Sermon: John 1:6-8, 19-28  (Advent 3B)

Christ Church Riverdale, 11 December 2005

The Rev. Robert C. Lamborn, Rector

^NRS John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ¹⁹ This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" ²⁰ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." ²¹ And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." ²² Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" ²³ He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said. ²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" ²⁶ John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷ the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." ²⁸ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

 “No, no, no.”  It seems like John the Baptist has a lot more to say about who he isn’t than about who he is.  “I’m not the Messiah.”  “Elijah?”  “I am not.”  “The Prophet?”  “No.”  All of this after the narrator tells us John himself was not the light, and for good measure we hear from John that he’s not even good enough to untie Jesus’ shoes.  We hear a lot about who John the Baptizer isn’t before hearing about the voice crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”  John is what on a basketball team is known as a role-player.  Not the star, but someone who performs a function that is limited, but vital to the success of the overall effort.

Indeed John the Baptizer was not the light, but the narrator goes on, “He came to testify to the light,” to bear witness to Christ.  Sometimes it’s necessary to say, “no”in order to say “yes” to something else, to something more important.  Saying “no” to as much time on the computer or watching TV can open the way to say “yes” more fully to our loved ones.  Saying “no” to maximum financial gain may be part of saying “yes” to deeper spiritual or emotional health.

Saying “no” to unreasonable expectations of perfection, whether for the holidays or life in general, may be what we need to do to make ourselves ready to say “yes” to the coming Christ Child.

Making decisions about what’s most important--discerning God’s call--is not just a matter for individuals but equally as much for churches.  My sermon today will be briefer than usual because at the end of the service you will be asked to fill out a survey provided by the Diocese of New York.  The survey is part of an initiative to grow in ministry which we were one of 15 parishes invited to participate in.  The survey is a snapshot of who we are, and to some extent who we feel called to be.  The mission of the church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ–that’s not at issue here.  But that mission gets lived out in different ways in specific situations.  So instruments like this survey help us say “yes” to God, and “no” to other things, according to the particular giftedness of this parish.  Bearing witness to Christ--pointing to the light–is the greatest of privileges–putting our God-given talents to their highest use in the praise and service of their Maker.