Orinda Community Church
Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 20, 2008

“God’s Witness”
Kirk R. Thomas, Preaching

TEXT:  John 1:29-42

Last Sunday, Pastor Frank reflected upon the passage from the Gospel of Matthew, which describes the baptism of Jesus by John, known as “the Baptist.”  John, said to be Jesus’ cousin, was a wandering desert prophet who baptized people in the waters of the Jordan River to cleanse them ritually in preparation for an apocalyptic judgment.  In Matthew’s narrative, John recognizes Jesus’ divinity and immediately demurs from baptizing Jesus, exclaiming that Jesus should baptize him instead.  But Jesus persuades John to perform the baptism anyway in order to “fulfill all righteousness,” and while John performs this ritual, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove.
But while Frank reminded us about John’s prophetic call to baptize, our reading today from the Gospel of John gives us another take on the relationship between Jesus and his cousin John.  Instead of describing Jesus’ baptism, this gospel writer presents us with a story about John encountering Jesus the day after his baptism.  John twice identifies Jesus as the “Lamb of God” and testifies that Jesus is the “Son of God.”  The gospel writer’s purpose is clear when he states that, “This is the witness of John.”  But, what does it mean to be a witness?  In our culture a good witness gives truthful, first-hand information or testimony about facts.  But in that culture, a good witness was one with a good reputation—the quality of the witness depended upon the quality of his character.  (And the witness had to be male!)  The root of the word “witness” is the same as the word “martyr;” one who is willing to stake his/her very life upon truth.  True martyrs never think of themselves as such, just as the truly humble deny their humility.
This story of John’s witness demonstrates true humility before God by deferring to the One that was greater.  Speaking to third parties, presumably the Jewish establishment, John acknowledges the divinity of Jesus by calling him “the Lamb of God.”…“who takes away the sin of the world.”  The lamb image can be seen as an end-time symbol of God’s judgment, but also as a sacrificial offering, as Jesus died on Preparation Day when the sacrificial lambs were slaughtered in preparation for the Passover.  Even today many Christians only see the Christ of Revelation and judgment, whereas other Christians focus on the loving mercy of the risen Christ.  John witnessed that Jesus was God’s Word, God’s living wisdom, the continual descent of the indwelling Spirit.  John surmised that he was a part of God’s plan, but he must have realized that Jesus WAS God’s plan!  We can imagine that when John looked into the eyes of Jesus, he knew instantly that Jesus was the Messiah, the Promised One.  John could not help but witness to what he saw.  He understood that his call was as the harbinger of the One who would baptize not with water but with the Holy Spirit.
The second part of the story is the calling forth of the first disciples, beginning with two men, one of whom was the future disciple Andrew.  Presumably these two men were already followers of John, and when they heard their master witness to the identity of Jesus, they followed Jesus instead, calling him “Rabbi” or teacher.  Doesn’t this story sound authentic?  When Jesus notices two men following him he asks, “What do you want?”  And not being sure of the answer themselves, the men asked in return, “Where are you staying?”  Small talk, you know.  “Let’s check this guy out, spend some time with him, and try to figure out what he is about and whether or not we really want to be connected with him.”
Andrew then tells his brother Simon that they (Andrew and the other man) have found the Messiah, and brings Simon to Jesus.  Jesus calls Simon to discipleship by renaming him “Cephas,” which is Aramaic for “rock” and translates into Greek as “Peter.”  We can imagine that when Jesus looked deeply into Peter’s eyes he communicated a powerful message, something like: “Are you ready? – ready for the roller-coaster ride of your life?”  Jesus must have had an amazingly magnetic and powerful presence, because Peter could not help but respond to Jesus’ call to follow him, even though he had no idea what lay ahead.
We tend to think that being “called” is a mysterious urging to accomplish some specific and important task, like being ordained, or being called to some special—and usually full-time and professional—form of service.  So we tend not to think of ourselves as being called because we are ordinary people, doing ordinary things.  Even when those of us who are seeking ordination into ministry are asked about our call, we tend to struggle with our answer because we feel that we should be able to relate a very powerful experience of the presence of God, and be able to tell a better story than we usually have.  Sometimes people do have a very powerful encounter with God, or a powerfully compelling sense of vocation.  But God calls us more like the calling of Andrew and Simon Peter—to “come and see,” and to “follow me,” to experience the presence of Jesus, and of God’s life-giving power.
Before we are called to a specific task, first and foremost we are called into a relationship.  Not only are we called as individuals but we are called as a community, because for Christians a call makes no sense outside of a larger community of faith.  This is why the modern notion of individual spirituality apart from a religious community has no traction in the Christian tradition.  God calls us into a relationship of intimacy, of trust, and of mystery.  We are called to follow Jesus, not knowing where we are going or what we are to do when we get there.  Jesus simply says, “follow me.”  He calls us first to himself—in shared and personal intimacy—showing us what is important to God.  We are called by Jesus to seek him, to know him and to make that relationship central in our lives.  Like Andrew and Peter, we are not called to go somewhere in particular and to do something special.  We are called to go anywhere Jesus might lead us and to discover along the way how we are called to our unique ministry.
The man whom we remember this weekend and whose holiday we celebrate is a good example of both one who witnessed like John and who was called to discipleship like Peter.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. could not have known where Jesus would take him when he first began preaching in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 at the age of 26.  But from then on his trajectory was meteoric.  In 1957 King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  He gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington in August 1963, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.  He led the March to Montgomery for voting rights in 1965.  And in 1966 and 1967, King widened his outreach to the needy and oppressed through the Poor People’s Campaign, and his condemnation of the War in Vietnam.  Just as Jesus became more threatening to the Jerusalem power establishment, the more they plotted against him, so too the closer Dr. King got to Washington, the more dangerous he was perceived by those in power.  King was martyred at a Memphis motel on April 4, 1968.
I remember hearing Dr. King’s voice at a rally I attended in Denver when I was a high school student, and it was amazing—the sound he projected was educated, persuasive, cogent, calm, gentle, and certain of the truth in his words.  He spoke powerful truth, straight from his heart to the goodness of our hearts, a goodness in which he firmly believed.  He never excluded anyone.  Unlike some of our contemporary Christian leaders who revel in demonizing others, when King talked about his faith or mentioned Jesus, he did so in a way that included everybody.  And when he referred to himself, Dr. King spoke of himself as just a man trying to do good with God’s help, and then he invited us all to do likewise.
Just as Jesus spoke to and embraced peasant fishermen, revolutionary zealots, Roman soldiers, foreign women, tax collectors, prostitutes and people possessed by demons, so did Dr. King embrace a wide spectrum of people.  His power was in his expanding vision that included all victims of poverty, violence and injustice.  Dr. King embraced the call from Jesus to live his witness faith fully, each day, no matter where he was led, responding to the challenges God placed before him.  Most of us shy away from controversy and confrontation.  But Martin Luther King confronted southern sheriffs, KKK hate mongers, racist governors, Black radicals, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and even a woman who stabbed him at a book signing.  When he finally overcame even the fear of death, he was freed to be in anyone’s and everyone’s company.  Of course, King was very human—a man who made mistakes and moral indiscretions.  But into this flawed and ordinary human vessel was poured a full measure of God’s loving grace.  Those of us who remember him firsthand can truly witness to God’s power at work in the world.
To witness and to be called into relationship with God are two important and defining tasks of Christian discipleship.  Most of us feel inadequate to these tasks.  We fee we are beginning novices on our faith journey, and like Andrew, we just want to know a little more about what we are getting ourselves into: “Where do you live, Jesus?” we ask as an icebreaker.  Then we realize that being called to stand witness to a compassionate presence surrounding us, and to make courageous commitments that challenge injustice and violence, are central to Christian life.
We don’t know where this call will lead; what opportunities or challenges lay ahead.  But Jesus is calling us, showing us where he lives, offering us a glimpse of our future witness.  In the spirit of humility and hope, we implore God’s help to embrace this call, to follow the non-violent examples of both Jesus and Dr. King in our everyday lives.  “Go out and preach the kingdom and heal folks,” said Jesus.  And that is only the beginning of so much more that God will yet show us to do.
Our sense of call might feel vague and unnerving.  As we sense that something powerful is stirring in our lives, often we begin to look for what we should do.  Instead, we need to just listen and wait, to get to know Jesus and stay close to him for awhile.  We are disciples through our baptism and witnesses by our faith.  But before Jesus gives us jobs to do—some dramatic and some quiet and simple—we need to feel that relationship of obedience to God’s will as Jesus calls us to himself.  For only then can our call become an expression of ministry, and finally a call to life, to joy, and to true and abiding peace.
John was the humble witness, living in deference to God’s will.  Like John, we Christians are called by our baptismal covenant to be humble witnesses to the work of Christ in every time and place.  We are witnesses to the spiritual hunger among a modern people who are alienated from their spiritual roots and lack basic knowledge of their spiritual heritage.  We are witnesses to the need for the loving grace of Jesus in our world.  God is calling us to witness to a new creation.  Through God’s grace and power, we are called, as was John and Andrew and Peter, to be a witness to the saving grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Thanks be to God.  Amen.