It was a dark and stormy night, and into the world comes the
light, the light that will not, cannot, be put out. John’s gospel is all about
this light. In Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible, The Message, it is
the Life-Light that is the real thing. Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus
is God in the flesh. The light shines in the darkness. The Word becomes flesh.
These are all ways the gospel writer John shows us who Jesus is, and what that
means to us, the followers of Jesus. The gospel writer John, through the
baptizer John, points us to Jesus, the light, God in the flesh.
John, the gospel writer, points us to Jesus, the light, God
in the flesh, not as a nice idea, but as the real thing. John, the gospel writer,
points us to John who is not a Baptist, but a witness, who gives testimony to
the coming of the Word in the world. John is not I AM, and John points us to
who is I AM.
We really live in Advent time most of the time. Advent is a
time in between. It is liminal. It is waiting, and preparing, and anticipating.
Most of our lives are spent waiting for the next thing, waiting in excitement
or waiting in dread. Our son says that’s what the military is all about, hurry
up and wait. We look back at our lives sometimes with regret for mistakes made
and perfection not achieved. Often we look back with joy in memories of those
we have loved and who have loved us. We look forward with longing to what we
wish may be. And Advent calls us to presence. Advent calls us to live in this
liminal time with purpose, with intention. In this Advent time, we wait, but in
our waiting we don’t do nothing. Advent is being fully present to what it is
God births in us. In Advent we pay attention to the now of not knowing, instead
of the nostalgia of what was, and the wish of what may be. And at the very same
time, we are enveloped by the stories that have informed us our whole lives,
the stories that call us to justice, mercy, and love. The stories that teach us
who we are.
Today we find ourselves at this third Sunday of Advent, with
John who points us to Jesus, the Light of the world, God in the flesh,
continuing in our wait, our preparation, our anticipation. What is it that John
who does not baptize Jesus, point us to? What does John the gospel writer want
to show us?
Behold, here is the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world. Jesus makes the invitation to those following him, come and see. And
right away, John points us to Jesus’ mother. In John, we meet her at a wedding
in Cana of Galilee. We don’t meet her with the angel Gabriel announcing to her,
her natal state. We don’t meet her with her sister Elizabeth, and we don’t meet
her in the manger. There is no nativity in this gospel. We meet her with the
words, “do whatever he tells you.” And the jugs of water become wine.
What John calls us to is to bear witness to the light that
is Jesus, the lamb of God, Jesus the I AM, Jesus, the one who turns water into
wine. We are to bear witness to the light that peeps through the cracks, the
light that shines in dark places, the light that illumines those who are poor
and those who are rich. John, the one who baptizes, bears witness to Jesus who
is God in the flesh. We must bear witness also.
We understand what that means by reading Isaiah. God has
sent us to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the
year of the Lord's favor; to comfort all who mourn. We understand
what that means by reading Thessalonians. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
for you.
Today, in this in between time, the time between Jesus’
resurrection and coming again, the time between what was and will be, the time
of presence and intention, how do we bear witness?
We bear witness by showing up with Jesus’ light in all sorts
of places. We show up, we bring communion, we bear love and we bear witness to the
peace, the justice that can be. In the midst of brokenness, in the midst of the
disarray and disappointment, we carry the love that can pick up the pieces and
put them back together again.
In the midst of mistreatment, we stand up and speak out for dignity.
When words of hate and derision are slung like manure, we stand up and speak
out for belovedness. When power oppresses, we share what power we have. I came
across something this week that Toni Morrison, who is an author and teacher,
said to her students, “When you get these jobs that you have been so
brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are
free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is
to empower somebody else.”
I think this is what bearing witness looks like. If you have
been broken, and if we really tell the truth, all of us have been broken, your
job is to help another pick up their pieces. If you have been mistreated, if
you have been bullied, you empower those around you who have been mistreated.
Sometimes that is the bully, Raanen Mogenson taught me that. Bearing witness is
standing up and standing for dignity, the dignity that is in our very bones and
sinews, the dignity of creation.
Bearing witness is seeing, hearing, smelling, the wonders of
this amazing time of Advent. It is helping to name incarnation for those who
are having a hard time seeing, or hearing, or smelling the wonders of new
birth. In this darkest of time, in this time in between, where do you see new
birth? And how are you bearers or midwifes, of that new birth? In this darkest
of time, in this time in between, where do you bear witness to the freedom
found in belovedness? In this darkest of time, in this time in between, how do
you bear witness to the gift of grace and thanksgiving?
Be a Christ bearer, be a light bearer, be a love bearer.
Thanks be to God.
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