2 Epiphany 2014

2 Epiphany 2014

This past Wednesday morning, I had an  interesting conversation with someone about how much both of us like John the Baptist. And while we knew that John was a little crazy, mean wore camel skin and ate honey and locusts—at least you knew where you stood with old John. I mean this was a guy who called people “a brood of vipers.” But then, for whatever you might think about John the Baptist, you have to, at least, respect a guy who can be straight, and doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

Maybe this was one of the reasons he had so many disciples—in fact, we even find that some of his disciples were still around, even in the book of Acts…so, whatever drew people to him, it was sustainable.

However, probably the most important attribute about John the Baptist (far beyond his compelling preaching, and fashion sensibilities) is his ability to know when to get out of the way.

If you remember back to the beginning of John’s Gospel, you’ll remember John the Baptist explaining that his job was only to prepare the way of the Lord—and  this, of course means stepping back when the Messiah finally makes himself known.

And this is basically what happens in our Gospel Reading today, where John points Jesus out to some of his disciples, calling him the Lamb of God. Instantly, we’re told that these disciples ran to meet Jesus, and even became some of his first disciples.

This sort of reminds me of the introduction to The 10 Commandments with Charleton Heston. For those of you who are familiar with the film, you’ll know that there is this introduction that is done by Cecil B. Demille, the director.

At the opening of the movie, then there is a stage with a heavy red curtain; and in the center is a microphone. From behind the curtain, steps Demille, looking important as he steps to the microphone to begin speaking.

At first, he explains in perfect 1950s diction, that such an introduction may seem “extra-ordinary,” however the story in the film, the story of the Exodus, is one of such extra-ordinary nature that it needed to be introduced.

The point is that once Demille, perhaps one of the most important filmmakers of his time, finishes preparing the audience for the film, he steps aside.  

For me, I see this idea of stepping aside as a pretty strong analogy for what we’re called to do as clergy. While we certainly have a role in leading worship and officiating the sacraments—when we’re at our best, I think it’s when we’ve remembered to get out of the way, and allow God to be seen.

But, then I don’t think this is limited to clergy only; because as Christians, all of us are called to seek and serve Christ in all people. Out baptismal promises ask us if we are willing to share the Gospel. 

And one of the reasons that I think we find that to be so hard isn’t necessarily because we’re ashamed, or uncomfortable with sharing the Gospel—instead, it could also be that we just don’t know when to get out of the way, and allow Christ to be seen.

What I mean by this is that often we get too wrapped-up in either thinking that sharing the love of God is about making sure we insert certain lingo into our conversations—or do our best not to swear at coffee hour. Or, maybe we feel guilty if we’re not showing up to church as often as we’d like—whatever. The point is that we often work way too hard at communicating the importance of spiritual life.

But where I think we run into real problems is when we think that we need to completely convince people; or pressure others to see and understand things the way that we do. And, usually the more we try to force such things, the more we find that what we’re trying to communicate is about us—and less about allowing people to meet Jesus Christ.

 In other words, we forget to get out of the way so that Jesus can be seen.

Now, what I mean by “getting out of the way,” can be understood by looking at our Gospel reading again, and seeing how John the Baptist did it.

 Effectively, we know that John the Baptist (or J.Bap as he’s known in many commentaries) had an important, vital ministry. He told everyone to repent and be baptized, because the Kingdom of God was at hand. People did it. But not only did they come to be baptized, some of them hung around, and stayed on with John as his disciples.

Not only did John have disciples, however, but he was also really popular. We’re told that even Herod, who John continually berated for marrying his brother’s wife, enjoyed listening to John’s preaching.

There’s even a time in the Gospels when the Pharisees ask Jesus by whose authority he was doing miracles; and Jesus turns the tables by asking by whose authority John baptized. In the end, the Pharisees were too afraid of the people who respected John to speak out against him.

So, like I said, John the Baptist had a really successful ministry.

However above and beyond all of that, the purpose of John’s ministry was to prepare the way of the Lord. And we see from today’s reading, that he never forgot that. At first sight of Jesus, John pointed his disciples to Jesus and said: there he is—that’s the one we’ve all been waiting for…

Now, what is particularly interesting about this reading is that rather than John spending a lot of time convincing the disciples of who Jesus was; he simply gets out of the way and points to him. John has already done the preparation work. So, when they see Jesus, it’s up to them to go and ask him what he’s about—not John.

Anyway, to sum all of this up, we know the importance of sharing the love of Christ with others. I’m even sure that many of us feel compelled to invite others to come to church, because we’d like others to experience what we’ve experienced of God.

But while we may feel that we just need to keep pressing people until they give in; I have to say that I don’t know of too many situations where that has been successful.

However, what I do know that works is when we do as St. Francis said, by ‘preaching the Gospel always, and when necessary using words.’ I think we say more in our actions and attitudes that we could ever say in a million conversations.

Not only that, but we should share our stories. We should share what all of this means to us. We should share how we’ve experienced God in our lives, and why it matters. Because, even though this runs contrary to most of Evangelical though, I do believe that when our actions speak of God’s grace, and our stories speak of Christ’s love; we have a much better chance of communicating our faith with authenticity.

What’s more, if we’re honest and authentic about our faith; I think we’ll know the times when we need to step aside, and simply point to Christ so that he can be known.