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Epiphany 2
January 20, 2001
Raita Neely

Isaiah 49:1-7; John 1: 29-42 Epiphany 2

Most of us make many decisions because someone makes a recommendation. We often decide what books to read, which movies to see, what TV programs to watch and which products to buy because someone says, "Here is something good."

In our gospel for this morning, John recommends Jesus to his disciples. But he uses language which is unfamiliar to us. What in the world does he mean - "Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." The language and imagery is foreign to our everyday life, but it has deep roots and would have had tremendous evocative power for the people of John's day and for the early church.

The lamb was a Hebrew symbol of purity and innocence. It is an incarnate, living image of sinlessness. Also, as you remember, Jesus was crucified during the days of the Passover. The Passover celebrated Israel's freedom from Egypt. The lamb was a central symbol of that festival of freedom. Moreover, Jesus had transformed the Passover meal at the Last Supper, so that through the sacrificial gift of his body and blood, he frees all people who believe in him not from Egypt, but from sin and death. So the writer of John layers in another meaning for the collective memory of God's people as he writes, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world- that is the whole good news that God gives us through Jesus Christ. Everything else is commentary. In this one sentence we know that God is not remote from humanity. God wants all people to be God's own. Jesus came for all races, he came for men and women, for old and young, for slave and free, for rich and poor. Jesus came for all.

God's love is so great! Whoever you are, whatever your sin, however deep the hole you've dug, wherever you find yourself, there is still only one who can and will set your free from the suffocation of your sin. It is Jesus, the Lamb of God, he does take away the sin of the world.

For some of you, this recognition that Christ came for you has come as a steady progressive illumination like the dawn scattering the shadows of night. For others, this recognition might have come as an instantaneous flash, like a lightning bolt. But when it occurs, it brings recognition - you go from "I did not know" to "I have seen and now bear witness."

When we recognize who Christ is, we want to talk about our discovery. We want to share what he means for us. Our recognition does not remain our private possession, only to nurture our own faith and experience, but it becomes an opportunity to tell others.

When John came to understand who Jesus is, he did the one faithful thing he could do with the good news-he share it. John becomes an example for the church and for each of us.

John speaks to his disciples and they follow Jesus. John becomes a shadow, and Jesus the light. John might as well have said, "Forget about me, there is the one to follow."

And so, Andrew and Peter came to know Jesus. They in turn told others about Jesus. That's the way it happens. Maybe some of you remember that old camp song, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing; That's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it.You spread God's love to everyone you want to pass it on." God calls each of you to pass on the good news of Jesus.

It sounds so easy? But is it?

I wonder if John the Baptist was at all tempted not to acknowledge Jesus. His own ministry was a success! People were listening, repenting, changing. There seemed to be no end to those ready to follow him. He had his own disciples. John looked like top man in evangelism. And we all know how hard it is to let go of being number one.

Parents struggle with it- why do my kids always have to come first? Do you parents ever wish there could be just one day when you could do exactly what you want?

We struggle with it in our marriages, trying to figure out whose needs and wants have to come first

This jockeying for position happens with our neighbors and in our jobs. It even happens in our relationship to God.

I would imagine that each of you have had a time when you said, "OK starting today God is going to come first in my life. I'm going to worship more often. I am going to pray several times a day. I'm going to read the Bible from cover to core. And you tried, you really tried. But somewhere along the way, your efforts flagged. It is hard for us human beings to place someone other than ourselves in the number one spot in our lives.

How did John make it look so easy? I think John knew deep inside something that you and I sometimes forget. He knew why he was there. He knew the history of his elderly parents before his birth. John knew his call in life - to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was singularly focused on Jesus.

Sometimes we forget our calling. We forget that God created us to love and praise God and to serve our neighbor. Our OT lesson for this morning puts it this way," I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." God is calling you to witness. To pass on the story - in your family, at work, in your neighborhood.

To be a faithful witness is to reach for the love of God which comes from God. To be a faithful witness is to know that love in our own lives- to live in it and be a voice for it. To be a faithful witness is to offer ourselves as a servant for God, which will fill your life with deep meaning. That is what it means to be a witness, and far from costing us our lives, in God you will discover a purposeful and fulfilling life.