20 January 2008 “A Curious
Invitation”
Let us pray: Most Holy and Gracious God ~ May our hearing
of Your Word inspire the way we live … may our living be a constant witness to
Your power and love. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT lesson from
Prophet Isaiah … Call of the Servant AND His response to that call.
·
Words of the Servant …
the one called by God
·
“I was chosen … even
before I was born
o
God gave me the tools I
would need
o
God told me the right
time to act
·
Frustration and
hesitation of the Servant
o
I haven’t always what I
should
o
I don’t feel prepared
for this task
o
I haven’t always focused
on God’s way
o
I’m not good enough
·
YET God continues to
choose me …
o
“I will make you a light to the nations”
o
“Your light will bring salvation to the ends of the
earth
o
Rulers and nations will pay attention to you
IOW: God
knows what lies deep inside this person
God knows what this person is capable of
God calls this Servant to be a LIGHT that will draw others
to God … to be a WITNESS to the awesome power of God and His presence in the
world.
This SERVANT isn’t the only
Biblical character to respond to God like this …
AND most of us can RELATE to their reaction
When asked to serve … what is
our response …
·
The job is too BIG or
IMPORTNT
·
Too VISIBLE
·
I don’t have the RIGHT
QUALIFICATIONS to serve in that position
MAYBE we bargain …
·
I’ll take a LESSER
position
·
I’ll work in the
background … just DON’T make me SPEAK / LEAD / MAKE DECISIONS
·
I ONLY know how to do 1
thing … that’s all I’ll do
MAYBE we turn our backs
completely
YET God has other ideas … God
called a:
·
An elderly couple to
become parents to a nation
·
Stutterer to free the
Israelites
·
A young boy, David, to
be the first King of Israel
·
A teenage girl, Mary, to
give birth to the Son of God
EACH
bearing WITNESS to God’s plan for humanity AND creation …
EACH
bearing WITNESS and THUS bringing the Light of the World into every nation.
SO WHY do we have such great difficulty with concept of being a
WITNESS … many factors affect witnessing
WITNESS … special family
event (birthday, wedding, funeral …)
·
We bear witness every
time we tell AND retell the stories …
·
THAT witness honors how
special that moment IS for the family / extended family
·
WITNESS keeps this
“moment” alive and major milestone for the family
WITNESS … in court … hand on
the Bible …
·
Do you SWEAR to tell the
TRUTH, the WHOLE truth, and NOTHING but the truth
·
Opportunity to state
emphatically what you know to be TRUE … from personal experience / observation
·
CAN BE SCARY … TENSION
between seeking to do the right thing / justice AND fear of causing harm to
another AND fear of retaliation
WITNESS … matter of
perspective
·
I look to MY left … the
choir can’t see my face
·
YET everybody can see my
hands move
·
Bearing witness can
depend on ~
o
Where you are standing /
sitting
o
Other distractions
o
YOUR ability to remember
details
o
How intimately involves
you are
o
IS it IMPORTANT or zone
of indifference
AND, of course, there is
WITNESSING to your FAITH … which is something that DOES NOT COME ESILY to many
faith traditions … (no matter how we feel inside or wish we could be a little more OPEN /
EXPRESSIVE!)
GOSPEL LESSON = FILLED WITH NUMEROUS INSTANCES OF BEING/GIVING A FAITH WITNESS
JOHN ~
standing with his disciples … sees Jesus approaching …
·
THERE HE IS!
·
Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world
o
COLLECTIVE sin of WHOLE
WORLD … NOT just sin of 1 individual
·
That’s the ONE I told
you about …
o
Greater than me
o
Unknown to me at first
UNKNOWN TO ME … I DID NOT KNOW HIM …
·
This may sound odd after
last week’s Gospel
·
CONTEXT: John isn’t saying he doesn’t know who JESUS
is … BUT …
·
he didn’t know WHO THE
MESSIAH would be until the moment of revelation
·
ALSO REMEMBER … each
Gospel written at different time by different authors … each with own unique
perspective AND witness of
Christ’s life FOR the people of EACH DIFFERENT time ..
John’s WITNESS #1 ~
·
I was called to baptize
with water
·
The One on whom Spirit /
dove REMAINS IS THE MESSIAH
·
And THAT IS HIM … HE’S THE ONE …
o
I saw it with my OWN EYES
John’s own personal faith
witness ~ 2 forms
·
God’s call AND revelation TO JOHN …
o
Go and baptize
o
STAY ALERT … WATCH
o
You will know the
Messiah from MY sign
·
THEN John’s bold proclamation TO crowds / disciples …
o
Identifying the ONE that
he was told to watch for
o
Acknowledging the
fulfillment of God’s word TO John
John’s WITNESS #2
·
Next day … same scenario
… sees Jesus
·
THERE HE IS! THE LAMB OF GOD!
o
Different day …
different audience
o
WITNESS now spreads to
more & more people
·
IMPORTANT part of the story:
o
BECAUSE of John’s repeated witness … his 2 disciples
LEAVE John … JOIN the crowd around Jesus … SEEING for themselves this Messiah
BECAUSE of John’s witness … more people have NOW been
directed to seek Jesus.
Jesus’ 1st words
to them: WHAT are you looking for?
·
NOT “Who” …
·
BUT “What” …
o
An object
o
A specific outcome /
activity
o
Something tangible
Men’s reaction …
·
Address Jesus as RABBONI
/ TEACHER
o
Acknowledges that these
men have accepted John’s testimony … THIS IS the MESSIAH that has been promised
by God through our ancestors
·
WHERE are you staying?
o
NOT: Can we join
you? Can we sit and listen to you NOW?
o
BUT: How can we find you
… not just TODAY but tomorrow and after that
o
WHERE will you be so
that we can COME TO YOU AGAIN.
JESUS’ INVITATION: COME! AND SEE!!
·
Observe the physical
location so you can return
·
See ~ be ENLIGHTENED for
yourself
MEN … CAME / STAYED /
REMAINED
·
Words of willingness
·
Words of permanence …
BOTH for the
o
PLACE where they would
connect
o
RELATIONSHIP established
between Jesus and these men
YET ANOTHER INSTANCE OF
WITNESS …
·
Andrew rushes to find
brother … SIMON
·
WITNESS: We
have found the Messiah!!!
·
OFFERS SAME INVITATION
AS JESUS: COME!! AND SEE!!!!!
And SIMON ACCEPTS THE
INVITATION!
·
Jesus identifies his
family connection (son of John)
·
Changes name to CEPHAS /
PETER
In 14 brief verses in John’s
Gospel … we have the MODEL for WITNESSING
·
John’s witness TO the 2
disciples / crowds … IDENTIFYING Jesus from personal experience
·
2 disciples are POINTED
to Jesus
·
the 2 LEARN first-hand
BY REMAINING with Jesus
·
1 of the 2 WITNESS /
SHARE THE EXPERIENCE with his brother
·
brother COMES to Jesus
1 → 2 → 1 NOW BECOMES 3
Today’s Message:
BEING A WITNESS
·
Isaiah ~ BEING a light
to the world
·
Gospel ~ POINTING others
to the Lamb of God
? ? ? ? ~ DO YOU CONSIDER
YOURSELF TO BE A WITNESS FOR GOD?
·
WHAT or WHO do you believe in strongly enough to BE
a WITNESS?
·
How FAR would you GO in
order TO witness?
·
How easy is it for you
to SPEAK OUT?
BEING a WITNESS can be hard …
IT MEANS:
·
Taking a risk of being
LABELED by friends / family members / strangers
·
Sharing what God means
TO us … when sharing isn’t always popular
·
Telling others what a
DIFFERENCE God has made in your life …
·
INVITING others to
COME! EXPERIENCE God first-hand WITH
YOU
It ALSO means seeking NEW
WAYS to share our testimony with others.
NO: I am not going
to give you a long laundry list of specific ways in which we can BEAR our own
WITNESS to the LIGHT OF THE WORLD … Instead, I am going to ask you 2 simple
questions AND tell you 3 simple stories:
2 QUESTIONS
1)
What ARE methods of
WITNESSING? What we:
·
SAY
·
DO / our ACTIONS /
extravagant welcome
·
SHARE / WRITE
·
OFFER … financially / personally / spiritually
2)
WHAT is the MOST
POWERFUL witness you have EXPERIENCED LATELY?
For me …
·
Bailey @ Children’s Chat
… WE CAN SHARE!
·
Jeremy … WROTE an
awesome poem and READ it to
family members / friends at his brother Ryan’s funeral yesterday
·
Our youth planning their
2nd Mission Trip to help the people of a small W. VA town
·
Our youth serving on
PSEC committees … youth leading / encouraging other youth through worship and
fellowship
·
Countless volunteers who
share their time AND expertise with others ~
o
Educating youth / adults
o
Saving our planet /
environment / people
3 STORIES of PERSONAL WITNESS and TESTIMONY
1)
God at work in 1 life … willing to wait … always encouraging … MY CALL INTO MINISTRY began when I was 7 … put on
hold during my adult years and my times away from the church … renewed through
learning to “live again” with degenerative arthritis / connection with UCC
2)
God at work in communities large and small:
St. Paul’s United Church of Christ …
rich legacy and tradition of faith-filled connection with the local community
and the world … THROUGH sharing / outreach / mission / mission trips … NOT
AFRAID to roll up our sleeves AND get dirty … NOT AFRAID to BE THERE for others
3)
God at work in THIS family of faith: St. Paul’s United Church of Christ TODAY … …
excitement of accomplishing something we NEVER did before (GOT VISION!!) …
healthy sense of CURIOSITY about our future … more smiles … adding another
table / full tables for CCC … renewed sense of energy AND purpose (rather like
a gently-humming engine … READY to move forward … JUST POINT US IN THE RIGHT
DIRECTION!
TO BE A WITNESS
is to express our HONEST and HEART-FELT THANKS TO GOD …
·
for God’s blessings AND grace
·
for the opportunities that are ours for God’s
action / presence in our lives
WE WITNESS to others to let others KNOW that our God is an awesome God AND to acknowledge that WITHOUT God in our
lives, we are NOWHERE and NOTHING
WHAT BETTER WITNESS can we give to others than to
simply say: COME! AND SEE! Amen.