There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
When it comes to watching Christmas movies and holiday themed TV shows this time of year, I admit I am a bit of a junkie. I have to watch the old Christmas stand-bys…”A Christmas Story,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and one of my favorites, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” But I like to surf through some of the cable channels for something different occasionally.
I was particularly intrigued by a show on HGTV this past week about
extreme Christmas lights in America. One of the most extreme Christmas decorations
are by the Faucher family in Delaware who have been merrily setting a neighborhood
standard for 23 years - decking their halls with an astonishing one million
Christmas lights. It's an impressive sight to say the least - and even more so
when you consider what it must cost. Assuming that each one of the one million
bulbs is an average five watt C7 bulb, the cost of keeping the lights on for
one hour is roughly $686. If the Fauchers keep their display lit for four hours
a night for 30 nights that means they are racking up an astonishing bill of
$82,320. That is a lot of Christmas spirit.
So in keeping with our sermon theme, I
wondered what are the customs and traditions behind this decorating craze. You
might be interested in knowing that the festival of lights is almost as old as
the church herself. From ancient times light has symbolized faith and
intelligence. It has been a symbol of Christian joy which was adopted to dispel
the darkness associated with paganism. Torches, watch fires, beacon lights,
lamps and candles often accompanied joyous occasions and festivities in
antiquity. In fact, the Romans, during their celebration of a festival called
Saturnalia in December, would fasten candles to trees, indicating the sun’s
return to the earth. The Jewish people started celebrating the 8-day Feast of
Lights, known as Hanukkah, commemorating their victory for religious freedom
from the Greeks nearly two centuries before the dawn of Christ.
And early Christians adopted many of these
rituals, reinterpreting them to symbolize Christ as the light of the world. As
early as 492 C.E., the Pope established Candle-mas Day as the time for blessing
candles in churches. In medieval Europe the custom arose of lighting a giant
Christmas candle that would shed its glow on the festivities until
Twelfth-night. Martin Luther is credited for first placing tapers on the Christmas
tree. (Herbert Wernecke, Christmas Customs Around the World. Louisville: Westminster Press)
In 1882, the first Christmas tree was lit
by the use of electricity. Edward Johnson lit up a Christmas tree in New York
City with eighty small electric light bulbs. It didn’t take long for Johnson to
create the first string of electric Christmas lights that were then mass
produced around 1890. By 1900, department stores started using the new
Christmas lights for their Christmas displays. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Xmas_Lights.htm
I was very excited to put up my Christmas decorations
and twinkle lights this year. But there’s nothing worse than this happening…nothing
more frustrating than a half lit string of twinkle lights. I even tested each
and every unlit bulb and still could not get them to work. Until, I found a
tiny split in one of the wires. Now I’m not an electrician, but fixing this
seemed pretty easy. So I stripped both ends of the plastic casing, reconnected
the tiny copper wires, and wrapped it tightly with black electrical tape.
And…nothing. Seems my elementary electrical skills were not advanced enough to
make this work.I am definitely not an electrician.
And sometimes it is helpful to remember who you are not.
That is probably the most important message
of this morning's gospel. It deals with the question of John’s identity. Just who
was John the Baptist? Where did he come from? What was his mission? Why did God
send him? It was a big question by the time the author of our gospel wrote
these words for the church. Historically, the movement that John the Baptist started,
independent of Jesus’ ministry, did not end with his death. The writer of
John’s gospel is very aware of the admiration of the Baptizer’s crusade. Some
of his followers were still carrying on his cause long after the Jesus'
movement got started. These followers were called the Essenes, and they were
growing alongside the Christian community, perhaps even competing for converts.
In fact, there is still a small sect in Iraq called the Mandeans who trace
their history and teachings all the way back to John the Baptist and his
vision.
Perhaps this is why we understand the
emphasis in our gospel text for making clear who John was not. The gospel
writer even interrupts himself when he is talking about the light that has come
into the world. "I am not talking about John," he says. The author of
the gospel even records John saying the same thing, with double emphasis. "I
am not the Messiah," John the Baptist states. Certainly, there is no
evidence to suggest that John thought of himself as the Messiah, even though he
did believe the Messiah's arrival was imminent. But I wonder what it must have
been like for him. Was it hard for him to realize who he was not?I imagine there was a lot of pressure for him to imposter the long-awaited Messiah. But it seems he resisted the pressure to be something he was not, as powerful as that temptation might have been. In so doing, he was also able to accept who he was, what he had been called to be; the Messiah's advance man. He was the forerunner of the Anointed One. "I am the one who has come to make his way straight," John said, "a voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.'"
Pastors sometimes face such pressure from
their churches. Whenever a new minister comes to town, there can be a
temptation to make them into something they are not. All those glowing
recommendations. Those fervent expectations. "Now, things will really get
going!" people begin to say. "This time we've got a winner!"
"This one is just what our church needs!" It is all very
well-intentioned. Very understandable. There’s usually a budding romance with a
new minister; a honeymoon period at the beginning of a new pastorate. But, I'm
telling you, this expectation is a setup for everything that can and often does
go wrong.  |
| Mass Appeal (1984) Movie Poster |
But this is a dilemma for a lot of us, not just church pastors. Most teenager are always trying to be the coolest kid at school, or the smartest, or sexiest, or most athletic because they think it is the only way to find acceptance. The young man trying to be what his parents want him to be. The young wife trying to be what her husband expects her to be. The middle-aged person holding onto old regrets about the opportunities that passed them by. The senior adult who is unable to embrace the person that they have become; limited by the role their children or grandchildren need them to be.
Our gospel text teaches us an important lesson for advent. It encourages us to be willing to live within the limits of who we are, but also be the very best that we are, no more and no less. During this Christmas season expectations may be very high to deliver that perfect present, or cook that perfect dinner, or be that perfect person at family gatherings. Like these twinkle lights that I tried to hang on my tree, we might feel “half lit” from all the pressure and expectations to be perfect. We might feel the need to make other people’s lives bright and shining, when we ourselves feel dimmed and dull.
What mattered to John the Baptist, was
preparing the way for God's anointed one. Preparing the way, but not trying to compete
with it. Why? Because being comfortable with WHO you are - no matter WHERE you
are on your journey - is all that God asks. And what does God promise? That God
will light the way for you. And that light will be the welcome for others to
join you along the journey. The author of John's Gospel makes the same
affirmation: "The true light, which enlightens everyone, is coming into
the world." Jesus the Christ is the light who brings
enlightenment; indeed, he is "the light of the world." This is the
truth in his birth stories, and it is true of your inherent nature as God’s
child. How might you share your light today?
(Excepts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon, “ALL THAT GOD ASKS” for December 15, 2002 - www.fernstone.org)
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