JOHN 1: 6-8 (15-18) 19-28
Jottings on John… Adv.3…Revised 2017
Many see these verses, or some of them, as insertions into, interruptions of, a distraction from the flow of John the Evangelist’s(?) magnificent Hymn to the Word. A reminder to those of us who preach to put neither ourselves, nor JB, so centre-stage as to distract from the One who is coming. The Baptiser is to be respected, revered, even, but not, under any circumstances allowed to become a rival to Jesus (as many of JB’s followers continued to see him for some time). It goes without saying we shouldn’t be, either.
(If we regard these verses as ’interruptions’ it may be an interesting exercise to extract them & place them, instead, at the end of v.18, after the Hymn.)
Like JB in his day, now it’s our turn to point to Jesus as the Word made flesh & live a Christ-like life in response. A testimony as faithful today as JB’s was in his way in his day. Later, JB clearly has doubts. Many of us & our people have too, about this, that, or the other aspect of belief. There’s nothing wrong with honest doubt; only with not working through them. This in itself could be a useful approach to our preaching. Do we need to ‘straighten out’ our theology, & help people straighten out theirs, so we can all live lives like those JB encourages us to straighten for the Coming One? The One who is Coming, yet always Come!
Today, we’re the ones facing questions like those JB was asked; ‘Who are you?’ &, ’What do you say about yourself?’ Do we know as well as JB does - at this stage, at least - who we are? Have we grown into our Baptism to become the person God has always known we could become? To play the role God has for us in His plans?
It’s easy in today’s world to feel we’re voices crying in today’s wildernesses of the heart. Living as Christ’s Body today means building on what’s gone before, as JB & JS Himself do, by being faithful to our past without getting bogged down in it. God, I AM, is always our present, too; never someone else’s past. God’s Spirit of Wisdom will help us see the difference, make a difference, be a difference.
We’re long past being able to assume even a basic knowledge of God, Scriptures, all that goes with & adds up to faith. Even many of us who think of ourselves as ‘faithful Christians’ can be more religiously ignorant than can reasonably be excused. In all honesty, though, how many people bother us with serious questions about Faith? Not to mention the growing numbers who dismiss us & what & Whom we stand for, out of hand in favour of home-made remedies for today’s ills. How can we preach, what do we need to preach, to encourage our congregation to get beyond that same trap?
As well as other gifts of the Spirit we praise JB for, think of his humility, like Jesus’ own. A gift neither widely sought nor practised in our narcissistic & ego-centric world. How do we best turn all this into positive preaching, rather than negative carping? How can we help others discover humility not as a down-side, but an up-side, in life?
