We Interrupt this Program John 1:29-42

One night when it was stormy and good to be home from work, having sat down to watch my favorite T.V. show in the comfort of my recliner, and beginning to relax, involved in the show’s plot, just as the mystery was about to be solved, a klaxon horn blared into the soundtrack of the show and a weather map with color coded symbols appeared. The crawler at the bottom of the screen and an over-recorded voice said, “We interrupt this program with a weather advisory. The National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin shows severe thunderstorms capable of producing hail, heavy rain and strong winds south of a line running from LaCrosse to Appleton. This advisory covers MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK counties between 7:45 and 10pm. If you are in this area, take shelter immediately.”  Then after the klaxon blared several more times, it repeated. Finally, we were told, “We now return you to your local program.” But did I get returned to the program? No! Not only did I miss the best part of the show, but it was now in commercial break.
 

From the time that we are little, we are taught that it is not polite to interrupt. We are taught to wait for your turn in the conversation and then say what you have to say. Yet our lives are filled with interruptions. This day, in particular, is an interruption to the rest of our week. God’s sabbath time interrupts our daily routines reminding us of God’s plan, including intentional rest and retreat from the cares of our daily living. In the midst of interruptions, I welcome you to the second Sunday in Epiphany.

In the midst of our local programming, the Gospel of Matthew, we hear from the Gospel of John, filled with different, sometimes conflicting accounts of Jesus. This is not coincidental; it happens this day every year. Each year we read a different passage, but none-the-less, the second Sunday of Epiphany belongs to John. I wish I could tell you why, but I really don’t know.

Last week, in Matthew, we witnessed Jesus being baptized. This is important for us because the book of John reports that Jesus has been baptized, but in John we never witness the actual baptism. In fact, today’s text appears to take place the day after the baptism. This is only one of the many oddities of the book of John. At the other end of this Gospel, we will see the disciples and Jesus gathered for the last supper, but instead of giving the disciples wine and bread, Jesus washes their feet.

We could spend a lot of time comparing the Gospels, but what we mostly need to note is that the purpose of John’s Gospel is different. The other three Gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke—are called the synoptic Gospels (“synoptic”, from Greek syn, with or together, and optikos, for seeing, or eye witness accounts). The Gospel of John is known as the exegetical Gospel (again, from the Greek, ex, out or from, and hegetikos, drawn out). This drawing out from or exegetical writing and reading of John allows us more direct understanding of who Jesus is. It is much more theological and therefore makes statements about Jesus that the other Gospels cannot make.

Today’s text is one of those statements about Jesus. John the Baptist says, “I have been telling you that I am not the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. That person is coming after me. I do not know him, but I have been baptizing people because through baptism I knew I would be able to recognize who the messiah is. And I found him; it is that guy over there. I saw the spirit of God descend from heaven and alight on that one. You see, I was told that the one the spirit alighted on and stayed would be the messiah, so I know that is the messiah. He is the lamb of God, the one who will be the sacrifice for the world, the cosmos, and through him we will all be made right with God. Through him, the sins of our ancestors have been forgiven, and, through him, our sins will be forgiven too. See him, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the son of God.”

There is no kinship between John and Jesus recorded here as in the book of Luke and hinted at in the book of Mark. There is no understanding that John should be baptized by Jesus as in the book of Matthew. In the book of John, the way that John recognizes Jesus is by seeing the spirit of God come down and stay with Jesus. This seeing is not something that is John’s alone. We, the readers and hearers of this story, are invited to see, with John, Jesus who is the messiah, the Christ, the anointed, and, in that seeing, to enter into relationship with Jesus’ disciples and with Jesus himself. We are invited to see and to name Jesus as the one who takes away the sin of the world.

Last week we talked about how important Jesus’ first words were for the Gospel of Matthew. “Let us do so now, for it is proper, in this way, to fulfill all righteousness.” This week we get to hear Jesus’ first words in the book of John. “What are you looking for?” A more literal reading would be, “What are you seeking, or searching, for?”

John’s disciples reply with the question, “Teacher, where are you staying?” They are wondering, “Where are you teaching, what are you teaching, how are you teaching? What is it that you think is so important that is different from what John has been teaching? After all, we have been John’s disciples and have had a good relationship with him. Why should we become your disciples? By John’s testimony we believe that you are the Son of God, but what difference does that make?”

In response to the disciples, Jesus invites them to, “Come and see.” This seeing that Jesus invites them to is theaomai; this Greek word is the root of theater. This is not just a peek in kind of seeing, but an IMAX kind of experience. It is more than just looking; it is a come and have your world rocked, a sensory, amped-up, get involved looking/overwhelming feeling, kind of experience. It is a relationship that will involve all your senses: hearing the word, seeing Jesus’ interactions with others, smelling perfume, tasting wine and eating bread, and putting fingers into the holes in Jesus’ side and hands. We will go to weddings and to homes in the night, we will go to the temple and to the cleansing pools of the city. We will smell the odor of the poor and the diseased, and we will hear the distant sound of Roman authority in fear. Throughout the Gospel of John, we will see “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” reach out to people to establish and create new relationships of healing trust and hope. We will see the master gardener sow seeds of caring and compassion. We will see Christ stand before us as shepherd, gate, vine, and bread. We will witness Christ on the cross challenging our hearts and minds with claims of truth, life, and light.

Indeed, what are you seeking? What do you want to know about this Jesus who stands before you? What difference can he make in your life?

Jesus invites John’s disciples and us to, “Come and see.”

And so, when Andrew sees who Jesus is, he runs to report what he has seen, discovered, found. He goes to his brother Simon to bring him to what he has found: the messiah, the Christ, the anointed One of God. And the divine theater begins. “You are Simon. From now on you will be Cephas, and for the sake of you who don’t know Aramaic, that is Peter in Greek, and for those of you who don’t know either Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, that is rock in English. You are the rock, the living foundation stone on which I will build.”

Jesus began to build with Simon Peter. It is not something that is done and completed; it is an ongoing building project that requires sweat equity, sacrificial living, and the hands of many. Come and see. Look around yourselves right now. For, in the midst of our lives, in the midst of our worship, Christ interrupts our comfort zones and invites us to see ourselves, the Church that has been built and the Church that continues to be built in the evangelizing relationship of the world of need, in the presence of the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Jesus Christ, the son of God, our savior and Lord.

So, with Andrew, who accepted Jesus’ invitation and went to see, we too see Jesus, the Lamb of God, and find the Messiah. We too need to ask ourselves, who do we want to tell of our great find? Who do we want to invite into this relationship we have in the lamb? Who will benefit from our news of what is the Good news for God’s people? Who can we invite with Christ’s words, “Come and see.”

I now return you to your regular local programming already in progress.

Show-and-Tell, Matthew 3:13-17

Today is the first Sunday in Epiphany. The word “Epiphany” comes from two Greek words, epi, which means “on,” or “to,” and phainein, “to show.” The Day of Epiphany was Friday, and the reading for the day is always the story of the wise men honoring Jesus as the king of our lives and giving him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This is the season of God-made-known, expressed in unexpected ways and places that bring hope and new life in defiance of death.

It is what I like to call the ultimate show-and-tell time, well maybe the penultimate or second best show-and-tell next to Easter. It is bigger than Christmas Eve, in a sense, because the shepherds are, after all, just shepherds, and while they tell the Jewish people of all that they had seen and heard, the wise men represent the gentile world coming to honor or worship Jesus as king, or Lord of all.

 In this show-and-tell season, we will also see Jesus being baptized. We will hear him preach to the people on the mountain, and from a mountain we will witness Jesus talking with Elijah and Moses. But before we enter too far into this joyous season, let us take some time to review what has been happening in Matthew’s Gospel. We have read some of the things in worship since Advent began, some things are generally known to us, and maybe some things are not often thought about.

Thus far, in the book of Matthew, we have been presented with the great genealogy of God’s chosen people that begins with Abraham and ends with Joseph. We have heard how Joseph, guided by dreams, chooses to take Mary for his wife because of God’s work through the Holy Spirit. We know the story of the wise men who saw a star appear in the heavens at the time of Jesus’ birth; and after traveling for some time (as much as two years), they ask King Herod about the newborn king (supposing they will find a king among kings). We know also that the wise men, finding Jesus at home in Bethlehem, recognize him as king and give him royal gifts. We know that the wise men, directed by an angel, journeyed home by a different route to avoid King Herod’s wrath. We know of King Herod’s rage and his slaughter of all the children in Bethlehem two years old and under.

In the midst of the comings and goings of these different groups of people, in the midst of political intrigue, in the midst of joys and sorrow, Joseph, led by dreams, moves his family, first to Egypt and then to Nazareth, in Galilee, where Jesus grows up. At the same time, another person is living among God’s people who discerns God’s activity in the currents of time and history. His name is John, and he is actively working to prepare God’s people for receiving and recognizing God’s presence through repentance and cleansing in baptism.

That brings us to today’s gospel. John is proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has drawn near and that God’s people need to rethink their relationship with God. He is baptizing (cleansing, or anointing with water) those who are able to embrace this new way of thinking, those who are committed to changing the way they live in relationship with God, when the cause for that change, Jesus, appears before him. What a show-and-tell moment!

We are not surprised to see a subject of the king submit to the authority of the king. Therefore, we are not surprised that John might think that he should be baptized by Jesus. And, knowing Jesus to be sinless himself, we are puzzled by Jesus presenting himself to be baptized. Why should Jesus need this baptism of repentance? Confused, with John, we wonder in greater scope, not just whether John should be baptized by Jesus but whether the whole world shouldn’t be crowding in to be baptized by Jesus.

Then, with the first words Jesus speaks in this Gospel, Jesus tells John and us something that will direct much of the conversation that we will be having throughout the rest of Matthew’s account of Jesus’ teaching, trial, death, and resurrection life. Jesus’ first words in this gospel are: “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”

This statement seems so mundane. In fact, for all my life I have generally passed over these words thinking that they were divine theo-speak or God-talk for “I know, I know, but this is what is expected of me, so let’s get it over with.”

Indeed, until this year, I have always jumped past them to the big words and drama—the heavens opening, the dove descending, those stentorian words, “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” It seems so natural to go to God’s great endorsement of Jesus. “This is my son.” After that, it’s like “Well, there you have it. God said it; I believe it. What more is there to say? Go home knowing that God has spoken. Thanks be to God.”

But God’s words are only the final stamp of approval. They follow at the end of a long series of revelations. That is why there is a genealogy, Joseph’s acceptance of the angel’s words, the new star that shines in the heavens, the witness of the Wise Men, even the rage of Herod, and the exodus of the Holy Family to Egypt and back again. All of this speaks to Jesus being the one who saves, our Emmanuel, God revealed to us as human among humans.

Although this dramatic event is recalled in all the Gospels, Jesus’ words, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness”, are recorded only in Matthew, and somehow, they get passed over, even ignored. Matthew must think that they are important because it would be so easy to leave them out.

So what does “all righteousness” mean. Back in Advent, we talked about righteousness because Joseph was a righteous man. We talked about righteousness as being living by the law and doing God’s justice. Today we discover that there might even be more. What might it mean to fulfill all righteousness? Elizabeth Achtemeier writes, “’Righteousness,’ throughout the Bible, is the fulfillment of the demands of a relationship.” So, fulfilling all righteousness has something to do with living into the demands and expectations required of the relationship we have with God.

If it is expected that all people should be baptized, then Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us as being, truly human, must also be baptized. But is it necessary? Douglas John Hall, in his book, God and Human Suffering writes, “Though sinless himself, Christ suffers the consequences of sin, i.e., he suffers temptation, alienation, anxiety, and limitation.” As such, Jesus’ baptism models a new relationship for dealing with both the dying to the causes of sin and a sustaining relationship transcending the consequences of sin. This new relationship includes forgiveness, grace, mercy, presence, peace and wholeness, and eternal life.

At Bible camp one year, I was the counselor for a group of boys who ranged from eight to thirteen years old. Many of them were openly challenging the rules of safety established by the camp. I had determined that violators of the law would suffer the punishment of having to clean the bathroom beyond their usual daily cleaning responsibilities. As an incentive, I told them that if they were good, I would clean the bathroom.

Each day, one group or another of my boys managed to get in trouble. By the end of the week all of the boys had had an opportunity to learn the skills of cleaning the bathroom except two eight-year-old boys who were particularly compliant in all things.

The night before we were to go home, these two boys came to me. They looked embarrassed. They had difficulty looking at me. They were shuffling their feet and mumbling a lot. Finally, I asked them if there was a problem? One boy finally looked at me and asked, “How bad do we have to be in order to clean the bathroom tomorrow?” I told them that questioning my judgment about punishments was enough.

The next day, these two boys started cleaning the bathroom. The others came and asked what those two had done to deserve it? When the two boys refused to answer, the older boys began to think that those two had really done something wrong. And then, one by one, the older boys said something like, “Let me help you with that.” Before I knew it, all fourteen boys were in there cleaning, scrubbing and sweeping the bathroom. My two eight-year-olds were grinning from ear-to-ear. Somehow, the demands of the relationship of belonging included cleaning the bathroom, and they had made the grade. That time, fulfilling all righteousness included cleaning the bathroom.

I was proud of my boys that week at camp. They had found a way to value each other without exception. Jesus’ statement claims that fulfilling all righteousness includes baptism and models a new way of living together in relationship with one another. I can’t help but think that God’s endorsement of Jesus’ work at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is no less proud.

In the coming weeks, we will witness Jesus fully entering into our world where he will suffer all of the consequences of sin, but he will also show-and-tell new ways of being in relationship with one another. He will preach new ways of thinking about the law. He will teach new ways of thinking about giving value to all of God’s creation and the people in it. He will model new healing ways of wholeness that will challenge the way we live. In all of this, Jesus will challenge the way we think about death and our eternal relationship with God.

So, let us begin our time of learning the new demand of this new relationship we have with God and one another. Let us stand before the world in this show-and-tell time of Epiphany to claim God’s word revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. “Let us do so now, for it is proper, in this way, to fulfill all righteousness.” And fulfilling all righteousness, let the mercy, redemption, and liberation of God’s rule cover the world as Christ’s baptismal waters have covered us.