard in order to be beloved of God, a
product of a teaching that says only if you do what Jesus did then you will be
saved. That is not the gospel.
The message of the
gospel says, “have faith, you have been saved through the blood of Christ, now
stop worrying about you salvation and live life without fear or shame.” Jesus has our salvation covered by what he
did alone, not by what we do. If we can
accept our salvation by grace alone, then we are free to live a sanctified
life, free us to live a life where we can testify to the light without shame or
fear. We can stop worrying about what
everyone else thinks and like John the Baptist turn our attention to the only
one who can make everything right in this world—Jesus Christ.
When you look at today’s gospel lesson, I want you to
notice John the Baptist’s
proclamation of the light. The first
thing John says is, “I am not the Messiah.”
This might seem like an obvious statement and even uncalled for. However, John is making a pretty bold
statement. First and foremost, as
followers of Christ, we are called to confess that we are not Christ, we are
not the Savior, we are not God.
In other words, John is
saying that he is not responsible for making Christ present in our world
through his own actions. Instead, John
says he is responsible for pointing to the Christ that is already present in
our world. John is responsible for
pointing to how Jesus is acting in our world right now.
You may have seen
bumper stickers around town that say, “Keep Christ in Christmas.” While
I believe this is a noble thing to do, I believe the message is falling on deaf
ears. Unfortunately, the only people who
are listening to this kind of message already believe Christ is present in
Christmas. Instead, I want to challenge
you to approach this issue in another way, in the same way I was challenged by
an article I read this week called, “The heresy of keeping Christ in Christmas.”
The article is based on
dialogue between a group called Freedom from Religion Foundation and the city
of Piedmont, Wisconsin. The Freedom from
Religious Foundation called for the city to stop saying prayers over the
intercom at football games. In response,
the city hosted a “Keep the Christ in Christmas” Parade.
This kind of reaction
from Christians only causes the chasm between the churched and unchurched to
grow larger. We are not doing ourselves
any favors when we react to an attack on the gospel. Instead, we are called, like John the
Baptist, to remain faithful and point to Jesus in the wilderness, even when all
signs say that our Messiah shouldn’t
be there. We are called to remain
faithful and point to how Jesus is still present in our midst despite the best
attempts to silence him.
Yes, you heard me
correctly. Our first job as Christians
is to be a witness to Jesus Christ, a witness to the light. We are called to be evangelists. And I have good news. Evangelism has nothing to do with telling
others what to believe. Evangelism is
not about guilt tripping people into going to church. It isn’t even about reading the correct translation of the Bible.
Let me be clear. It is not our job to convince people that St.
Paul’s is the best church in
Selma. It is not our job to save our
church that we love so dearly. First and
foremost, we are called to show people Jesus.
So the question for you this morning asks, “Where is Jesus in your life?” Where do you go to see the light? Where in this world is do you find hope?
If
you can answer any of these questions, then I have news for you, God wants you
to be an evangelist. I know that sounds
scary but think about it like this.
Evangelism is kind of like show-and-tell at school. Do you remember show-and-tell as a
child? Do you remember how excited you
were about “your day”? If you can
remember, then you already know what evangelism is all about. Fundamentally, evangelism is about delighting
in the good news of Jesus Christ.
If you see Jesus at the food pantry, tell
others about your experience at the food pantry. If they seem interested, then invite them
down to the food pantry the next time you go.
If you find Jesus in your Bible study group and someone sounds
interested, then invite them to join you.
If you see the light of the gospel through art or music, then invite a
friend who is hungry for that light to look at art or play music with you. Maybe they will ask you where you see
Jesus. If you find Jesus here in the
pews at St. Paul’s, then you know what to do.
I hope this is starting
to make sense…If you can think of a place in this world, where you see light
and hope, then Jesus is already there making the whole creation new.
I want to end by
remembering one of my favorite exchanges in my favorite movie. In Forrest Gump, Lt. Dan and Forrest
are reflecting on life when Lt. Dan asks Forrest, “Have you found Jesus yet?” Looking a bit confused, Forrest responds, “I
didn’t know I was supposed to
be looking for him.
Yes, Forrest we are
supposed to be looking for Jesus. During
this Advent season, we are called to look for Jesus. As the sign that is posted on the Stellar
Cellar door says, “If you seek the Christ together, we will find him.” And when we find him, we can proclaim, “Jesus Christ
is here!”
During these last few
weeks in Advent, I pray that God give you the wisdom to look for Jesus in a
world that too often tries to silence him.
Instead of complaining about how Santa has taken Christ out of Christmas,
have the patience to find Jesus in the hoopla of the season and look for an
opportunity to show others.
Ultimately, Jesus
Christ is waiting on us. He is waiting
to be found at the food pantry. He is
waiting to be found in the beauty and wonder of creation. He is waiting to be found right here in our
pews. Jesus is waiting and he wants us
to find him together so that all may know the healing power of God’s love. Amen.
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