Jesus Incognito

Scripture John 1:29-42  (CEB)

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is really greater than me because he existed before me.’ 31 Even I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. 33 Even I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this one is God’s Son.”

35 The next day John was standing again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus walking along he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard what he said, and they followed Jesus.

38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he asked, “What are you looking for?”  They said, “Rabbi (which is translated Teacher), where are you staying?”

39 He replied, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

40 One of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Christ. 42 He led him to Jesus.  Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

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There is so much in this passage.  I really didn’t know where to start.  I had the section I planned to focus on all picked out a month or so ago.  But between the planning and the writing, sometimes stuff happens.   My eye falls on a different portion of the text.  And suddenly, that becomes the focus.  Suddenly little bits and pieces that I have been writing down and hanging on to for maybe months come together with a phrase to make an entirely different message happen than the one I was  expecting to preach.  Such is the case today.   I was planning to focus on how we often don’t recognize the Christ when we see him.  You know, because in this passage John, his own cousin, didn’t recognize Jesus as the Christ until he came to be baptized.   (Hence the title and artwork)

But this morning several things came together.  

Some months back I was listening to an interview with a truck driving country music singer, and the interviewer asked him, “Where are you coming from and what kind of freight are you hauling?”  He asked that question once as literal question for the trucker, and then again as a life question for the person. 

Yesterday I got a message from someone who comes to Worship Replay on Thursdays asking if there was going to be a Bible study anytime soon.  I told her about the Young Adult study.  But I also asked what she was looking for.  

This morning I was reading a book while eating my oatmeal. (Nothing uplifting.  

Urban fantasy.  Don’t judge.)  The main character, Cali, was watching people going into a church and thought, “A higher power to bring one’s troubles to sounded like a great idea but she hadn’t found one that called to her yet. Once a month or so, she wound up at a service of some kind and tried to listen for the call that others talked about. It had yet to arrive but she never failed to enjoy the unity of purpose that resonated through the places of worship.”

And in this passage from John,  “When Jesus turned and saw them following, he asked “What are you looking for?”

What freight are you hauling?   What are you looking for?  What call are you listening for?  Maybe even - Why are you here?

A friend posted on Facebook one day, “Why people are leaving the church?" is a relevant question but the more relevant question for me is "Why people are staying in the church?"  (Rev. Nestor Gerente, UMC Pastor)

Some are here because they’ve been coming here their whole lives.  Their parents came here, and maybe their grandparents, even great-grandparents.  Some are here because a friend invited them.  Some found us through our music.  Some found the website and came out of curiosity.  Some came because they were looking for a place where they would find acceptance, and heard this was that kind of place.  Some came because they liked the preaching they found on our YouTube channel.  All have stayed because they were looking for something and found it here.  Maybe continuity. Maybe healing. Maybe love. Maybe a family. Maybe an opportunity to serve.  Maybe, for some indefinable reason, you just feel like this is the place you are supposed to be.  Why ever you are here, and why ever you stayed - this is the place and the people who have called to you to come and worship.  Come and serve. Come and be our sibling in Christ.  

When Jesus asked John’s two disciples who followed him, “What are you looking for?” they didn’t really answer him.  All they said was, “Where are you staying?”  That’s not an answer to his question.  They may not have been real clear on what they were looking for themselves. They addressed Jesus as Rabbi, and John had said that Jesus was greater than he, so maybe they were just looking for a better teacher.  But they did know that they believed what John had told them about him.   Because Andrew told his brother “We have found the Messiah.” 

Jesus invited John’s two disciples to come with him to see the place where he was staying.  And so they did.  Andrew’s brother Simon came along.  As we know - because we just read this - Jesus immediately changed Simon’s name to Peter.  Little did Simon Peter know that everything about his life was about to change along with his name.     

And that is the message.  That when we come, when we are called, when we show up to serve, everything about our lives will change.   We may not even know why we show up.  Or we may know, but we aren’t totally honest about it - even to ourselves. 

 In 1993, when I started going to church, when I found that little Disciples congregation in Port St Lucie, Florida,  I told the pastor (and myself) I was looking for a church was because my stepson needed it.  I’m pretty sure she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t call me on it.   I went because I was hungry and thirsty, and something about that pastor made me believe I could be fed in that place. I did not expect my life to be turned upside down. I expected that I would continue working as a secretary forever and that church would be a part of my life on Sunday mornings.  Then I started showing up for social events.  I brought food to pot lucks.  A few months later I volunteered to help with Vacation Bible School.  I went to the congregational meeting.  It was short.  They pretty much always are, at least  in every congregation I have been involved with. I had no idea what Jesus was going to call me to do, but in less than a year after I first walked into that church on a Sunday morning, I realized that I had been called to the ordained ministry.  And let me tell you, I did not want to answer this call.  I was quite sure that God had gone completely nuts.  I mean, me?  I do know I will be forever grateful to my pastor, the Rev. Dr. Betsy Steier Goehrig and to her dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren for gently guiding and encouraging me along the way - through college and seminary and right up to now.   

Today, right after worship, we will be asked to look at the slate of officers that the nominating committee presented.  Each of these individuals was asked if they were willing to serve the congregation in a specific way - as Deacon or Elder or Team Leader or Board Officer.   Each of them prayerfully considered the invitation and accepted.  Each of them will spend the next year or two or three, depending on the term for that office, giving of their time and energy beyond just showing up on Sunday mornings.    All of them have answered Christ’s call to work together to serve their siblings. 

Their service will probably not lead to the ordained ministry, but the opportunity to serve God is always life changing.  And mind you, even if you have not been called to serve in this sort of official capacity, if there is some way in which you would like to help, let me know.  Jesus asked, “What are you looking for?” Whatever you would like to do, however you want to serve God and each other, we can make it happen. We are all called as partners in Christ’s service. 

Foolishness!

1 Corinthians 1:10-18   CEB

10 Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and don’t be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and the same purpose. 11 My brothers and sisters, Chloe’s people gave me some information about you, that you’re fighting with each other. 12 What I mean is this: that each one of you says, “I belong to Paul,” “I belong to Apollos,” “I belong to Cephas,” “I belong to Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14 Thank God that I didn’t baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that nobody can say that you were baptized in my name! 16 Oh, I baptized the house of Stephanas too. Otherwise, I don’t know if I baptized anyone else. 17 Christ didn’t send me to baptize but to preach the good news. And Christ didn’t send me to preach the good news with clever words so that Christ’s cross won’t be emptied of its meaning.

18 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.

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At least once a year, Christians are reminded of John 17, Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, and especially for unity among them and all who would believe because of their preaching, in which he says to the Father,  “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. they may be one so that the world may believe”.  Hearts are touched and Christians come together to pray for their unity. Congregations and parishes all over the world visit each other or exchange preachers or arrange special ecumenical celebrations and prayer services. The event that touches off this special experience is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is this week, and which is promoted by both the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches. We had a plan here at First Christian Church for that sort of event this week, but it fell through, as plans sometimes do.  You may have heard the old saying, “Man plans and God laughs.”  Although, honestly, we weren’t thinking of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity when we made those plans. 

Nevertheless, it is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.   We know, because we have read the Bible, that from the very beginning unity was not exactly a hallmark of the Christian movement.   They had barely started out when the Greek and Hebrew believers started arguing about the fair treatment of their widows.  Peter ran into trouble when he baptized the uncircumcised Cornelius and his household!   And here we are only about 20 years after the resurrection, and Paul is having to chastise the churches in Corinth for their disagreements on a number of topics, but especially on unity.  “Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and don’t be divided into rival groups. Instead,” he said,  “be restored with the same mind and the same purpose.”   It seems that some members of those churches were considering themselves followers of the various preachers who had come through the city and arguing about who was best.   Paul comes down on them pretty hard.  “Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14 Thank God that I didn’t baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that nobody can say that you were baptized in my name! 16 Oh, I baptized the house of Stephanas too.”   

Has Christ been divided?  What a question.  Over the millennia since this letter was written, the Church has divided many times.  This does not mean that Christ has been divided.  Only that our theological understandings and practices are different from each other.  Since our founding in the early 1800s the main focus of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is Christian Unity.  We say “Unity is our polar star” - it is supposed to be the goal which helps us determine our direction as a Church.  “However, the history of the Stone-Campbell Movement (that would be us) has been marked by social, cultural and theological tensions internally.  There have been a number of splits since our founding, over things like slavery and whether instrumental music had a place in worship. In the early 20th century the Disciples of Christ and the Churches of Christ became two separate streams of the Restoration tradition. Continuing arguments over led to a further division, with 3,500 congregations withdrawing in the late 1960s and early 1970s to form the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ.”  Since that time we have seen more congregations breaking away for a variety of reasons - most recently because our 2014 General Assembly adopted a resolution titled, “Becoming a People of Grace and Welcome to All.”   You know, All means ALL.  We, here at First Christian Church, claim this and work hard to live it, but not all Disciples congregations feel the same.   However, because Unity is not the same thing as Uniformity, it is perfectly ok for our congregations - and for individual members of our congregations - to have differing thoughts on this matter and many others.    We may all have different theological understandings, but the bottom line for Disciples is our belief that “We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only.”   I am grateful that in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we do not have to have the “right” theology to be baptized, or to become members, or share the Lord’s Supper.  

Paul said to the Church in Corinth that “18 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.”  Perhaps it is foolish of us to continue to work toward and pray for Christian Unity.  Certainly it is in the eyes of the world, especially as we don’t appear to be enjoying much success.  But we believe that is what Jesus wants, what God wants.  He prayed for us, his followers, to be one with him and with God and with each other.  Perhaps it is foolishness on our part to believe that regardless of all of our differences, we can be united in our love for God and for Jesus the Christ, even though our theology and practices may differ.  Perhaps it is foolishness to believe that we can agree to disagree.   But this struggle, this foolish struggle, has been going on since the beginning of the church - the struggle to interpret and understand what Jesus meant when he preached the Good News.  The struggle to somehow form an institution that could remain true to those teachings.  The struggle to be obedient to the commandment to love one another, in whatever way we understand that and to accept that we aren’t all going to agree on what that means.  The struggle to bring God’s justice into the world, when we don’t agree on what that looks like. This struggle to be one Church, even one congregation, united in Christ, even though we disagree on so many things may look foolish to the world.  But for we who believe, this struggle for unity with one another, with Jesus, and with God - as the Church, as a congregation, and as individuals - is the path to a new life, a better life, a life filled with hope and light, and to a world where God’s justice and God’s peace are the rule.

In the coming week, let us pray for Christian Unity - not uniformity - but Unity, so that the message of the cross may reach into every heart and God’s vision for us and for his world come to pass.  

What next?

Scripture  Isaiah 42:1-9   (NRSV) . 

42 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,
    or make it heard in the street;

3 a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
    until he has established justice in the earth;

5 Thus says God, the Lord,
    who created the heavens and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:

6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
    a light to the nations,

7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.

8 I am the Lord, that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to idols.

9 See, the former things have come to pass,
    and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
    I tell you of them.

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Today is the first Sunday after the Epiphany.  The Christmas decorations have been taken down and stored away till next year.  The season that begins on the day of the Epiphany is, for many people, a time of letting go - of the stress and busyness of the holidays.  It’s a time when maybe we feel like we can breathe until the Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday.  It is part of what is called Ordinary time - those times during the church year when nothing major is going on - it is defined more by what it isn’t than what it is. It is not Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter or Pentecost.  Ordinary Time is when we hear stories of Jesus’s daily life and ministry  - the time between his baptism and his crucifixion.   During Ordinary Time the drape at the entrance outside is green, and I wear a green stole - the color of hope and growth.

Ordinary Time sounds . . . ordinary.  Not special.  Same old same old.  But this season, this Season after the Epiphany,  after the Magi arrive to worship the newborn King and after the prophets in the Temple recognize the Messiah in the infant Jesus, this is a time of new things.  Jesus was a new thing come into the world,  and his coming was heralded by a magnificent star, a new thing in the night sky.  And it fulfilled the word of God, who said to the people through the prophet Isaiah, “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.”    

New things abound right now.  It is a New Year.   At First Christian Church we will soon have a new budget and new officers.  We are making changes to the sanctuary so it is more welcoming.  We are going to adopt a cop! Or two.  We went visiting last week!   And we experienced a different sort of worship service.  In a few weeks, the folks from Pella Lutheran will come visit us here.  And then we may start conversations about what it might be like if we became one congregation.  We’ll see.  It’s a new idea, for us.  

New things can be frightening.  It’s change.  People don’t like change very much.  It is much easier to keep doing the same things we’ve always done - at home, at work, at church.  The people of Israel kept doing the same things.   All through the Hebrew Bible we see the people who have just been saved from some terrible thing clean up their acts, get all passionate about their Lord, and do all the right things.  And then the right things become routine.  Worship and giving are no longer a response to God’s love, but just the things that they do because the Law says to do them.  They stopped caring about the welfare of the widow and the orphan and the stranger in their land, and expecting the Temple to take care of them.  That’s what their tithe was for, after all, to care for the poor and to support the Temple.  And God noticed.  And God tried to get their attention.  Sent prophets to shake them out of their complacency.   But the leaders didn’t listen, and the people suffered.   When it got bad, when the nation had drifted too far from the Lord, and bad things happened, the people cried out and said, “Save us, Lord.  And we promise, we will never do that again,” and God always forgave, always sent someone to save them - a general or a great leader.  Until finally, because the people kept repeating the same behavior, God sent a new kind of Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Isaiah.  Not a noble or a great warrior.  But an ordinary man, a teacher and healer, who would care deeply for the injured - the bruised reed and the dimly burning wick.  Who would preach justice for all the people, all the nations.  And whose voice would quietly convince those who heard it, not overwhelm them with noise, and in that way change their hearts, so that they stopped repeating the same behaviors over and over.   So that their souls would be healed, and their passions would be engaged in the right things, for the right reasons.  Not because the Law said to, but because their hearts said to.  Because they loved each other, and all the world, as deeply as God loved them, in response to God’s gift of love.   

Sometimes the loud voices of the world overwhelm us.  They drown out that still, small voice that speaks to our hearts.  We may find it easier to just keep doing what we have always done than to seek new ways to be.  We do all the things we are supposed to do, because that’s what we do, but maybe not because we are still care passionately about those things.  Or maybe we have stopped doing those things that we used to be passionate about, because nothing is changing.  Our efforts may seem to be in vain.  Maybe a new thing, a new idea, a new focus is needed in our lives to re-ignite our passion. 

And so, another new thing.  Clergy women friends have been posting in our groups about what their Star Word is for this year.  Since I had no idea what they were talking about I started reading blogs and articles about Star Words.  They are words written on stars, to remind us of the Star that heralded Jesus’ birth, and everybody gets one - a gift to commemorate the gifts the Magi brought.  And that word, that Star Word,  becomes our individual focus for the year.  There are 150 different words (and stars) so no one will have the same word as anyone else.  Because we are all different, we will all use our word differently.  Some won’t pay much attention at all.  Some will wonder why they got the word they did, and pay close attention to that word in their life.  It is suggested that you hang it up someplace - a mirror or refrigerator - so it stays on your mind.  One woman blogged that her word last year was Restraint, and that she had lost 90 pounds just by focusing on that word, restraining herself from taking that second helping, that larger piece of pie, that handful of cookies.  

The Star Words are gifts.  They will be distributed in offering trays.  As you reach in to the tray to get your Star (no looking - just reach in and take one!) consider that in this instance when the offering tray comes to you, you are not being asked to give.  Rather you are receiving a gift - a reminder that this is the way it is in God’s world - God always gives first, and then we are invited to respond with our gifts and ourselves.

If I could have some deacons to distribute these?   Let us sit in silence while they are being distributed.  When you get your word, contemplate it for a moment.   

[silence until all are distributed and everyone has had a moment to sit with their word.]

May the word you have received bless your life.  Now please stand and join me in singing “This is a Day of New Beginnings”